Unlike most of the Chesapeake or southern colonies which were established to make a profit, New England colonies tended to be established, at least in part, for religious reasons. One group of English people believed that the Anglican Church did not go far enough in breaking with all Roman traditions and had little hope that the Church of England would change. These people, called separatists, wanted to create their own church separate from the Church of England. In 1620, a group of Puritan separatists known as the Pilgrims set sail for British America to escape religious persecution in England to establish religious colonies in the Americas; these people established the first colonies in what would later become New England.
Puritans
Puritan Values
Those who wanted to purify the Church of England were known as Puritans. Puritans were followers of a Protestant minister named John Calvin. He emphasized predestination, a lack of free will, and the belief that humans were depraved and needed a strong religious government to control their animal instincts. Puritans also believed in predestination and election by God of who is saved. Puritans supported intolerance and believed that error must be opposed and driven out.
The Puritans created a deeply religious, socially tight-knit, and politically innovative culture that is still present in the modern United States. In America, they attempted to create an intensely religious, thoroughly righteous community designed to be an example for all of Europe. Puritans in colonial America were among the most radical Puritans and their social experiment took the form of a theocracy. The first Puritans of New England disapproved of Christmas celebrations, as did some other Protestant churches of the time. Celebrations of all kinds were outlawed in Boston in 1659. Likewise, the colonies banned many secular entertainments, such as games of chance, maypoles, and drama, on moral grounds.
Puritans were to create a politically, socially, economically, and religiously perfect community. They followed John Calvin's idea that the covenant was between one person and God; everyone in the Puritan community was supposed to live a Christian life, and in exchange, God would bless everyone with health and wealth. If one person in the community broke one of God's laws, then God could condemn everyone in the community. The Puritans were not opposed to drinking alcohol in moderation; however, laws banned the practice of individuals toasting each other, with the explanation that it was carnal and led to wasting God's gift of beer and wine. Spouses were disciplined if they did not perform their marital sexual duties, and Puritans punished drunkenness and sexual relations outside of marriage.
In Massachusetts Bay, the church members controlled the civil government, and church membership was limited to those who were predestined to go to Heaven. The church members were typically the wealthy members of the Puritan society, which meant the economic elites controlled the civil government. As church membership dropped in the late 17th century, the Puritan leaders created the Halfway Covenant—any adult person who had at least one parent as a church member could join the Puritan church without having to "prove" that they were predestined to enter Heaven.
The Persecution of Witchcraft
In 17th-century colonial North America, the supernatural was part of everyday life, and there was a strong belief that Satan was present and active on Earth. This concept had emerged in Europe around the 15th century and spread to North America when it was colonized. Some theorize that accusations of witchcraft were a way of addressing pagan practices that were used for agriculture and domestic success, which Christianity had long associated with demons and evil spirits. People believed that witches allied themselves with the Devil to carry out evil deeds and deliberate harm such as the sickness or death of children, the loss of cattle, and other catastrophes. Townspeople whose habits or appearance bothered their neighbors or who appeared threatening for any reason were especially at risk of being seen as witches. Women, who were considered more susceptible to the Devil because of their supposedly weaker constitutions, made up the vast majority of suspects and those who were executed.
The first accusations of witchcraft came in 1645, in Springfield, Massachusetts. From 1645 to 1663, about 80 people throughout the Massachusetts Bay Colony were accused of practicing witchcraft, and 13 women and two men were executed. The most famous witch trials in American history, however, took place from February 1692 to May 1693, in and around coastal settlements near Salem, Massachusetts. The first accusations came from young girls who believed they were being tormented physically and mentally by the supernatural machinations of several older women in the community. Those women were brought before the magistrate and interrogated; those who refused to confess to witchcraft were sentenced to death. Accusations and arrests quickly spiraled out of control.
Before the hysteria ended, over 150 people were arrested and imprisoned, with even more accused who were not formally pursued by the authorities. The two courts convicted 29 people of the capital felony of witchcraft; 19 of the accused, 14 women and five men, were hanged. One man who refused to enter a plea was crushed to death under heavy stones in an attempt to force him to do so. At least five more of the accused died in prison.
Many theories have been advanced to explain the trials, including greed, revenge, social conflict, and possibly hallucinogenic-tainted food. The episode is one of the most famous cases of mass hysteria and has been used in political rhetoric and popular literature as a vivid cautionary tale about the dangers of isolationism, religious extremism, false accusations, and lapses in due process.
The Mennonites
The Mennonites were a religious group that immigrated to America from Germany because of persecution for refusing to perform military service on the basis of religious grounds. Later groups of Mennonites came to the Americas from Switzerland, Prussia, the Ukraine, and Russia. A large group came in 1683 to settle in Pennsylvania. The Mennonites had their own hymns and Psalters and tended to be very conservative.
Methodism
John and Charles Wesley created Methodism in the 18th century. John Wesley was a cleric for the Church of England, and he and his brother led groups of Christians throughout England, Ireland, and Scotland. These groups were part of what is called the Wesleyan Movement and came to form what is known as Methodism, named such because of the methodical approach to religious study. Methodists primarily focused on bible study and living a life free of amusement and luxury. Methodism started out as a society and follower of the Church of England but was not a church itself.
Methodism spread to America in the late 1760s when preachers appointed by John Wesley traveled to the new world in 1769 to start American Methodist societies. They worked primarily in Philadelphia and New York, and Methodism spread along the East Coast leading up to the American Revolution.
The Moravians
The Moravians arrived with John and Charles Wesley in America in 1735. The group left Moravia and Bohemia due to harsh persecution for their religious beliefs and practices. The Moravians wished to serve as Christian missionaries for the different ethnic groups in America. They first settled in Georgia, then moved to Pennsylvania and North Carolina. The Moravians were deeply involved with music; they practiced hymn singing daily, and some even wrote instrumental music.
Judaism
The first Jewish people came to America in 1654; these were Sephardic Jews who came from Recife, Brazil, and landed in New Amsterdam (now New York City). Jewish people in the Americas experienced anti-Semitism from early on; in some colonies, they could not vote, hold public office, or own property. However, during the colonial period, they settled along the East Coast and in several southern colonies.
Catholicism
The early British American colonies were largely Protestant, and there was widespread anti-Catholic sentiment. Catholicism first came to the colonies in the form of the "Maryland Experiment," when King Charles I issued a generous charter to Lord Cecil Calvert, a prominent Catholic convert from Anglicanism, for the colony of Maryland. In the new colony, religious tolerance (for Christians only) was preserved by Calvert until 1654, when Puritans from Virginia overthrew Calvert's rule. Calvert regained control of the colony four years later, however. In 1689, the Glorious Revolution of William and Mary ignited a new anti-Catholic revolt in Maryland. In 1692, the famous Religious Toleration Act officially ended, and the assembly of Maryland established the Church of England as the official state religion supported by tax levies. Neither the Dutch nor English were pleased when, in 1672, the Duke of York converted to Catholicism. The Duke's appointment of an Irish-born Catholic as governor of the colony of New York was followed by the passage of a charter of liberties and privileges for Catholics.
The Bruton Parish Church in Williamsburg
The Bruton Parish Church in Williamsburg. Government and college officials in the capital at Williamsburg were required to attend services at this Anglican church.