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England’s colonies in America slowly expanded throughout the 17th century. Despite being subjects of the same Crown, the colonial settlements began to develop along different economic, social, and political trajectories.
One particular difference between the colonization of the Northern and Southern regions was the religious motivations behind the Puritans’ settlement in Massachusetts Bay, which contributed to important problems. The Northern colonies were also set apart by creating an abundant society that relied on an economy quite different from the cash crop, plantation-centered economies common in the Chesapeake region and the Southern colonies. However, Puritan religious doctrine and governance also contributed to a volatile religious and social environment in which dissent was not tolerated and hierarchy was strictly enforced.
One way to examine culture and governance in colonial New England is to look at the celebration of Christmas. Contrary to popular contemporary belief, the celebration of Christmas has always been difficult to Christianize.
During the 17th century, lower classes in Europe and in colonial North America celebrated Christmas by wassailing. For much of the year, the poor owed goods and labor to the rich. But, starting on Christmas Eve, the tables turned.
Beginning on Christmas Eve, the poor (most often boys and young men) gathered in the streets and marched on the houses of the well-to-do. Once there, they demanded that homeowners open their homes and provide gifts of food, drink, and sometimes money. If the homeowner responded to the mob’s request, the wassailers would toast to the individual’s well-being and move on. If the homeowner did not open their door, the mob could respond by breaking in. “We’ve come here to claim our right/And if you don’t open your door/We will lay you flat upon the floor,” one wassailing song went.
To prevent such actions from occurring in New England, Puritan leaders in Massachusetts Bay passed town ordinances that forbade people from gathering in public on Christmas Day. In a sense, Puritan leaders forbade New Englanders from celebrating Christmas! Why did they do this?
Puritan settlements in New England reflected a desire for orderliness and Godliness. All members of a township signed a covenant in which they promised “in the presence of God, to walke [sic] together in all his waies [sic], according to how He is pleased to reveale [sic] himself.”
The leaders within each township, who called themselves a “congregation,” assumed the right to determine the spiritual qualifications of all others to participate in baptism and Communion. Dissent, including public displays such as wassailing that challenged hierarchy, was not tolerated.
The Puritan “church” within New England communities, meanwhile, was more than a building. Everyone in the community was required to attend church services, even if they were not considered among the “elect,” or those predestined for salvation. To become a member of the Puritan church, one had to convince the congregation that you were a member of the elect, or a “visible saint.”
According to Puritan theology, no one but God could know for certain who was predestined for salvation. Nevertheless, if an individual could convince others of their conversion experience, that person could be looked upon as a visible saint and become a member of the local church.
In the same manner that church members oversaw religious affairs, they also managed community affairs as municipal officials during town meetings. As the ban on wassailing shows, Puritan leaders made sure that each community conformed to God’s ordinances. In this endeavor, leaders such as John Winthrop and others worked hard to keep the church free from the influences of municipal politics (keeping the church separate from the state), but they made sure that religion influenced community affairs.
At town meetings, decisions were made about local taxation and local rules and regulations, and town representatives were chosen. Most adult men in Puritan communities were able to attend town meetings as voting members, regardless of their economic circumstances. This stands in contrast to the Southern colonies, where men who owned no land were often excluded from the political process.
Different labor and economic systems also distinguished early Puritan New England from the Southern colonies. Many Puritans sought comfortable independence after immigrating to New England. To achieve that, labor and trade centered largely on the household economy. Puritan elders expected young people to work diligently at their calling, and all members of their large families, including children, did the bulk of the work necessary to run homes, farms, and businesses.
Agriculture, including the ownership of livestock such as cattle, sheep, and pigs, was central to the success of many household economies in New England. Livestock was essential for everyday colonial life as a source of power, food, and wealth. Oxen and horses were essential for farm labor and travel. Cattle, pigs, and sheep created protein that could be consumed in the form of meat or dairy products. Farm families could also exchange livestock for other goods and services. For instance, families could sell animals at a market in exchange for luxury items.
Household economies centered around farming and livestock production contributed to a world where there was plenty of food. Fertile soils and a suitable climate, along with the combination of Old- and New-World plants and animals associated with the Columbian Exchange, allowed colonies up and down the coast of most of New England to produce food surpluses by the end of the 17th century.
These surpluses were sold and gathered by merchants who dealt not only with England (which had no need for agricultural surpluses) but also with other regions and powers within the Atlantic World. Thus, New England’s household economy contributed to the emergence of a powerful maritime-based economy, with scores of oceangoing ships and the crews necessary to sail them. New England mariners sailing New-England-made ships transported Virginian tobacco and West Indian sugar throughout the Atlantic World. Lumber, foodstuffs, cattle, hogs, and other goods from New England also moved up and down the Atlantic seaboard as well as to Europe and the Caribbean.
The combination of household and maritime-based economies enabled New England to establish connections with the rest of the Atlantic World. In turn, these economies and connections sustained prosperous colonies in New England.
Puritan New England was also an incredibly literate society as well as a relatively prosperous one, which further distinguished the region from the Southern colonies and from much of Europe. Similar to other Protestants, Puritans emphasized literacy so that everyone could read the Bible. This attitude was in stark contrast to that of Catholics, who refused to tolerate private ownership of Bibles in languages besides Latin.
As Calvinists, Puritans adhered to the doctrine of predestination, whereby a few “elect” would be saved and all others damned. No one could be sure whether they were predestined for salvation, but through introspection guided by scripture, Puritans hoped to find a glimmer of redemptive grace. Church membership was restricted to those Puritans who were willing to provide a conversion narrative telling how they came to understand their spiritual estate by hearing sermons and studying the Bible.
However, such emphasis on literacy and the individual conversion experience contributed to widespread debate, dissent, and even persecution in Puritan New England. This was especially the case when certain ideas and individuals challenged the civic and religious authority of Puritan leaders such as John Winthrop. For instance, when Roger Williams and Anne Hutchinson challenged Governor Winthrop during the 1630s, they were banished from the Massachusetts Bay Colony.
Roger Williams arrived in Massachusetts Bay in 1631. For a time, he bounced around from one town to another. During this time, he developed a concept known as soul liberty. This concept emphasized that individuals should be allowed to follow their consciences, wherever they might lead.
Williams was also an advocate of religious tolerance. After all, if individuals should be allowed to follow their consciences, Williams believed, they should be allowed to practice whichever religion they chose. This was in sharp contrast to the views of Puritan leaders, who believed that there were certain religious truths that could not be questioned.
Williams also dared to challenge the Puritans’ taking of Native American land. This stance, along with his ideas about individual liberty and religious tolerance, placed him in direct opposition against Winthrop and other Puritan leaders.
In late 1635, these leaders banished Roger Williams from the Massachusetts Bay Colony. He was supposed to be placed on the next ship bound for England, where he likely would have been jailed or executed for his beliefs. Rather than condemn him to that fate, however, Winthrop allowed Williams to escape. Williams traveled south and ultimately established a town called Providence, in what we now refer to as Rhode Island. There, Williams would write favorably about native peoples, contrasting their virtues with Puritan New England’s intolerance.
Anne Hutchinson also ran afoul of Puritan authorities for her criticism of the evolving religious practices in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. In particular, she held that Puritan ministers in New England taught a shallow version of Protestantism that emphasized hierarchy and actions—a “covenant of works”—rather than a “covenant of grace” in which God’s salvation was available to all, with no mediation from Puritan ministers required. Hutchinson went on to insist that God could speak directly to individuals rather than through ministers and the Bible, which was a direct violation of Puritan doctrine and a complete revocation of Puritan hierarchy.
That a man like Roger Williams could advocate for soul liberty was one thing. That women such as Hutchinson could express similar ideas was quite another, and it alarmed Winthrop and other Puritan men. During her trial, Hutchinson claimed that she had experienced direct religious revelations from God, which negated the role of male ministers. By making this claim, Winthrop and other leaders believed that Hutchinson was professing powers that verged on the magical, or perhaps diabolical.
In 1637, Hutchinson stood trial in a civil court for her ideas. During this time, Winthrop and other male leaders examined Hutchinson’s beliefs. Hutchinson held her own for the most part, but when she continued to insist upon her claim of direct religious revelation, Winthrop convicted her of holding false beliefs. In 1638, Hutchinson was excommunicated and banished from the Massachusetts Bay Colony.
Hutchinson and many of her followers moved to Rhode Island. Later, in 1642, Hutchinson sought safety among the Dutch in New Netherland. The following year, Algonquian warriors killed Hutchinson and her family. When Governor Winthrop received word of Hutchinson’s death, he noted it as the righteous judgment of God against a heretic.
This discussion of Williams and Hutchinson, along with the extreme measures that Puritan leaders took to silence them, reveals the profound divisions and tensions that existed within Massachusetts Bay by the mid-17th century. Clashes between colonists and church members continued in Massachusetts Bay, and, by the 1690s, culminated in widespread accusations of witchcraft in towns such as Salem.
For instance, many in Salem used the famous Salem Witch Trials as an opportunity to incriminate rivals (real or potential) within the community. Many of the accusers who prosecuted suspected witches had been traumatized by wars on the frontier with Native Americans and by political and cultural changes within New England. Such events appeared to be a sign of God’s mercy or judgment, and people believed that witches allied themselves with the Devil to carry out evil deeds and deliberate harm, such as the sickness and death of children or cattle and other catastrophes. Relying on their belief in witchcraft to help make sense of their changing world, Puritan authorities in Salem executed 19 people and caused the deaths of several others.
Women made up the vast majority of suspected witches. Men perceived women as being more susceptible to the Devil’s influences because of their supposedly weaker constitutions. Such suspicions also stemmed from women’s place within a colonial hierarchy dominated by males. For example, men attributed miscarriages or deformed births to God’s judgment and blamed women for failing to uphold their primary gender role of bringing healthy children into the world.
Additional Resources
Visit the Salem Witch Trials Documentary Archive and Transcription Project to learn more about Salem Village, Puritan society and religious culture, and the events of 1692.
Source: This tutorial curated and/or authored by Matthew Pearce, Ph.D with content adapted from Openstax “U.S. History”. access for free at openstax.org/details/books/us-history LICENSE: CREATIVE COMMONS ATTRIBUTION 4.0 INTERNATIONAL