Puritans and Pilgrims: Founding the Northern Colonies

1. Chapter 3 Settling of the Northern Colonies: 1619 - 1700

2. The Protestant Reformation Produces Puritanism • 1517 – Martin Luther nails the Ninety-Five Theses • John Calvin felt that Luther didn’t take his protests far enough • Elaborating on Luther’s protests, he founded the Calvinist church • Called Puritans in England, Presbyterians in Scotland, Huguenots in France and communicants in the Dutch Reformed Church • Calvin’s doctrine was spelled out in Institutes of the Christian Religion (1536) • God is all-powerful, all-knowing & all-good • Humans are weak & wicked, because of the corruption of original sin • God already knew who was going to heaven and who was going to hell (predestination) • The damned could not be saved from the fires of Hell by good deeds; the saved could not count on their salvation as a given • Separatists wanted to break completely from the Church of England • The “visible saints” had to share pews with the damned • James I saw Separatists as a threat to rule & sought to drive them out of England

3. Pilgrims End Their Pilgrimage at Plymouth • 1608 - most famous group of Separatists left England for Holland • 1620 – A group of these Separatists negotiates w/ the Virginia Company to settle in their jurisdiction • Missed their destination by several hundred miles • Mayflower arrive off the coast of New England w/ 102 settlers • Less than ½ settlers were actually Separatists • Captain Myles Standish was irreplaceable as an Indian fighter and negotiator • Did not initially land on Plymouth Rock, but selected the site after several exploratory outings • The Mayflower Compact was not a constitution, but served as a guide for future constitutions • Signed by 41 adult males, agreeing to a crude govt. led by the will of the majority • Winter 1620-21 – only 44 of 102 survived, but none returned to England, 1st Thanksgiving in fall 1621 • 1691 – Plymouth colony merged w/ Massachusetts Bay Colony

4. The Bay Colony Bible Commonwealth • 1629 – a group of non-Separatist Puritans secured a royal charter to form the Massachusetts Bay Company • 1630 - Established a larger initial settlement than any other colony (11 well-equipped ships, nearly 1000 settlers) • Continuing turmoil in England and eventual civil war drove waves of settlers to the colonies • 70,000 left England; 20,000 settled in Massachusetts but nearly 50,000 travelled to Barbados & Jamaica • Massachusetts prospered due to fur trading, fishing & shipbuilding industries • Aided by the fact that many prosperous, educated people settled in Massachusetts Bay • John Winthrop became the colony’s 1st governor & served as governor or deputy governor for 19 years • Colony quickly became one of the biggest & most influential New England colonies • Puritans believed they were to build a holy society that would serve as a model for humanity

5. Building the Bay Colony • Enfranchisement was given to all “freemen” • Adult males belonging to the Puritan church, known as the Congressional Church • Governor & his assistants elected annually in provincial elections • 2/5 of adult males had the right to vote in provincial elections • Town governments included all male property holders in the decision making process • Religious leaders held enormous power, but it was not absolute • Congregations hired & fired their preachers and set his salary • Clergy not allowed to hold political office • Despite legends to the contrary, Puritans believed in a life of devotion & hard work, but they also enjoyed the simple things in life • They passed laws to make sure these pleasures stayed simple • Connecticut later came to be know as the “Blue Law State”, because these sumptuary laws were printed on blue paper

6. Trouble in the Bible Commonwealth • The Bay colony enjoyed a great deal of social harmony initially, but dissention soon came • Quakers defied Puritan authority & were persecuted in return • Anne Hutchison argued the validity of Calvin’s doctrine of salvation • Claimed since a holy life was no assurance of salvation; one need not follow the laws God or man (antinomianism) • Highly intelligent, strong willed & talkative; she was brought to trial for heresy • 1638 – she confounded her inquisitors for days, until she claimed to have received her revelations from God • She was banished; she and her family settled in New York • She and all but one of her children were killed by Indians • John Winthrop claimed to see “God’s hand” in her fate • Roger Williams, an extreme Separatist minister, was ordered exiled to England but he escaped to Rhode Island in 1636

7. The Rhode Island “Sewer” • Roger Williams built a Baptist church in Providence & established complete religious freedom • Even Jews, Catholics, & Quakers • Religious tolerance made Rhode Island the most liberal of the English colonies • Adult male suffrage was later limited only by property restrictions • Called “Rouges’ Island” & “that sewer” by Puritans elsewhere • Initially settled by squatters that were exiles or malcontents • 1644 – received official charter from Parliament New England Spreads Out • 1635 – Hartford established in Connecticut R. valley • 1639 – Fundamental Orders drafted, effectively a modern constitution; later used by Connecticut in its colonial charter & state constitution • 1662 – Connecticut colony chartered, absorbing New Haven • 1677 – Maine purchased and absorbed by Mass. Bay colony • 1679 – Charles II separated New Hampshire from Mass. & made it a royal colony

8. Puritans vs. Indians (p 51) • Squanto, Massasoit & Pilgrims • Metacom (King Philip) and his war on the Puritans & its effects Seeds of Colonial Unity and Independence • 1643 – Four colonies banded together to create the New England Confederation • Bay colony, Plymouth, New Haven & Connecticut • Came together to provide defense against Indians, French & Dutch threats • Previous kings’ indifferference led to a sense of defiance in neglected colonists • 1660 – Charles II re-established as king • Puritan Massachusetts Bay stung by the new kings actions • 1662 – Connecticut officially chartered • 1663 – Rhode Island receives royal charter • 1684 – the Bay colony’s charter was revoked by Charles II

9. Andros Promotes the First American Revolution (p53-55) • Dominion of New England v. New England Confederation • Sir Edmund Andros’s rule in NE & the Glorious Revolution • English views of colonies & Colonists’ views of England Old Netherlanders at New Netherland • 17th cent. was an golden age in Dutch history • Dutch Republic became a colonial power during this time • Dutch East India Co. virtually a state within a state • Army of 10,000 men & a fleet of 190 ships (40 man-o-wars) • 1623-24 - New Netherland (Hudson R. Valley) planted as a permanent settlement • Established by Dutch West India Co. for potential profit in the fur trade; never taken as a serious investment by founders • Bought Manhattan Island from local Indians for pennies/acre • Harsh company-chosen governors had little interest in religious toleration, free speech or democratic ideas

10. Friction w/ English and Swedish Neighbors • Shareholders demanded profits, regardless of outcomes • Indians massacred Dutch settlements in return for Dutch cruelties • Settlers on Manhattan Island created a defensive wall (where Wall St. gets its name) • New Englanders were hostile to Dutch expansion • New England colonies except the Bay colony favored military action • Sweden trespassed on Dutch territory and established New Sweden (1638-55) in modern Delaware • Entered the colonial game on the success of Sweden in the Thirty Years War (1618-48) • 1655 - Dutch director-general, Peter Stuyvesant led a military force into Delaware and after a bloodless siege, Swedish colonists were absorbed by New Netherlands • 1664 – Charles II gave a land grant to the Duke of York • An English force took New Amsterdam w/o a shot fired & renames the colony New York • Dutch contributions to culture : Santa Claus, Easter Eggs, waffles, bowling, golf

11. Penn’s Holy Experiment in Pennsylvania • Quakers arose in England in the mid-1660s & deemed offensive • “quaked” when under deep religious emotion • refused to pay taxes to the Church of England • congregated w/o paid clergy • wore hats in the presence of “betters” • refused to use conventional titles (sir, madam, lord, eminence) • refused to take oaths of any kind, including “test oaths” • 1660 - William Penn became a Quaker • 1681 - wanting to create a safe haven for Quakers, Penn secured a royal land grant as repayment for a royal debt • Charles II called it Pennsylvania (Penn’s woodland) • Penn tried to get the name changes, fearing people would think he named it after himself • Best advertised of the colonies; distributed pamphlets printed in English, French, Dutch & German • Encouraged people from all walks of life to settle there

12. Quaker Pennsylvania and Its Neighbors • Already several thousand Dutch, English, Swedish, & Welsh settlers along the Delaware River • Philadelphia (“Brotherly Love” in Greek) more carefully planned than most colonial cities • Quaker treatment of Indians more fair than other colonies, visited them unarmed and even used them as babysitters • Quaker tolerance undermined their own Indian policy • Immigrants not as tolerant to natives as Quaker settlers • No tax-supported church • No oaths of allegiance • Freedom of worship to nearly all residents • Death penalty only for treason & murder • By 1700, Pennsylvania was wealthier & more populated than all colonies except Virginia & Massachusetts • 1702 – East & West Jersey were combined & made a royal colony The Middle Way in the Middle Colonies (62-63)