August 11
EUROPEANS ARRIVE IN
NEW ENGLAND
Puritan Beliefs
 Believed in hard work
 God rewarded hard work with economic success
 People should pray & read the Bible daily
 People should live devout lives
 “Predestination” – God had already chosen a
select group of people who would go to Heaven.
 Stop and Jot – Thinking about America today,
what Puritan beliefs do you think have had a
lasting impact on America? Provide examples.
Religious Motivations
 Puritans wanted to “purify” the Church of
England.
 Were persecuted by King Charles I
 Burned Puritan books, evicted some Puritans
 Wanted freedom to practice their religion
without fear of persecution
 Travelled to America to form their own colony
Pilgrims Travel to America
 About 100 people sailed on the Mayflower
 Later became known as Pilgrims
 Landed in Plymouth, Massachusetts in 1620
 Mayflower Compact
 An agreement and framework to form a system
of self-government
 Colonists would elect their own legislators and a
governor.
Plymouth, Massachusetts
 First New England colony
 Religious dissent (disagreement with Church of
England) brought people to America
 Puritans established community on Biblical
teachings
 More Puritans, led by John Winthrop,
followed in 1630.
 Founded Boston
 Wanted to form a “City on a Hill”
 An example for the entire world to follow.
Life in Massachusetts
 “For we must consider that we shall be as a City
on a hill. The eyes of all people are upon us. [So]
that if we shall deal falsely with our God in this
work we have undertaken, and so cause him to
withdraw his present help from us, we shall be
made a story and a byword throughout the
world.” - John Winthrop
 Town Hall meetings
 Precursor to Democracy
 Attempted to make an ideal society.
 Did not tolerate religious dissent/pluralism
 “Lawlessness of liberty of conscience.”
 Very harsh winters, many died and starved.
Religious Dissent
 Roger Williams
 Believed that the Puritans were not doing enough to
reform and attain religious piety.
 Said the Puritans didn’t have the right to force the
Indians from their land – they should be paid.
 Williams fled to Rhode Island, which became a haven
of religious tolerance.
 Rhode Island accepted people of all kinds of Christian
denominations, and even some Jews.
 Stop and Jot – Think about your community. Is
religious pluralism a positive or a negative thing?
Should everyone follow the same religion?
Salem Witch Trials
 Puritans attributed many things to
witchcraft.
 How to determine witches?
 Salem Witch Trials
 1692.
 Executed 19 suspected witch.
 Ended when the Governor’s wife was convicted.
Exit Quiz
1.) What was the Mayflower Compact?
2.) What was special about Rhode Island?
3.) What religious group founded the first British
colony at Plymouth, Massachusetts?
Exit Quiz
4.) The primary motivation for people travelling
to Virginia was to farm and make money.
What was the primary motivation of people
who travelled to Massachusetts to settle?
5.) Explain what is meant by a “City on a Hill.”
Bonus) Who came up with the idea of the “City
on a Hill”?