52 C
HAPTER 2
such sins as drunkenness, swearing, theft, and idleness. “No person . . . shall
spend his time idly or unprofitably,” decreed the General Court in 1633, “under
pain of such punishment as the court shall think meet [appropriate] to inflict.”
IMPORTANCE OF THE FAMILY
Unlike settlers in Virginia, Puritans generally
crossed the Atlantic as families rather than as single men or women. “Without
family care,” declared one minister, “the labor of Magistrates and Ministers . . . is
likely to be in great measure unsuccessful.” Puritans kept a watchful eye on the
actions of husbands, wives, and children, and the community stepped in when
necessary. If parents failed to nip disobedience in the bud, they might find their
children placed in more “God-fearing” homes. If a husband and wife quarreled
too much, a court might intervene as a form of marriage counseling. If they still
bickered, one or both might end up in the stocks or the pillory.
Dissent in the Puritan Community
Division soon threatened Massachusetts Bay. Two dissenters, Roger Williams and
Anne Hutchinson, challenged the social order upon which the colony was founded.
THE FOUNDING OF PROVIDENCE
“Forced religion stinks in the nostrils of
God,” declared Roger Williams in a sermon to his Salem congregation.
Williams, an extreme Separatist, expressed two controversial views. First, he
declared that the English settlers had no rightful claim to the land unless they
purchased it from Native Americans. He called the royal charter that granted the
lands a “National Sinne” and demanded that it be revised to reflect Native
American claims. Second, Williams declared that government officials had no
business punishing settlers for their religious beliefs. He felt every person should
be free to worship according to his or her conscience.
The outraged General Court ordered Williams to be arrested and returned
to England. Before this order was carried out, Williams fled Massachusetts. In
January 1636, he headed southward to the headwaters of Narragansett Bay. There
he negotiated with the local Narragansett tribe for land to set up a new colony,
which he called Providence. In Providence, later the capital of Rhode Island,
Williams guaranteed separation of church and state and reli-
gious freedom.
ANNE HUTCHINSON BANISHED
Puritan leaders soon
banished another dissenter, Anne Hutchinson. To
strict Puritans, she posed an even greater threat than
Williams. In Bible readings at her home, Hutchinson
taught that “the Holy Spirit illumines [enlightens] the
heart of every true believer.” In other words, worship-
pers needed neither the church nor its ministers to
interpret the Bible for them.
Puritan leaders banished Hutchinson from the
colony in 1638. Along with a band of followers, she
and her family trudged to Rhode Island. After the
death of her husband in 1642, Hutchinson moved with
her younger children to the colony of New Netherland
(now New York), where the Dutch also practiced reli-
gious toleration. The following year, she died in a war
fought between the Dutch and Native Americans.
D
This statue of Anne Hutchinson stands in Boston,
Massachusetts. Ironically, she was banished from
Massachusetts for leading religious discussions.
▼
MAIN IDEA
MAIN IDEA
D
Contrasting
What two
principles did
Providence
guarantee that
Massachusetts
Bay did not?
D. Answer
Separation of
church and
state and reli-
gious freedom.
Vocabulary
stocks, pillory:
devices in which
an offender was
shackled and held
on public display
as a form of
punishment