New England

New England

1. Religion

   • people aren't going to New England to make money - they're going as families/communities for religion (largely)
   • Puritanism: Anglican movement that thinks the church needs to reform itself more thoroughly - still too Catholic
     • John Calvin
       • not faith, but the world is corrupt. Humans are inherently sinful and you achieve salvation through...
         • GRACE
     • Martin Luther
       • church has gone awry with indulgences - salvation achieved through good works. People go to heaven because of....
         • FAITH
   • 1619: Calvinists articulated the 5 points of Calvinism
     • 1. unconditional election: God decreed from the beginning of time who was saved and who was damned.
       • 2. doctrine of limited atonement: if some people go to heaven and some go to hell, who did Christ die for? Christ died for the sins of those elected to go to heaven.
         • 3. total depravity: humanity is utterly corrupt - the world is fundamentally sinful and the elect have to work to insulate themselves from the sin.
           • 4. irresistible grace: sanctification is entirely the work of God; it cannot be stopped.
             • 5. perseverance of saints - you cannot unsave yourself.
     • puritans believed that England could be saved with reform - but the saved need to be in charge.
       • notion that sinful people were in charge pissed off the monarchy.
     • Calvinists were middle class
   • 1625: King James dies and Charles takes over
     • Charles's arch bishop William Laud was a high church advocate and people thought he was counter-reformation
       • Laud preached the divine rights of the monarchy so monarchy liked him. We went after Puritans.
         • Laud executed 1645
     • people thought Charles was a Catholic sympathizer

2. REFORMATION

   • see other mind map

3. Pilgrims

   • radical sect of the puritan fold: pure separatists - they need to leave England, it can't be reformed
   • colony lasts 1620-early 1690s
     • characterized by a lack of religious freedom: pure Calvinism
     • internal tension between elect and non-elect (quakers, servants called to criminal courts a lot)
     • land previously inhabited by natives but a plague from 1616-1618 swept through and the land was deserted - pilgrims thought it was a sign from God for location.
     • natives: Wampanoag tribe is nearby, led by Massasoit
     • not economically successful and sparsely populated: not super important to England.

4. Puritans

   • experienced an increasingly hostile religious culture in England from 1629-1641
     • Great Migration - 20,000 Puritans relocate to New England and the West Indiea
       • Massachusetts in 1629
         • John Winthrop: Puritan leader responsible for the Massachusetts Bay Company. Famous for "City Upon a Hill"
         • Salem Witches
           • people had been accused of being witches before the Salem witch trials, but the verdict was usually not guilty
             • prior to witch trials, legal procedure different: had to post a bond (have to have $ to prosecute a case)
           • Salem trials didn't require a bond to be posted, allowed for public/group trials, and admitted spectral evidence (ghosts)
           • framing of Salem witch trials - religious tensions, economic problems, tensions with natives?
       • Connecticut, Rhode Island in the mid-1630s
       • New Hampshire
   • as quickly as Puritans arrive they encounter problems.
     • theological: need to figure out what the reformed church looked like (puritanism was sa critique on the Anglican church)
       • Roger Williams (RI)
         • believed in religious toleration and complete separation of the Church and the State. Believed natives had rights to the land and should be paid for it. Kicked out of Massachusetts in 1633 --> RI
       • Thomas Hooker (CT)
         • thought there should be some serparation between the Church and the State. Didn't think voting should be restricted to the elect. Loses te fight in the 1630s and is kicked out of Massachusetts --> CT
   • Puritanism: Roger Williams and Thomas Hooker challenge the idea that Puritanism was uniform - there were varieties and tensions over Calvinism
     • halfway covenant - 1662 - compromise to a religious crisis = the children of nonmembers can get baptized in certain circumstances. Fighting back against declension.
     • Anne Hutchinson: example of fracturing in the 1630s. Arrived in 1634.
       • hosts gatherings to discuss religious issues without ministers present. She starts criticizing some Boston ministers - they're straying from Calvinist orthodoxy. She's an Antinonianist.
         • Antinomianist: strictly interprets Calvinism.
         • Arminianism: God is a loving father, faith has importance
         • Anne is called before a Boston court and men debate women over theology in court - significant. Anne ultimately loses the debate and is excommunicated from Boston.