Religious Unity In New England Colonies

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The rise of the seventeenth century brought a completely new power to America and with it new beliefs, culture, and conflict. The English coming to the New World believed in either separating from or restoring the faith of the Anglican Church. And while their aim was to flee from the discord that plagued their homeland, the social fabric created in the New England colonies did not create a significantly more harmonious society amongst the settlers. Although following only one religion in the colonies would seemingly create a united community, the Puritan's strict beliefs such as, individual interpretation of the Bible, their low tolerance for ideas other than their own, and the connection between church and state would eventually weaken the Puritan society as settlers would easily violate these religious doctrines. The examples to come of dissent would highlight the fragile foundation that religious unity was held on in the New England colonies. The Puritans believed …show more content…
This meant that the Puritans were able to permit harsher punishments for religious crimes by justifying it through the established belief. For example, “Massachusetts prescribed the death penalty for… worshipping ‘any god, but the lord god’ [or] practicing witchcraft” (Foner, 2014). Therefore, all settlers were forced to practice a single religion within the certain boundaries that were acceptable. Roger Williams, a Puritan minister, was one of the first to propose the idea of the separation of church and state. He believed that “preventing error in religion was impossible, for it required people to interpret God’s law” so the law should remove itself from the “human beings’ relationship with God” (Barry, 2012). As many believe now as well, separation would allow liberty for the people and they would no longer be confined to the ministers’

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