ESCAPING PERSECUTION

Some of the settlers who came to the English colonies in North America were trying to escape religious persecution. They had been treated unfairly because other people had been intolerant of their religious beliefs. People who wanted to separate themselves from the official Church of England because they disagreed with what they saw as immoral practices called themselves Separatists. A company of Separatists traveled from England to the Netherlands before decided to make the American colonies their home in 1620. They settled in what is present-day Massachusetts, founding Plymouth Colony under their newly-elected leader, William Bradford. Since they were the first colonists known to come for religious reasons, the people of Plymouth Colony were called Pilgrims, a word which is used to describe people who travel to specific locations for religious purposes.

Pilgrims from Plymouth Colony are often confused with the Puritans, another group who traveled to America for religious freedom in 1630. People of this group wanted to purify the Church of England, cleansing it of the things that had gone wrong rather than wanting to separate from it altogether. John Winthrop established the Puritan colony, known as the Massachusetts Bay Colony, as a place where Puritans could worship freely and be an example of godliness to those around them. Most of the Puritans lived in the city of Boston. Lord Baltimore founded the colony of Maryland in 1634 to provide a safe place for Catholics who were persecuted in England.

In spite of the fact that many of the colonists in Massachusetts had come there especially for religious freedom, they found some of the colonial leaders to be very controlling. Thomas Hooker left Massachusetts with a small group in 1636 and founded Hartford in the area that is now the state of Connecticut. Roger Williams, perhaps the most famous colonial dissenter (a person who holds beliefs that are different from his or her leaders), was forced out of Massachusetts in 1636. He went to the area that is present-day Rhode Island and founded the colony of Providence. In 1681, William Penn received payment of a debt from King Charles II of England in the form of land along the Delaware River. He began what he called a holy experiment there, establishing a colony of Quakers, where people of all religions could live together.

 Name:__________________________________

Answer the following questions based on the reading passage. Don’t forget to go back to the passage whenever necessary to find or confirm your answers.

1. What is the difference in the beliefs of a Puritan versus the beliefs of a Separatist
2. Theorize: Why do you think most of the colonies that were established for religious reasons were in the New England area fairly close to one another?
3. If you had the opportunity to travel to a new country where you could set up a colony based on your personal beliefs, would you do it? Why, or why not?
4. What if there had been more religious acceptance in England and settlers who came for religious freedom never came? What might America be like today?
5. Do you think people today are more willing or less willing to stand up for their religious beliefs? Explain your thinking.