Religious Freedom
Before 1700, the British North American colonies had opposing views on the degree of religious freedom in the new world. There was not one colonial society but three regional orders, New England, the Middle Colonies, and the South, unified by the different acts of the British Empire and by the English origin of most of the settlers. New England was mostly comprised of the Puritans, the mid-Atlantic Colonies consisted of the Quakers, and the South was not all about religion, but more for using the land to make money. Religious freedom is being able to believe in anything you would like, and not be persecuted for those values by the people around you. Although there was, to some extent, religious tolerance in the colonies, it was not always shown by those whom promised it. The area of New England consisted of the colonies of Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, and Connecticut. Between 1620 and 1640, the English Puritans settled this area as their utopian city, after being persecuted by English state leaders and the Anglican Church. The Puritans believed that God singled out very few people for Salvation, and not every one was a member of the Congregational Church. To become a member of the chu
A different society developed in the Middle colonies of Pennsylvania, New York, and New Jersey. In 1664, King Charles II gave his brother, James, the Duke of York, title to all Dutch lands in North America. James hired Colonel Nicolls to organize an invasion fleet to conquer the Dutch lands. Nicolls was made administrator of the land and was not to authorize an assembly for his colony. He issued the Articles of Capitulation that corroborated all inhabitants their land titles. Nicolls also proclaimed the Duke's Laws that assured the colonists basic liberations such as trial by jury and religious toleration, so long as they belonged to and sustained some church. The Puritans from Long Island, however, wanted a representative assembly. In 1680, James allowed the assembly, but then rebuked it in 1685. James turned over all his proprietary lands to John, Lord Berkeley, and Sir George Carteret in 1664. Nicolls did not know about this grant until after he offered Puritans land grants to what became the eastern part of New Jersey. The questions regarding proprietary ownership of New Jersey inundated the colony until the end of the century. In Pennsylvania and parts of New Jersey, immigrants from England and Wales who were members of the Society of Friends, more commonly known as the Quakers, initially settled the area. The Dutch, however, settled what would become New York. In 1681, William Penn acquired from the Crown, in payment of a liability owed to his father, a grant of territory in North America. Penn founded the colony of Pennsylvania in 1682, attracting immigrants with policies of religious liberty and freehold land ownership. Like the Puritans, Penn had the vision of a utopian society but he
Some common words found in the essay are:
Church England, Rhode Island, African Americans, Antinomian Puritans, Protestants Quakers, Georgia Maryland, Quakers South, Bay Colony, Congregational Church, George Carteret, religious freedom, middle colonies, rhode island, north american colonies, dutch lands, english puritans, north america, anglican church, african americans, roger williams, religious toleration,
Approximate Word count = 1160
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
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