New Ideas, New Colonies Lesson 2

Puritans Puritans did NOT welcome people with other religious beliefs. Some colonists left to start new colonies.

Roger Williams and Rhode Island Roger Williams and his family settled in Salem, Massachusetts in 1631. He became a popular minister because many people shared his beliefs. He believed government and church should be separate, and people shouldn’t be punished if they didn’t believe what Puritans did. In 1635 Puritan leaders voted to expel him from the colony.

After fleeing, the Williams family was fed and protected by Narragansett Indians. He bought land from them and founded a new settlement called Providence. Many people left Salem to live in his new settlement. Williams set up a government that let anyone follow the religion of their choice.

Anne Hutchinson on Trial Anne Hutchinson and her husband William settled in Boston in 1634. She began to question Puritan ways, and attracted many followers. Anna began holding religious meetings at her house. In 1637 Puritan leaders put her on trial. She was expelled from the colony and the Puritan church. Hutchinson and her followers eventually joined Roger Williams in Rhode Island.

Connecticut Some settlers left the Massachusetts Bay Colony to find better farmland and religious freedom. A man named Thomas Hooker disagreed with Puritan leaders making all the rules. He and his followers founded a settlement called Hartford in the Connecticut colony. Hooker and his colony developed the first written plan of government in North America called The Fundamental Orders. All Connecticut voters (landowning males) would elect leaders.

New Hampshire (NH) The earliest permanent settlement in New Hampshire was in the 1620s. Most people settled in this colony for the fertile land and economic opportunity. Settlers cut down trees and shipped them as lumber to England.

Indian Wars It became difficult to keep peace with the Indians with so many English people coming over to America. Most of the disagreements were about land. Fighting finally broke out with the Pequot Indians. In the 1630s English settlers won a small conflict called the “Pequot War.”

In 1675 bad feelings led to an all-out war called “King Philip’s War.” King Philip was the English name for the Indian leader Metacomet. 1 in every 16 male colonists died, and 3,000 Indians died in this war. As a result of the war, many tribes were forced off their lands.