Religious Colonies: The shining examples of colonial America

The English settlers all came to the New World with a purpose.  Be it for economic, political or religious reasons, it could be said that all colonies enjoyed much more independence than in England, especially those seeking religious freedom.  With the persecution of the new English Church, all religions save the Protestants were under severe persecution.  Of course, with the New World looking as promising as it did, many fled there.  From Catholics to Quakers to Puritans, they all made their own colonies and carried out their own ways of life.  Some tolderated religious freedom in their own colonies, while others simply wanted their colony to be strictly under their own religion.  This of course caused several small conflicts between the religious colonies.  There have also been several conflicts between the religious and the Crown-Chartered royal colonies seeking nothing but profit.  However, religion did play a very significant role in the establishment of all the English colonies.  Those that sought religious freedom each became shining examples of how colonies should run.

Massacusetts Bay was established as a Calvinist, Protestant colony, which existed as a haven to those following John Calvin from England.  They tolerated no other religion other than Calvinism, and openly exiled and rejected all others.  Years later, Pennsylvania was established as a Quaker colony, open to all religions and backgrounds, even the local Native American tribes.  They saw themselves as all one race, and acted as a haven from the English crown, seeing that they were all exiles.  Both were very successful colonies, and were major role models for colonies to come in later years.

They were not without their conflicts, however.  Massachusetts, tolerating no other idealism other than Calvinism, was host to many uprisings and exiles of open-minded people.  Roger Williams established Rhode Island after he was banished from Massacusetts for promoting seperation of Church and State, with Anne Hutchinson following him shortly after.  She had the audacity to accuse the clergy of being too bound to one view of the Bible, and said that any faithful person can interperet the bible for themselves.

Conflicts also happened between other colonies and the religious ones.  The Carolinas were established by Charles II after retaking the crown, and gave that land to those who fought for him.  The people who came were unruly, and openly slaughtered any Indians on their land.  Their religion was that of the english Church, and sought only a rich economic opporitunity.  Even after Pennsylvania declared its tolerance to Native Amerians, the Carolinians chased them all the way into Pennsylvania to kill them.  William Penn was certainly not pleased, yet chose not to confront them.

While some were hated by their neighbors, the religious olonies were arguably the most well-organized and most stable of the English colonies.  Massachusetts becoming one of the largest colonies, and Plymouth the most famous, our bill of Rights is based off of some of their ideals.  Freedom of religion was brought by Pennsylvania and Rhode Island.  Colonies like the Carolinas and Georgia quickly fell to be some of the least popular colonies, simply because they were drones of the Monarchy.  The colonies seeking religious freedom were in fact, the first revolutionaries.