Protestant Reformation

The colonies were created for various reasons, by different groups of people. Both before and after the Protestant Reformation, many of the colonies were created so that persecuted people could escape the Church of England and practice their own religion without fear. The Protestant Reformation began when Martin Luther nailed his protests against the Catholic Church on the doors of a church in 1517. In his writing he denounced the authority of priests and popes and claimed that the bible was the only way to truly receive god’s word. With these claims, a series of religious reforms would begin in Europe. A religious leader named John Calvin agreed with Luther’s protests and further elaborated on them. This led to the creation of Calvinism,
These puritans believed in visible saints, or people who had felt grace in their soul and were able to show it to their fellow puritans. The puritans also believed that only those who were visible saints should be allowed to become members of the church. These devout puritans ended up becoming separatists and broke away from the Church of England. These separatists views would end up causing the great puritan migration in the future. This migration occurred when thousands of puritans moved to the New World to escape religious persecution in England and the rest of Europe. Before this large migration however, only 120 puritans embarked on a journey to the New World on a ship called the Mayflower. The journey to the New England colonies on the Mayflower took 65 days. All of the people who took this long journey were called the pilgrims. Once they arrived in the New World, the pilgrim leaders created and signed a document called the Mayflower Compact. This compact was an agreement to make a government and submit to regulations that had been agreed on by the majority of the other pilgrims. The pilgrims did not have an easy time in their new home, in fact only 44 of the original 120 managed to survive until the spring. Although things weren't easy, the remaining 44 pilgrims didn't go back to England when the Mayflower left. In the autumn of 1621, there was a large harvest and the
Later on, in 1639, the new Connecticut River colony had a meeting to create a new document known as the Fundamental Orders. This document is an example of a modern constitution, it established a regime democratically controlled by the substantial citizens. By 1643, the New England Confederation had been created. The purpose of this confederation was to have a system of defense against possible attackers such as the Indians and to deal with runaway criminals, slaves, and servants. The New England Confederation was the first step towards colonial unity in North America. Then in the year 1675, King Philip formed an alliance and began making coordinated attacks on English Villages in the New England area. Many years later, the Dominion of New England was created by royal authority and was imposed from London. Included in this Dominion were all of the New England colonies including New York and New Jersey. The Dominion of New England acted to stop Indian attacks and promote better success in the Administration of English Navigation Laws. These laws had been created due to the many colonial rivalries that were running strong during this time period. Sir Edmund Andros was the Head of the Dominion. Andros was a man of the English Military and was disliked throughout the colonies because he was openly supportive of the Church of England. As a form of retaliation, Andros stopped all town