Religion and early American identity

Résumé du document

Trying to determine the motives of the migrants to the new world is a difficult quest because their motivations were diverse and depended on the colonies they came from. The migrants could have been motivated by economical considerations and might have moved in search of a better life, and to be richer in North America by escaping hard times in their mother land. There were also religious considerations at play. Leaving for North America was seen a new start; as a way to build a society in more conformance with religious behavior. We may wonder if religious purposes were the determinant factors or not of immigration in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries and if, as a consequence, religion lies at the heart of Early American identity. As New England was a good example of this paradox between economic and religious purposes in emigration we will focus on the Puritans to point out their motivations.

Extraits

[...] Religion had a great importance for settlers' life. Local communities were tightly bound by the restrictions of the Puritan faith. The local church of a community was free to run its own affairs under the guidance of the General Court composed of the governor and the representatives selected by the towns). The organization of the society was a reflect of the Puritan ideal and faith. They believed that social hierarchy was ordained by God. As a consequence they made well ordered communities. [...]

[...] The Great Migration ended. The Puritans emigrated in order to practise their variety of Christianity. But they did not come to America to create a society where religion could be freely practised. They wished to establish their own version of religion. It explains why they had little, tolerance for others religions. It explains why they used to ban and exile dissident such as Roger Williams. They also banned Anglicans and Baptists. Puritans came to pray and to establish the community they desired. [...]

[...] Religious and social ideals were closely linked. Early migrants imbued their society with a deeply spiritual significance. Puritanism played a great role in it. The emigrant population in New England was socially homogenous. They emphasized on communal and spiritual harmony and tried to maintain social cohesion. Differences in status between partners were reduced. They do that and accepted these ideas because the majority of emigrants responded to a common spiritual impulse in moving to New England. Emigrants only concerned with their own material improvement would scarcely have acceded to an ideal of mutual cooperation. [...]

[...] In 1629 Charles began a campaign of persecution and repression against them. This led to the migration of thousands of Puritans to New England. In 1629 a group of wealthy Puritans created a Company, the Massassuchets Bay Company and 200 settlers left for Massassuchet Bay. They wished to establish city on the a New England model of reform for old England. The Puritan migration was called the Great Migration because more than 20000 people migrated to Massachusetts between 1629 and 1643. [...]

[...] Major Problems in American Colonial History. 2nd ed). In her essay, contrary to some historians who argued that it was primarily economic distress that caused them to leave, Anderson used passengers list to show that religion was the primary motivating factor for people to migrate to New England in the seventeenth century. First the age structure of the population that migrated to New England was similar to the one of England. In the boats that sailed to America there were both young children and old people. [...]