BEGINNINGS

Would you have joined the early

settlers in coming to America?

settlers of new england

& early coloniAL HISTORY

The first New England colonies were founded by separatists. Some were Anglicans who advocated separation from the Anglican Church. Others were Puritans who sought to purify Anglicanism of Catholic influences and practices. Christianity was an essential part of the education and teachings of children in their families and schools, so it was fully integrated into the lives of the colonists and informed their world view.

The middle and southern colonies had no public schools. The New England colonies were the first to mandate public education. One room school houses were communally funded, so parents contributed whatever they could including books, money, desks, firewood, and the teachers stayed in parent's homes on a rotating basis. Christianity was standard for any course of education. Boys were taught history, geography, writing, mathematics, and were instructed in their father's trade. Girls were taught writing, mathematics, and to play a musical instrument, sing, or dance. They were also expected to get married, raise children, and care for the home.

Christian denominations and bible based groups included Anglicans, Baptists, Catholics, Congregationalists, German Pietists, Lutherans, Methodists, Shakers, and some Quakers and some others. The Presbyterian Church in New England emerged in the 17th century when New England Puritans preferred the presbyterian system of church government over New England Congregationalism. Presbyterian influence in the colonies grew markedly in the middle decades of the 1700s, shaped by the Great Awakening and an influx of Scottish and Scots Irish immigrants, most of whom were Presbyterian. (Presbyterian Historical Society) .Interpretations of the Bible and practices differed between one settlement or colony and another, even if both claimed to follow the precepts of a given denomination. Communities based on religious freedom extended only to their own beliefs with the exception of the Rhode Island settlements, which emphasized religious tolerance.

"Protestant Christianity understood as 'revealed religion' (based on scriptures) was the dominant religious force, which shaped colonial culture and, along with the Protestant rationalism of the 18th century, was integral to the foundation and diversification of the United States of America." Source, World History Encyclopedia, Author, Joshua J. Mark, 12 April, 2021.