Hist 1301: WEEK 4 Seeking God's Salvation: Greater New England - TERMS & DEFINITONS

Plymouth

• Colony founded in 1620 by Separatists who wanted to break from the Church of England.

Massachusetts Bay

• Puritan colony founded in 1630

• Aimed to purify the Church of England and build a moral society.

Connecticut

• Founded in 1636

• Modeled after Massachusetts Bay’s Puritan system.

Providence Plantation

• Founded in 1636 by Roger Williams

• Based on religious freedom and separation of church and state.

Newport

• Town in Rhode Island formed in the late 1630s

• Part of the colony known for religious diversity.

Warwick

• Another Rhode Island settlement formed in the late 1630s

• Joined Providence and Newport.

New Haven

• Founded in 1638

• Extremely strict Puritan colony where the Bible was the only source of law.

New Hampshire

• Northern New England region

• Originally under Massachusetts influence before becoming its own colony.

Maine

• Region that became a possession of Massachusetts in 1652.

Rhode Island

• Colony formed from Providence, Newport, and Warwick

• Known for religious freedom.

Separatist

• English Protestants who wanted to fully separate from the Church of England (Plymouth).

Puritans

• English Protestants who wanted to reform/purify the Church of England (Massachusetts Bay).

New Birth Experience

• Spiritual transformation proves that someone was part of the elect and saved.

Mayflower Compact

• Agreement signed by Plymouth settlers establishing self‑government and cooperation.

Squanto

• Wampanoag man who helped Plymouth settlers survive by teaching farming and local knowledge.

Great Migration

• 1630–1640 movement of Puritan families to New England.

John Winthrop

• Puritan leader of Massachusetts Bay

• Promoted the “city upon a hill” vision.

Covenanted Society

• Puritan belief that they had a covenant with God to build a moral, godly community.

Laws and Liberties of Massachusetts

• 1648 legal code combining biblical law and English common law

• Structured Puritan society.

Deputy Husband

• Term describing women temporarily taking on male household roles when husbands were absent.

Inheritance of Eve

• Puritan idea that women were spiritually important but socially inferior due to biblical teachings.

Roger Williams

• Founder of Providence/Rhode Island

• Argued for religious freedom and separation of church and state.

Anne Hutchinson

• Puritan woman who challenged male religious authority

• Banished in 1637.

Vacuum Domicilium

• English legal idea meaning “empty land,” used by Puritans to justify taking Indigenous land.

John Eliot

• Puritan missionary who attempted to convert Indigenous people and create “praying towns.”

Pequot War

• 1637 conflict between New England settlers and the Pequot tribe

• Ended with the destruction of Pequot villages.

King Philip’s War

• 1675–1676 Indigenous uprising led by Metacom

• Devastated New England towns.

Metacom (King Philip)

• Wampanoag leader who resisted English expansion; led King Philip’s War.

John Sassamon

• Christianized Indigenous man whose murder helped spark King Philip’s War.

Independent Competency

• Goal of owning enough land and resources to live freely without excess wealth.

Half-Way Covenant

• 1662 policy allowing baptized but non‑elect adults to baptize their children

• Partial church membership.

Quakers

• Religious group emphasizing inner light and equality; challenged Puritan authority.

Baptists

• Protestant group emphasizing adult baptism

• Also challenged Puritan religious control.

Entertaining Satan

• Puritan phrase referring to fears of spiritual corruption, especially during the Salem Witch Trials.