Colonial Foundations and Early American Society

Massachusetts Bay and the intertwining of religion and government

Primary motivation for going to Massachusetts Bay: religious freedom; these settlers had strong religious convictions and sought freedom for their practice.
In Massachusetts, church and state were effectively one: there was no separation of church and state; church leaders were colonial leaders and their doctrinal interpretations functioned like law.
Disagreement with church doctrine could lead to criminal-like punishment because dissent was treated as a legal issue.
Religious landscape in early America was diverse in practice: many Christian denominations exist, with mainstream estimates of at least 200 Christian denominations today (some sources claim over 1000).
Minor doctrinal variations could become points of rift even within Christianity (e.g., millennialism: millennialism, post-millennialism, pre-millennialism).
A specific historical note: the early 18th–19th century saw groups forming sub-denominations in New England (e.g., the “Church of Christ” vs “Christian Church of Christ”); Church of Christ tends to be non-instrumental (no piano/organ) whereas other denominations align more with instrumental music.
The lack of separation of church and state in Massachusetts influenced governance: church doctrine guided interpretation of biblical texts, and dissent from church doctrine could be treated as crime or punishment under the law.
Across New England (Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Hampshire, Maine), church-state fusion was stronger than in other colonies; Rhode Island and Connecticut would later diverge more on religious liberty, but in practice religion remained central to governance.
The concept of church-state fusion contributed to a broader discussion of democracy and religious freedom in America; it’s a springboard for later debates about the separation of church and state.

Congregationalism, Hooker, and the seeds of American democracy

Connecticut is founded by Thomas Hooker, who argued against higher human authority (he rejected the idea that political leadership should be the same as church leadership).
Hooker promoted the idea that interpretation of scripture should be left to the congregation (the people) rather than centralized authority; this is described as opposition to higher human authority.
Hooker’s move from Massachusetts to Connecticut established a congregational form of church governance, which in turn supported a more democratic model of civil governance.
Congregationalism is significant for the development of the United States because it promotes local, congregational decision-making, which parallels democratic practices (as opposed to a king or autocrat imposing doctrine).
The term “higher human authority” (as opposed to divine authority) is used to describe this governance difference; the pope in Catholicism is an example of ultimate higher human authority for Catholics.
Connecticut’s congregational roots helped push US political development toward more participatory, democratic practices, influencing later constitutional and democratic developments.
The concept and rhetoric around separation of church and state are connected to, but not identical with, congregational democracy; Tocqueville’s later observations explore how American religion and democracy reinforce each other.

Tocqueville on religion and democracy in America

Alexis de Tocqueville (French political thinker) visited the United States in the 1830s and wrote about democracy in America.
He argued that democracy flourished in part because of the foundation of religion in the British North American colonies and the United States; in contrast, European monarchies often resisted democracy because it challenged higher authorities embedded in church and state structures.
Tocqueville’s view suggest that congregationalism and religious pluralism in the US helped sustain democratic norms; religion provided social glue and ethical frameworks that supported democratic participation.
This perspective is one of several lenses through which the class discusses the link between religion and democracy; other perspectives (e.g., debates about separation of church and state) will be covered later.

Roger Williams, Rhode Island, and religious liberty

Roger Williams was in Massachusetts and questioned loyalty to the Church of England (Puritans in New England were Anglican-aligned historically).
Williams argued for independence from the English church; he advocated separating church and state and for liberty of conscience.
He was arrested and nearly deported; he escaped and eventually purchased land from Indigenous peoples—Rhode Island ( Narragansett land) for a settlement where religious liberty could flourish.
Rhode Island became a haven for religious dissenters; it is noted as having relatively broad religious freedom for its time.
Williams is also associated with the founding of a Baptist congregation in the colonies (a point of religious innovation in early America).
Rhode Island distinguished itself by allowing belief in a Judeo-Christian God while avoiding heavy state-imposed church authority.

Anne Hutchinson, antinomian controversy, and relocation for religious freedom

Anne Hutchinson arrived in Massachusetts in the 1630s with strong religious convictions and began offering her own interpretations of sermons (antinomian ideas).
Hutchinson’s interpretations conflicted with the colony’s church leadership (the “higher human authority” in practice) and she began instructing men in controversial teachings.
The colonial leaders banished Hutchinson and her followers from Massachusetts; they were given the option to apologize and stay, but the followers largely left, and Hutchinson herself moved toward greater religious freedom elsewhere.
Hutchinson initially moved to Rhode Island but Rhode Island’s authority and recognition were not yet established by England; thus she sought a location with even greater religious freedom—ultimately considering Long Island (Dutch territory).
Hutchinson’s voyage eastward ended tragically when she and her party faced danger; her household faced deadly violence during conflicts with Indigenous groups; Hutchinson herself died during relocation attempts.
A sensational anecdote is shared about a redheaded child spared by Indigenous people; this reflects the era’s tensions and legends surrounding early colonial-Indigenous contact.

The Pequot War and King Philip’s War: conflict and colonial responses

The Pequot War (1636) saw colonial settlers massacre Pequots in retaliation for prior murders; the colonists were not skilled fighters but outnumbered the Pequots.
The Narragansetts allied with the colonists against the Pequots due to competing land interests and economic ties; after alliance, the Treaty of Hartford dissolved the Pequot nation, forcing survivors to integrate with other Indigenous groups (e.g., Sassacus fled to Mohawk territory and was killed).
King Philip’s War (1675–1676) was led by Metacom (also called King Philip), a Wampanoag leader, who resisted colonial expansion and land seizure.
The war killed approximately 2{,}500 colonists, about 20% of the local population; the colonists ultimately received aid from Mohawk (Iroquois) allies, who defeated the Wampanoags.
King Philip’s head was displayed on a pole outside Fort Plymouth for almost two decades as a warning; the Mohawk/Iroquois played a decisive role in ending the war.

Maryland colony: Catholic refuge and labor systems

The Calvert family (Cecilius Calvert, etc.) were Catholic aristocrats in England who sought religious liberty for Catholics in the New World.
In 1634, Maryland was granted to the Calverts by King Charles I as a refuge for wealthy English Catholics.
The colony’s early labor system relied on indentured servants (Anglicans, low-wage workers) who would be freed after about seven years if they survived; many did not reach seven years due to harsh conditions.
As the colony developed, Anglicans came to outnumber Catholics, and Catholic protection waned; this shift contributed to the eventual persecution of Catholics in Maryland a few decades later.
Maryland’s founding illustrates how religious aims intersected with labor, economics, and political power in early colonial life.

Founding patterns of the English colonies and early governance structures

Each colony began with different founding purposes and economic bases:
- New England: religious aims (Puritans) and education; strong church influence.
- Maryland: Catholic refuge; later Anglican predominance and labor shifts.
- Virginia: tobacco-focused economy; aristocratic and royal-imperial governance influences.
- North/South Carolina: diverse economic models; South Carolina develops rice plantations and relies on enslaved labor; early settlers from Barbados influence economic culture.
- Pennsylvania: established by William Penn and the Quakers; emphasis on equality, anti-war sentiment, and proto-abolitionist attitudes.
- New York/New Jersey: initially Dutch (New Netherland) with commercial liberty; English conquest in 1664.
- Georgia: founded later as a buffer against Spanish Florida and to house debtors; James Oglethorpe; initially restricted slavery.
The colonial governance structure blended royal governors (appointed by Parliament) with colonial assemblies that passed laws and levied taxes; governors often had limited practical power because assemblies did most day-to-day governance.
Berkeley in Virginia: elitist, pro-Anglican governance; his policies included westward expansion and punitive measures against dissenters; Bacon’s Rebellion (1676) challenged his authority and highlighted tensions between frontier settlers and colonial elites.
Bacon’s Rebellion (1676) and itsDeclaration of the People of Virginia reflected early expressions of colonial resistance to central authority and perceived neglect by colonial leadership; Bacon’s death ended the rebellion, and Berkeley’s power was eventually restored.

Bacon’s Rebellion, frontier violence, and implications for colonial policy

Nathaniel Bacon led a frontier army of around 500 men against Indigenous groups after western settlers faced attacks; Bacon’s forces attacked Indigenous peoples, sometimes wrongly targeting the wrong groups.
The rebellion culminated in the burning of Jamestown; Bacon died of dysentery (a deadly, painful condition) before the rebellion could be sustained; Berkeley regained control afterward.
The episode foreshadowed later colonial grievances against distant authorities and the neglect of frontier settlers, foreshadowing revolutionary sentiments that would emerge roughly a century later.

African slavery, the Middle Passage, and labor in the colonies

The Middle Passage describes the transatlantic voyage from Africa to the Americas and the brutal conditions endured by enslaved people; many enslaved Africans died during transit.
Early slave trade dominated by Portugal (early centuries) with hundreds of thousands carried to the Americas; later, British (England) and French involvement increased; Spain also played a role through possession of territories and use of enslaved labor.
The northern British North American colonies received relatively small numbers of enslaved Africans in the 16th–17th centuries; Barbados and other Caribbean islands carried very large slave populations, influencing labor practices in the mainland colonies (e.g., South Carolina’s rice plantations).
By the 18th century, enslaved labor became a defining element of the Atlantic slave trade in the colonies; native peoples were enslaved in some contexts, but there were strong differences between Native slavery practices and African slavery in terms of social structure and kinship concepts.
Prices and labor markets: enslaved people were valued, and the economics of slavery affected decisions about manumission and post-Service freedom; for example, a freed enslaved person’s value (economic return) could discourage emancipation.
The transition from indentured servitude to African slavery occurred as English labor conditions improved and indentured servitude became less appealing; Native American slavery declined as Native communities resisted enslavement and as European settlers moved westward.
Prominent individuals with enslaved labor included Martha and George Washington (hundreds of slaves) and Thomas Jefferson (over two hundred slaves), illustrating the scale of wealth and labor systems among elite planters.

The English Civil War, Cromwell, and the long arc toward imperial governance

Charles I advocated the Divine Right of Kings, arguing that kings are chosen by God; this positioned royal authority against Parliament.
Parliament was disbanded in 1629 by Charles I but restored in 1640; conflicts between Parliament and the Crown led to civil war in 1642.
The side opposing the king included groups called Whigs (countryside skeptics of royal authority) and the king’s supporters were called Tories.
In 1649, Charles I was beheaded, exiling his family to France; Oliver Cromwell emerged as a parliamentary leader and ruled as Lord Protector (though not king) from roughly 1649 to 1658.
Cromwell’s rule was controversial: many viewed him as a usurper because he exercised monarchical power without kingship; upon his death, his successors failed to sustain leadership.
The Restoration in 1660 restored Charles II to the throne, signaling a return to traditional monarchy after Cromwell’s era; this period shaped subsequent political development and colonial governance.
These English political upheavals influenced how colonies governed themselves, especially in terms of autonomy and resistance to distant imperial powers; as England recovered stability, some colonies moved toward greater self-government.

The rise of new colonies and colonial borders: the Carolina colonies, Georgia, New Netherland, and Pennsylvania

Charles II initiated a few additional colonies in the 1660s, including the Carolina colonies; this territory later split into North Carolina and South Carolina due to environmental and geographical differences.
Georgia was established later (1732) under James Oglethorpe as a military buffer against Spanish Florida and to house debtors; it was initially restrictive, including limited slavery and a focus on defense.
Florida remained Spanish territory; the French presence in North America persisted in the broader region, with Louisiana and Mississippi later playing significant roles in colonial dynamics.
New Netherland (Dutch) controlled what would become New York and New Jersey; Peter Stuyvesant faced an English challenge led by James (the Duke of York); lacking broad local loyalty, Stuyvesant could not resist English takeover, which occurred in 1664.
William Penn acquired Pennsylvania in 1681 as debt repayment to the English crown; Penn was a radical Quaker who advocated equality, nonviolence, and anti-slavery principles.

William Penn and the Quaker ethos in Pennsylvania

William Penn, a Quaker, founded Pennsylvania in 1681; Quakers emphasized equality of all people (including men and women, and among races and Indigenous peoples), nonviolence (anti-war), and anti-slavery.
Quakers wore plain clothes and lived simple lives; they promoted peaceful coexistence with Native Americans and sought to avoid wars and conquest.
Pennsylvania attracted many Quakers and other settlers seeking religious toleration and freedom; Quaker influence persisted even as the colony diversified.
Pennsylvania became notable for its early abolitionist stance, with the state ultimately becoming the first to abolish slavery (by 1780 in many contexts).
Quakers’ influence extended beyond Pennsylvania: they contributed to abolitionist movements and later to women’s rights movements; prominent Quaker women, along with their sisters (referred to as the Griffith sisters in the lecture) and others, played roles in social reform movements.
Levi Coffin, a prominent Quaker and abolitionist, helped thousands of enslaved people gain freedom via the Underground Railroad.
The Seneca Falls Conference of 1848 was connected in part to Quaker activism, with figures such as Lucretia Mott contributing to the push for women’s rights; the lecture notes mention the Griffith sisters and Lucretia Mott in this context.

Slavery, abolition, and the early republic

By 1776, all thirteen colonies included slavery, and most were slave states at the outset of the American Revolution; the system existed across the colonial seaboards.
The first state to begin abolishing slavery was Pennsylvania (1780); other states began abolition in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, often driven by Quaker influence and reform movements.
The conversation around abolition includes the Underground Railroad and notable abolitionists like Levi Coffin, as well as major women’s rights advocates connected to the broader reform movements that included abolition.
The class discussion also touches on the moral complexities of slavery, including the economic drivers of slavery, the price of enslaved people (which varied by age, gender, and other factors), and the tension between emancipation and property rights.

Quick synthesis: why these colonial foundations matter for America

Each colony’s founding rationale (religious refuge, economic venture, or strategic buffer) shaped its governance, labor system, and social fabric.
The early colonial experiments with church-state relations, congregational governance, and deliberative assemblies laid groundwork for later American political ideals of self-government and representative democracy.
Religious diversity and conflict in early America spurred debates about liberty of conscience, the role of religion in public life, and the boundaries between church and state.
Economic imperatives (tobacco in Virginia, rice in South Carolina, oats and grain in Pennsylvania) intertwined with social structures (indentured servitude evolving into African slavery) to form the labor backbone of colonial society.
The English Civil War and subsequent Restoration influenced the pace and character of colonization, governance, and the interplay between crown authority and colonial autonomy.
The rise of Quaker influence in Pennsylvania and abolitionist currents helped shape later reforms in democracy, civil rights, and gender equality in the United States.

Summary of key terms and figures to remember

Massachusetts Bay, separation of church and state, congregationalism, Higher human authority
Thomas Hooker, Connecticut, congregational democracy, link to broader American democracy
Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America, religion and democracy in the US
Roger Williams, Rhode Island, religious liberty, separation of church and state, land purchase from Indigenous peoples
Anne Hutchinson, antinomian controversy, banishment, relocation to Rhode Island/Long Island; Indigenous conflicts and tragedy
Pequot War (1636), King Philip’s War (1675–1676), Sassacus, Narragansett alliance, Metacomet/King Philip, Mohawk/Iroquois involvement
Maryland Calverts, Catholic refuge, shift to Anglican majority, indentured servitude and slavery
Bacon’s Rebellion (1676), Nathaniel Bacon, William Berkeley, Jamestown, frontier resistance, dysentery, Declaration of the People of Virginia
Middle Passage, Atlantic slave trade, shifts from indentured servitude to slavery, early slave populations and prices
Charles I, divine right of kings, English Civil War, Cromwell, Restoration, Whigs and Tories
Carolina colonies, Georgia, James Oglethorpe, buffer strategy, slavery debates; New Netherland vs New York/New Jersey
William Penn and Pennsylvania, Quaker beliefs: equality, anti-war, anti-slavery, plain dress; role in abolition and later social reform
Pennsylvania abolition (1780), Underground Railroad, Levi Coffin, Seneca Falls Conference and women’s rights movements (Lucretia Mott, Griffith sisters)