The pilgrims landing on Plymouth Rock has had a number of important impacts on America today. Whether the impacts were positive or negative, it was the pilgrims that had taken the journey to the New World and made the present what it is today. Originating from England, the English were Puritans who believed that the Church of England was in need of spiritual purification. Instead of altering the church, the English set off on a voyage to the New World for new opportunities. The pilgrims could start over and build a new society from scratch without having the chance of having corrupting influences on the Old World. Religion wasn’t the only temptation of going to the New World, there was famine and the taxes in England that made them want to depart to the New World. The New World had the opportunity to obtain rights and then they could live in the society that they had envisioned (Gray, 48).
While on the Mayflower, the settlers came to the realization that there would be no civil authority on the new land for them to follow. Resulting from that realization was the Mayflower Compact, it was designed to be their rule and guide to life on the new land. This was the first American State Paper; it provides the original statement of the principles of American democracy as we now know it. In addition it was the first self-government within the colonies and it regarded people as the source of power. The Mayflower Compact expresses four major ideas, a deep faith in God and his guidance, a deep loyalty to England and the king, a mutual regard for one another as equals, and the intent to establish equal laws to all men. It was the birth of constitutional liberty and became the official constitution of Plymouth Colony until Plymouth merged i...
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On his way to the New World, aboard the Arabella in 1630, John Winthrop, Puritan leader of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, spoke of the plan that he had in store for the colony. He preached that there would be equality in the new colony and that they " must be knit together in this work as one man." He spoke about the importance of community in the colony that was vital for the survival of the colony. His statements made on the Arabella are to the ideas in the Articles of Agreement, which compiled in Springfield, Massachusetts in 1636. In the Articles of Agreement, the community was to contain forty familiesrich and poor. In the Articles of Agreement, the concern for comfort and quality of life (for families) is outlined. They again put emphasis on the importance of unity in the colony and they also express that social classes do not determine what a person is. In Connecticut, the colonists set up regulations for wages and price; these rules were made to include poor settlers in trading and the economy by keeping the prices in the colony "fair." Since the colonists in the New England region was untied "as one" in each colony, this was one way that caused them to become a different society from the Che...
As the regions began to expand and develop, their motivations for settlement helped to mold their societies. New England was a place where men sought refuge from religious persecution and was established as a haven for religious refugees. Despite this reason for settling, the New Englanders still attempted to spread their own beliefs of religion. As illustrated by John Winthrop in his Model of a Christian Charity, he preached to his fellow colonists that “we shall be a city upon a hill” (Doc A) exemplifying the Puritans’ aspirations of a Holy Utopia. He and countless other New Englanders practiced the belief that they must all work together. They were determined to “mourn together, labor and suffer together, always having before our eyes our commission and community in the work.” The Articles of Agreement plainly laid out the basis for the New England region. These articles made New England a cosmopolitan mix of rich and poor families, all being in possession of land and resolute in doing God’s work (Doc D). However, while the New Englanders settled to create a Holy Utopia, the people of the Chesapeake were concerned not only with their religious freedom, but also ...
The Mayflower Compact, signed by some of the earliest settlers of Virginia including John Carter in 1620 was an example of early self-governance in that they established a “frame such just and equall laws, ordinances, acts, constitutions and offices..for the generall good of the Colonie.” They had left Great Britain with the intention to care for themselves and govern themselves. The Mayflower Compact is one of the earliest examples of people coming together to govern themselves and take control of their future and well-being as a colony without Great Britain. Many others followed suit after them in a manner very similar.4
While residing in England, the Puritans and faithful Catholics faced prosecution, which led to their immigration to the New World. Most left England to avoid further harassment. Many groups and parishes applied for charters to America and, led by faithful ministers, the Pilgrims and Puritans made the long voyage to North America. Their religion became a unique element in the New England colonies by 1700. Before landing, the groups settled on agreements, signing laws and compacts to ensure a community effort towards survival when they came to shore, settling in New England. Their strong sense of community and faith in God led them to develop a hardworking society by year 1700, which Documents A and D express through the explanation of how the Pilgrims and Puritans plan to develop...
In the making of the United States, there were many events that are important. This paper intends to highlight a few of those events including; Magna Carta, Mayflower Compact, Declaration of Independence, Articles of Confederation and the Federalist Papers. Many events in America’s history helped to establish the United States as a free and independent country. The Declaration of Independence in particular explains the rights and freedoms that Americans. Each document is like a stepping stones that leads to the next and building upon the pervious document.
Colonists were extremely adamant for the most part about Christianity being the one true religion. Many set out to convert the Native Americans. They believed that the Native Americans were savages for their differences in spirituality. Fear began to build in the settlers as they believed that the Native Americans where a religion less evil people. These foreign travelers whom have already commandeered their home are now attempting to force them to give up their own religion and overall worldview and adopt Christianity. The colonists treated them as if they are inferior simply on the premise of difference in religion thus forming the assumption that they had none. How could that possibly end well for either group
Massachusetts's inhabitants were Puritans who believed in predestination and the ideal that God is perfect. Many Puritans in England were persecuted for their nihilist beliefs in England because they felt that the Church of England, led by the Kind, did not enforce a literal enough interpretation of the Bible. Persecution punishment included jail and even execution. To seek refuge, they separated to go to Holland because of its proximity, lower cost, and safer passage. However, their lives in Holland were much different than that of England. The Separatists did not rebel against but rather preferred the English culture. They did not want their children to be raised Dutch. Also, they felt that Holland was too liberal. Although they enjoyed the freedom of religion, they decided to leave for America. Pilgrims, or sojourners, left for America on The Mayflower and landed in Cape Cod in 1626. They had missed their destination, Jamestown. Although the climate was extremely rocky, they did not want to move south because of their Puritan beliefs. They thought that everything was predestined, and that they must have landed on this rocky place for a reason. They moved slightly north to Plymouth Rock in order to survive more comfortably. Also because of their Puritan beliefs, they had good relations with the Native Americans. Their pacifist nature led the Indians to help with their crops. In thanks, the Pilgrims celebrated the first thanksgiving in 1621. A second group of Puritans in England, the Massachusetts Bay Company, came to Massachusetts for more economically motivated purposes due to their non-minimalist beliefs.
As more immigrants immigrated to the colonies and established lives in colonial America, the colonist began to incorporate their ideas of freedoms, rights and tolerance in legal documents. Some legal documents, such as Maryland’s Toleration Act, illustrate the colonists’ belief in freedom and rights often connected to democracy. Other official documents, for...
In the 1600’s there was the foundations of representative government. In the 1600’s the colonists came up with something called a democracy. A democracy is a government in which people rule themselves. The colonists had voted for many certain laws. They ruled themselves by using the laws of society. The carter named “Magna Carta” was a character of liberties which was agreed by King John of England, it had made the king obey the same laws as the citizens. Protestantism is a branch within Christianity; this was mostly participated during the 16th century. These were people who had reformed certain practices in the Catholic churches. On November 11, 1620 the Mayflower Compact was signed. The Mayflower Compact is a legal contract which was agreed to have fair laws to protect the good.
Though there were religious concerns that contributed to the settling of British North America, the economic concerns outweighed the notable religious concerns. A religious concern that played a role in British colonization was that the British wanted to have the Indians of North America converted to Protestant Christianity (Boorstin et al. 34). In addition, specific groups that were seeking religious freedom used the British colonizing as a venue to achieve this objective. Such groups included the Puritan separatists who had begun to lose their freedoms in England, and thus they became colonists in New England.
Many of England’s problems could be solved in America, and so colonization began. When the earliest settlers came, England had the responsibility to continue the Protestant Church, and prevent the Catholic Church from converting the entire Native American population of North America (Morison, p.105) A potential Protestant refuge could be based there in the threat of civil wars or a change of religion.
The Pilgrims had many reasons for writing the Mayflower Compact. The Pilgrims declared their purposes for writing and forming the colony and the compact was "for the glory of God and advancement of the Christian faith". Following by what the compact says, they declared that they had the authority " to enact constitute and frame such just and equal laws, ordinances, acts". Following by what the compact says that they had to authority to create "constitutions and offices from time to time, as shall be thought most convenient for the general good of the Colony". What that means is that the government doesn't have the authority to change or expand itself. The authority to create and void governments and new offices, remains with the people.
Throughout human history, religion has played a fundamental role in societal development, regardless of the culture. Christianity, in particular, has profoundly shaped the last two thousand years of history and continues to do so today. This holds true in the case of European development and exploration of the New World. As exploration in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries flourished, many countries set out to declare land on behalf of their country, and in an effort to bring honor to their God. When English settlers first developed colonies in New England, one of their goals was to share the word of God with the Native Americans they encountered. This drastically conflicted with the views of the Native Indians, and completely altered the development of North America. European religious views in early North American exploration set the tone for America’s development into a commodification driven society that exploited the environment as a means of economic potential.
Throughout the years there has been many ways to reassure and keep others happy. The Mayflower Compact is one of the United States foundational documents of great historical significance, it contains literary elements with other important U.S. foundational documents in later centuries. The Preamble to the Constitution is one of the country’s foundational documents, igniting a signal of freedom both to the nation and the world. Last, The Star Spangled Banner is a historical poem that is used for the United States. The themes that the Preamble to the Constitution has in common with the Mayflower Compact and The Star Spangled Banner is unity, freedom, and peace.
The main reasons for the English immigration to America was first based on obtaining new land but quickly changed as people decided to move from England to escape religious and political prosecution. In their native countries, they often had little money and could not worship God in the way they wished. The immigrants hoped for freedom and good fortune in their new lives. The ride to the new land was very rough, (in line 74) Bradford stated “Being thus arrived in a good harbor, and