Notes:BC1.AH.New England - the Great Emigration
From Civicwiki
2014/06/15 User:Jeff
The Massachusetts Bay Company
The Massachusetts Bay Company was established by the Council for New England to develop a land grant received from the king in 1627.
- It was not founded for religious principle or reasons, it was a commercial venture.
- Most of the founding associates were Nonconformists or Separatists with a few conforming to the Established Church.
- In 1629, control of the company was secured by the Nonconformists whose objectives were to plant a colony based on their religious objectives.
England in 1625
It is interesting to ponder why a government would insist on uniformity in religion. Some historians (Edward Channing, for example[1]) attribute the reason to the need at the time to protect religion from foreign control. This is understandable given the society and customs of the times. Religion had a larger influence over the actions of people than it does today and could turn a segment of society against the government and cause adherents to plot the overthrow of its leadership. Religion has to loosen its grip on society for toleration to exist.
- But the pursuit of such uniformity came at the cost of freedom of conscious and freedom of action.
- ↑ Channing, Edward. History of the United States Volume I, The Planting of a Nation in the New World, 1000 - 1660. New York. The MacMillan Company. 1909.
