The New England and Chesapeake regions did vary in a number of ways. These differences included economy, population, and religion. The regions were assembled for very contrasting reasons and under different climates. The New England colonies, Maryland, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania were formed and established "as plantations of religion." The first New England colonies, which included New Hamshire, Rhode Island, Connecticut and Massachussets, were all founded in the 17th century, beginning with the landing of the Pilgrims at Plymouth in 1620. All but New Hampshire were founded as havens for various religious groups, including Seperatists, Quakers, and Puritans. The separatist objective was to follow the teachings of John Calvin and separate from both the Roman Catholic and Angelican churches. During the …show more content…
The Puritans rejected the concept of free will believing Only God knew the fate of each person which was in contrast to the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church,. This conviction lay on the belief that there was one true religion and that it was the duty of the civil authorities to forcibly impose if neccesary to save the souls of all citizens. In New England the settlers of the Puritan faith arrived with very definative ideas about what sort of society they would form. As expressed by John Winthrop, the first governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, they wanted to establish Godly communities where the settlers would live in a close-knit “city upon a hill”. The settlers of New England felt that God had selected them for this special task, which led to religion being extremely critical in the way of life, to the point that at times if you did not attend church regularly you could not vote on anything, except for those in Rhode Island. Rhode Island, unlike the rest of New England, kept church and state separate and accepted colonists of all