Puritan Congregation And The Church Of England example essay topic

3. Compare the ways in which religion shaped the development of colonial society (to 1740) in TWO of the following regions: (2002) New England Chesapeake Middle Atlantic The regions of New England and Chesapeake were dominated by two religions; New England colonies were filled with Puritan congregations and the Chesapeake area with the Church of England. Both these religions had a tremendous impact on each's respective areas especially in the development of government and the communities. The system of town and church government used by the Puritan congregation was well suited to the progress of the colonial society as was the Church of England to the Chesapeake region since it was the official state religion. A. New England 1. Puritan congregations- local communities in all the New England colonies but Rhode Island were governed by Puritan congregations 2. Land- The Puritan colonies allotted each congregation a tract of communal land.

Church members divided this land among themselves on the basis of status and seniority, laying out central villages like Deerfield and building churches (called meetinghouses) that were maintained through taxation. 3. Church members- Adult male church members constituted the freemen of the town, and thus there was very little distinction between religious and secular authority 4. Restrictions- Although local communities had considerable autonomy, they were tightly bound by the restrictions of the Puritan faith and the General Court. 5.

Toleration Act of 1689- New England at first resisted it, but under pressure from English authorities, Massachusetts and Connecticut reluctantly allowed other Protestant denominations to begin worshipping openly in 1700. However, the Puritan Church continued to be officially supported through taxation. B. Chesapeake 1. Church of England- English authorities made the Church of England the state religion in the Chesapeake colonies 2. Requirements- Residents paid taxes to support the Church and were required to attend services 3.

Toleration- No other churches were allowed into Virginia and Maryland, and dissenters were excluded or exiled 4. Toleration Act of 1689- before the 1750's, the act was little enforced in the South 5. the Anglican Church- the Anglican establishment was internally weak. It maintained neither a colonial bishop nor local institutions for training clergy. In Carolina and Georgia, neither Anglicanism nor any other denomination rested on a firm foundation. The Puritan congregation and the Church of England played a major part in the development of colonial society in the New England and Chesapeake regions because it was able to have control of the government as the dominant religion.