E/MS Unit II: Building a New Society: Life in Colonial Massachusetts Lesson B: Religious Intolerance in Seventeenth-Century Massachusetts
Key Questions
1. What were the early settlers' religious goals?
2. How did the Puritans treat people who had different religious views than they did?
3. Why were Puritans so intolerant of religious practices that were different from their own?
STUDENT ACTIVITIES:
Primary Sources
- Document E/MS II-3:
Setting an Example for the World: Excerpts from John Winthrop’s Speech "A Modell of Christian Charity," 1630 - Document E/MS II-4:
"We Sentence You to Depart": Comments on Roger Williams’s Views - Document E/MS II-5:
Catholics Keep Out: Massachusetts Law of 1637 - Document E/MS II-6:
"She Troubles the Peace": Excerpts from "The Examination of Mrs. Anne Hutchinson at the Court at Newtown," 1637 - Document E/MS II-7:
Mary Dyer Shall Hang: Nineteenth-century Painting of Mary Dyer Walking to the Gallows
Related Mass Moments
"Roger Williams Banished"
He spread new and dangerous religious ideas.
"Anne Hutchinson Banished"
She threatened the authority of the colony’s leaders.
"Massachusetts Bay Colony Bans Catholic Priests"
Priests were banned on penalty of death.
"Quakers Outlawed in Plymouth"
Quakers were considered instruments of the devil.
"Christmas Celebration Outlawed"
Celebrate Christmas and you’ll be fined five shillings.
lesson image credit: Quakers being led to execution in Massachusetts Bay Colony in the 1600s; Religious Society of Friends (UK)