America’s Debt to Its 17th-Century Rebels:

Roger Williams, Anne Hutchinson, and

Thomas Morton

Rebellion is Nature’s PlanBe grateful to the child who refuses to clean his or her room

Be grateful to the Puritans who refused to obey the Anglican Church

Be grateful to those who refused to obey the puritans.

Purification of the Anglican ChurchAll the puritans wanted to purify the

Church of England of what they considered to be “the relics of Popery.’’

Anything that would be found in a Roman Catholic Church they didn’t want in the Church of England. All statues of the Virgin Mary, and the Saints they considered idolatrous

They didn’t want prayer books.

Westminster Cathedral

Photo by Paul Keleher Creative Commons Attribution

Not plain enoughWestminster Cathedral represents all the

puritans opposed: excessive ornamentation, and much too Roman Catholic Architecture.

“God’s altar needs not our polishing,” asserted the puritan divine Cotton Mather

Three Main Groups of PuritansThose who stayed in England and

eventually defeated the monarchy and the Church of England

Those who remained nominally in the Church of England, but went to Massachusetts Bay (now Boston) to worship in a Purified church

Those who separated completely from the Church of England and went to Plymouth

The Separatists and the Mayflower

Of the 104 passengers on board, fewer than half were Puritan Separatists (or ‘”saints” as they called themselves.)

The others they called “strangers,” even though they belonged to the Church of England.

The Mayflower II in Plymouth Harbor

Photo by Paul Keleher, Creative Commons Attribution

The question of authorityBecause they knew they were right,

Separatists, established their authority over the majority with the Mayflower Compact.

The United Minority Won

American TheocracyWith God at the top sending them directions

through the Bible and signs in nature, the Separatist minority ran a rather intolerant government:

Mandatory church attendance

No separation of church and state

Strict punishment for profanity, fornication, bestiality, and usury.

Rebels against rebels

Thomas Morton

Roger Williams

Anne Hutchinson

Thomas Morton: Puritan ScourgeMorton, an Anglican, helped found a

rival colony near Plymouth.

The rivalry was essentially commercial, particularly with gun sales to Indians.

But Morton seemed to take delight taunting the Separatists.

The Idolatrous MaypoleMorton set up a maypole on his own

property and had a party with native Indian women.

As he anticipated, the Separatists were enraged, and sent the militia, under Captain Miles Standish (“Captain Shrimp” to Morton)

Standish arrested Morton and sent him back to England for trial

The English Court Exonerated MortonMorton returned to what seemed to be

his calling in life: tormenting Puritans.

In his struggles, Morton made two important observations: the Puritans may have been sticklers for rules and regulations, but they lacked humanity. The Indians had great humanity and kindness.

Roger Williams: the First Modern American Thinker

The Puritan magistrate, John Winthrop thought that Williams was “unsettled in his wits” and ordered his arrest for speaking dangerous ideas.

His dangerous ideas were: separation of church and state, freedom of religion, and the equality of the Indians.

Williams’ Great Escape

Williams eluded the long arm of the law and founded Rhode Island, the first refuge of religious freedom in the New World.

Ironically, Rhode Island became home for many Roman Catholics.

The Tragic Case of Anne HutchinsonShe dared to say that people can form

their own beliefs without the intervention of the magistrates.

She also discussed the Bible in her own home with her friends.

For her courage, she was banished and died in the wilderness.

Anne Hutchinson in BostonThe rebel from exile to glory

Photo by Vic Thompson Date: July 10,2008

America’s Outlaws Become RespectableIn 1938, bill 488 eliminated the laws

that imposed exile on Roger Williams. A University and a National Park were also named after him.

Anne Hutchinson was given a statue in front of the state house

Thomas Morton’s New England Canaan is a well-respected book in American Colleges and Universities

After our first rebels became respectable, we needed new ones to move us ahead.

They soon emerged in a neighborhood near you.

New Rebels Needed