New Colonies From Old
Through the portal of Boston at one time or another passed all or
nearly all those who were to found additional colonies in New
England; and from that portal, willingly or unwillingly, men and
women journeyed north, south, and west, searching for favorable
locations, buying land of the Indians, and laying the groundwork for
permanent homes and organized communities. In this way were begun
the colonies of Rhode
Island,
Connecticut,
New Haven, and
New Hampshire, each of which sprang
in part from the desire for separate religious and political life
and in part from the migratory instinct which has always
characterized the Englishman in his effort to find a home and a
means of livelihood. Sometimes individuals wandered alone or in
groups of two or three, but more frequently covenanted companies of
men and women of like minds moved across the face of the land,
followed Indian trails, or voyaged by water along the coast and up
the rivers, usually remaining where they first found satisfaction,
but often, in new combinations, taking up the burden of their
journeying and moving on, a second, a third, and even a fourth time
in search of homes. Abraham Pierson and his flock migrated four
times in thirty years, seeking a place where they might find rest
under a government according to God.
The frontier Puritan was neither docile nor easily satisfied. He was
restless, opinionated, and eager to assert himself and his
convictions. The controversies among the elect regarding doctrines
and morals often became so heated that complete separation was the
only remedy; and wherever there was a migrating leader followers
were sure to be found. Hence, despite the dangers from cold, famine,
the Indian, and the wilderness, the men of New England were
constantly shifting in these earlier years as one motive or another
urged them on. Land was plentiful, and, as a rule, easily obtained;
opportunities for trade presented themselves to any one who would
seek them; and the freedom of earth and sky and of nature unspoiled
offered an ideal environment for be punished by civil authority,
distressing to their consciences. They drew up a plantation
covenant, promising to subject themselves "in active or passive
obedience to all such orders or agreements" as might be made for the
public good in an orderly way by the majority vote of the masters of
families, "incorporated together into a town fellowship," but "only
in civill things." Thus did the men of Providence put into practice
their doctrine of a church separable from the state, and of a
political order in which there were no magistrates, no elders
exercising civil as well as spiritual authority, and no restraint on
soul liberty.
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