United States History - Assignment Example

Identify and give the historical significance of the following: Church Puritanism: The puritans were a group of people, holding fundamentalist views and who were extremely dissatisfied with the workings of the churches in England. These puritans believed in the reformation of religious, moral and social ideas prevalent in the society. Small, in the beginning, their influence grew and had a great impact on the people’s religious and cultural lifePilgrim Separatist Pilgrim separatists were people who belonged to the upper extremists of the puritans.

They believed that the church had fallen into corruption and that they were responsible for its revival. They therefore wanted to destroy the existing Church or to separate from it. For fear of persecution, they first fled towards Holland but later travelled towards a remote area. Finally they settled into a place which began to be known as the Plymouth Colony,Anglican Mayflower:During that time, there were many Protestants who defied the authority of the Anglican Church. These men and women fled from England and boarded the ship name Mayflower and travelled to America in the hope of settling there.

They finally settled in Cape Cod, which would later come to be known as Massachusetts. There they settled and created a charter with the name of Mayflower compact. This document holds immense importance since it played a vital role in the formation of the US constitution. Compact Quaker Quakers, also known as the Society of Friends were a religious group prevalent in England. They believed in equality, justice and pacifism and that is why they never took part in any of the England’s wars. They also refused to bow down to any nobles or pay taxes if they believed that the revenues would be used for the purpose of war.

As a result of their persecution, many of the Quakers travelled to America and stayed in Pennsylvania where they played a very important role in its development.2--Write two short paragraphs (one on each the following questions: 1) Why were the colonial charters so important? The colonial charters held a very important position in the colonial society since they were the most basic charters of law or constitution of the colonies at that time. Charters were given to different states and they defined the relationship between the parent country and the colony without any direct involvement.

The whole governance, with the exception of a few things was based on these colonial charters. These charters were also responsible for great historical developments. These include the revolutionary era in which some of the terms of the charter actually increased fuel to the fire. Also during the latter part of the seventeenth century, these charters were considered as an unnecessary hindrance and were put to an end only to be replaced by royal provinces.2) What beliefs and ideas that Americans often take for granted today were in their infancy in colonial Massachusetts?

The religious tolerance and diversity are two of the ideas that are now often taken as granted by the Americans. However in the early colonial Massachusetts, persecution based on the basis of religious beliefs was very common and the tolerance of opposing views was nearly nonexistent, the best example of which is the Ann Huchison case. 3--Write a short paragraph on both of the following: 1) Why didn’t New England develop a slave-based plantation economy similar to those in the colonial south?

There are two main reasons for this. First is that the land was not very suitable for the establishment of a plantation and hence the requirement of workers was little when compared to the colonial South. The second reason was the difference in sentiment between the north and south. In the New England, people were not very much in favor of slavery because they did not think that it was right. Also they were hesitant to put their properties in trust of these strangers.2) What were the principle religious beliefs of the puritans?

The puritans were very disciplined and believed strictly in Bible. According to them the sole purpose of life was to lead it according to the Holy Scripture and all of one’s time must be devoted to pleasing and glorifying the God. The puritans believed in predestination, i.e, everything is already inked down in fate. Also they had strict and severe rulings on the matters of family, law and crime.4—Answer the following, briefly: As a citizen of Massachusetts, would you openly have supported Ann Huchison? Explain. Would you have spoken in defense of those who were accused of witchcraft?

Is there any parallel to these events in your lifetime?I have always been an advocate of justice and I believe no matter how hard and severe the allegations are, everyone should be given a fair trial in front of unbiased judges whose judgments are not clouded by their opinions. As a citizen of Massachusetts, I would have done my best to help Ann Huchison and would have supported her. Because if the judgment would be given in favor of Huchison, this would inculcate courage among the people and this case would be set as an example.

I certainly would have spoken in favor of those accused of witchcraft since the evidence against the victims was very little. My support for these cases comes from logical thinking since I have yet to experience any sorts of parallels of these events.Works CitedDavidson, James, et al. Nation of Nations. McGraw-Hill Humanities/Social Sciences/Languages; 6 edition, 2007. Print.