Social and Religious Equality
Introduction
America was discovered in the last decades of 16th century. During the early part of 16th century America was still an unknown land for many. At present, America is a land of social, religious and political equality but it was a different scenario in America during the 17th century. Religious equality was not there in the 17th century America. Most of the early people who settled in the country were Puritans. After the first colony was established in Cape Cod, Massachusetts in 1620, it became a trend for colonial rules in America (Varon, 2001). America in the 17th century had lot of inequality in terms of religion and social life compared to today’s America famed as a land of toleration and equality.
Religious Inequality
With most of the early European settlers in America being Puritans, anyone deviating from the Puritan norms or propagating liberal views of religion were viewed as heretics. In early 1636 an English protestant theologian named Roger Williams was banished from the puritan colony of Massachusetts for trying to preach liberal religious ideas (Taylor). Anna Hutchinson was also banished from Massachusetts for propagating personal views about religion over the ideology of clergy. Soon after these two incidents, the State of Massachusetts enacted a law making religious heresy a punishable offense. However, with the migration of a large number of protestant French and British Isle people to America during 1680s, a multitude of churches which were dominated by Puritans till that time were converted to Anglican churches by the order of King James II of England. The religious beliefs were so non-progressive during that time that even a witchcraft hysteria spread across the village of Salem and almost 20 people including fourteen women were executed by the Anglican Church of Massachusetts for witchcraft in 1692 (Taylor). As Roman Catholic population was on a rise during the second half of 17th century, Massachusetts passed a law ordering all Roman Catholic priests to leave the Massachusetts colony as soon as possible (Varon, 2001). New York also passed the same law and in the event of any Roman Catholic priest being found in any of these colonies, he was sentenced to life imprisonment.
Social Inequality
Social freedom was also missing during that time. In 1664 Maryland passed a law enforcing lifelong slavery for black slaves. Blacks were not granted non-slave status under any circumstances. These laws also were later enacted in New York, New Jersey, Boston, Carolina and Virginia. The early American colonists never treated the Native Americans with equality. Initially American colonists bought lands from Native Americans but as they became more powerful they seized lands forcefully from the Native Indians either by declaring war against them or forcing them into slavery. Pennsylvania was the first state in America to protest against slavery and made endeavors to change the lifelong slavery law (Taylor). However, the slave trade continued unabated all across the colonies. During the late decades of 17th century many people started inter colony slave trading even for profit making. Slaves were traded in the market like commodities. The family structure was also purely patriarchal with wife and children given less priority in the matter of opinions and decision making. Most of the early Puritan families were patriarchal. However, Quakers of Pennsylvania were a stark contrast to the trend as they allowed more freedom to their women and children in the society. Quakers believed in home being the first church for any human being. These types of ideas later influenced the American liberal societies of 19th and 20th century (Taylor).
Conclusion
Socially and religiously 17th Century America was far from liberal. There were strong conservative religious beliefs during that era. Socially slavery was a big issue back then and that continued to be the biggest social issue for the next two centuries as well. America was very different in 17th century with no resemblance to modern day America but there were some corners like Pennsylvania which set into motion the movement of equality in American society.
Works Cited
Taylor, Quintard. United States History: Timeline: 1600-1700. University of Washington, Department of History. Viewed on 22nd October 2013 <http://faculty.washington.edu/qtaylor/a_us_history/1600_1799_timeline.htm>
Varon, Elizabeth (2001). American History, 1600-1865. Corporate Department of History, University of Virginia. Viewed on 22nd October 2013 <http://history.virginia.edu/node/2684>
