Essential Question: Did the Puritans who settled in early colonial Massachusetts understand the idea of “religious freedom” the same way Americans understand it today? Why or why not?
The Puritans who settled in Massachusetts did not entertain the idea of religious freedom as Americans understand it today. According to Mooney, the Puritans strictly “imposed a degree of religious conformity in Massachusetts far exciding anything the authorities in England were willing, or able, to enforce.” Puritans were motivated to create a Christian utopia where their pure form of faith could be taught and practiced. They believed that Massachusetts would become a model that would inspire old England into reforms. According to Mooney, they were so convinced on their faith that they thought irrational “to tolerate alternative interpretations of scripture if the Puritans already possessed the one and only correct interpretation.” Dissenters of Puritan faith like Roger Williams and Anne Hutchinson were driven out of the colony. The Puritans went as far as to execute a Quakers who insisted on preaching in Massachusetts bay. The Puritans also saw it as their moral duty to force Amerindians in Massachusetts to adhere to Puritan moral codes. It is evident that the Puritans did not allow room for religious freedom, unlike Americans, understand today. In America today, religious freedom is a constitutionally protected right provided in the religion clauses of the First Amendment. Everybody in America has a right to choose the religion of their own liking or have no faith at all.