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New England Religion Calvinist and the Social Contract Theory – Many individuals who lived in the New England area were Calvinist or heavily influenced by John Calling’s works and thought. While many look at John Locke as one of the founders of the idea of the social contract, that the state is an agreement or contract between the individuals to join together into a society, Calvinist doctrine was one of the first to espouse the idea in England. The fact that many New England settlers allowed the religious doctrines of John Calvin meant that this theory was part of their religious heritage.
Further, this belief in the importance of contracts transferred to economic contracts as well. A Belief in Predestination – One of the tenets of Calvinist is the idea of predestination. This was the belief that God had already predetermined everything, including who was going to heaven and who to hell. Congregationalism – The church itself was governed by Its own members. The congregation chose its own minister. Intolerance While the puritans might have escaped England due to religious persecution, they did not come to America to establish religious freedom for all.
They wanted to be free to worship the way they wished. Non-conformists such as Anne Hutchinson and Roger Williams were thrown out of the church. The Spread of the New England Population Towns were fairly small, surrounded by farms owned by the workers within the town. This resulted in a rapid spread of many small towns as population pressures arose. Therefore, instead of having a few large metropolises, the area of dotted with many smaller towns as the population moved and founded new settlements.
In essence, New England was an area that had been founded by a fairly homogeneous population, most of whom shared common religious beliefs. Due to the lack of huge tracts of fertile land, the area turned to commerce and fishing as their main occupations, though individuals within towns still worked small plots of land in the surrounding area. This turn to commerce would have a major impact many years later after the founding of the United States when questions of states rights and slavery were being discussed.