USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -Many colonists came to America from England to escape religious persecution during the reign of King James I (r. 1603–1625) and of Charles I (r. 1625–1649), James’s son and successor, both of whom were hostile to the Puritans.

Detailed explanation-2: -The much-ballyhooed arrival of the Pilgrims and Puritans in New England in the early 1600s was indeed a response to persecution that these religious dissenters had experienced in England.

Detailed explanation-3: -It has long been understood that the prime motive for the founding of the New England colonies was religious freedom. Certainly what those early colonists wanted was the freedom to worship God as they deemed proper, but they did not extend that freedom to everyone.

Detailed explanation-4: -Following the desire for a better material life for themselves and their children, the desire for religious freedom probably motivated more immigrants to come to America than any other concern-and the two desires have often been inextricably linked.

Detailed explanation-5: -The New England colonists-with the exception of Rhode Island-were predominantly Puritans, who, by and large, led strict religious lives. The clergy was highly educated and devoted to the study and teaching of both Scripture and the natural sciences.