USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -The meetinghouse served both as the Puritan church and as the meeting place for the citizens to discuss issues and make plans. Everyone in the town was responsible for helping to build and maintain the meetinghouse.

Detailed explanation-2: -Reserving “church” to designate a covenanted ecclesiastical society, New England Puritans used “meetinghouse” to denote the assembly place used for church services, town meetings, and other public gatherings. Church membership was restricted, but attendance at church services was mandatory.

Detailed explanation-3: -The colonial meeting house was the central focus of every New England town, and was usually the largest building in the town.

Detailed explanation-4: -Built and owned by the town in which it stood, the meetinghouse served primarily as a place of worship, but it was not a sanctified building. It was the setting for town meetings, social gatherings, and legal proceedings.

Detailed explanation-5: -A meeting house (meetinghouse, meeting-house) is a building where religious and sometimes public meetings take place.