New England Colonies Political Analysis

The New England colonies changed a lot between the 1630’s and the 1660’s between economic, political, and social views. Politically, the colonies went from a democracy that was limited to church members to a more open democracy that included men and women, church members and non-church members. Economically, the colonies went from believing that wealth was a sin to accepting capitalism and private profit. Socially, the colonies originally believed that they could purify the church and create a Utopian society, whereas eventually some colonies were free to believe in any religion they wanted to. Though there were plenty of things that changed in the New England colonies, many things also stayed the same. Agricultural society, small town democracy, and education are all things that remained the same economically, politically, and socially. In New England, the colonists had an agriculture based economy. They were to produce only what they needed because it was a sin to produce more. However, any extra that was produced went to the community. Many colonies believed that wealth was a sin, but eventually they turned to individual farms and providing for themselves. In 1624, William Bradford made each family responsible for their own land and crops. This was a huge change for the New England

When the colonists first settled, they believed highly in congregationalism, which is a small, local governing society ruled by the church, and limited to only church members who achieved grace. Eventually the Halfway-Covenant came into place and the children of church members who had not achieved grace themselves could partake in church events. The small town democracy changed so that not only church members could have a say, but women and non-church members could as well. Even though the way the democracy was run changed, the idea of a small town democracy stayed the