New England
Religion played a vital role in the lives of our colonial ancestors. Massachusetts and Virginia began during an age when men were fighting religious wars in Europe. The Puritans came to America so that they could worship God in their own manner. Even the Virginians, who came for more worldly reasons, took their religion very seriously. Almost nowhere in the world in those days did people believe that religion was a private matter between man and God. The Puritans were extremely intolerant of other religions and persecuted Quakers, Catholics, and Jews alike. They even persecuted each other. Roger Williams, who founded Rhode Island, was banished from Massachusetts for his opinions, and innocent women were hanged in Salem because they were thought to be witches. The intolerance and persecution of the seventeenth century are well known, but one should not overlook the admirable piety and intense love of God that these people also had.