A huge accomplishment made by the Puritans was winning the English Civil War, which showed the power Puritans had at the time. The Puritans were successful in their mission to build a “city on a hill” that would change the Church of England for the better. The Great Migration was in full effect and that meant that all different kinds of men and women were voyaging to Massachusetts. Nearly 20,000 migrants came to Massachusetts, and with that many people, there was bound to be rebels. One of those rebels were Anne Hutchinson. Hutchinson, in fact, did request to join the Church of England.
Her request was delayed because a fellow passenger on their voyage had been disturbed by some unorthodox opinions she had shown on the ship. The church saw past her different opinions and saw how talented and confident she was, and accepted her. Hutchinson went on to have her own meetings that seemed fine at first, but Winthrop started to take notice in what Hutchinson was saying. Hutchinson was not exactly preaching Separatism, or separating from a large group, but was not expressing the beliefs Winthrop wanted people to hear. Hutchinson went before a court and started some trouble that Winthrop did not like.
Winthrop felt a threat from Hutchinson and thought she would ruin his perfect Puritan society. He also thought that the Lord would punish Massachusetts if they did not punish Hutchinson. The trial ended with a win on Winthrop side, and Hutchinson was exiled to Rhode Island. Roger Williams, another rebel, was steered out of Massachusetts by Winthrop. Unlike Hutchinson Winthrop did not kick Williams out, he drove him away by showing him how they practiced religion. Williams was a promising Separatist and felt no connection to the Church of England. The Boston church offered
Williams a chance at joining them and proving himself holy but Williams felt as though the church was not pure enough for him. Williams left Massachusetts and made his way to Salem, then traveled to Plymouth, and then back to Salem. Williams was not done with his rebel ways just yet though, he went to court testing the ideas of the Church of England. Williams Went on to argue with Winthrop and the Churches of England, but in the end majority of the population kept their eyes on the goal that Winthrop had set them. Winthrop attitude also helped Massachusetts become as successful as hey did. Winthrop was determined, smart and unselfish.
Winthrop came up with a plan to move to new grounds and create a perfect society based on Puritanism. Winthrop devoted 20 years of his life to building the Massachusetts colony. Winthrop saw the hardships of his fellow colonists and wanted to do something about it. He put aside a chance at a high position to create a godly society. Winthrop believed that as long as the society was devoted to God then they would have good fortune, which he wanted for not only himself but for others. Towards the end of the book Winthrop made an extremely smart move and made a temporary alliance with Frenchmen of whose religion he did not wholly approve of.
Winthrop basically created the expression, “keep your friends close and your enemies closer”. He knew what he was doing and needed to deal with the enemies as long as it made good. From 1642 to 1651 there were a series of armed conflicts over the manner of government. These conflicts were between Parliamentarians and Royalists. This was called The English Civil War. The Parliamentarians ended up winning the war and this was huge for the Puritans and John Winthrop. This showed how much power the Parliamentarians had. They had the support of a large number of land-owners and they also had better generals, one being Oliver Cornwall.
Puritan leaders in parliament had the King arrested, put on trial and beheaded. This victory truly showed the power Puritans had. The Puritans were successful in their mission to build a “city on a hill” that would change the Church of England for the better. With all the people migrating into Massachusetts the colony got many different minded people, some posing a threat to the perfect Puritan goal because of their willingness to go against the government, such as Anne Hutchinson and Roger Williams. John Winthrop was TABLE to handle those threats and keep his eye on the goal.
Winthrop never took his eye off that goal, that’s how determined he was. He was also smart with his battle tactics by keeping his enemies close. Winthrop was also a very unselfish man because he had seen the hardships his fellow colonists had gone through and wanted to create a new colony that God approved of and did not punish. Winthrop, being so determined, smart and selfless helped make the Puritans successful. The Puritans had obtained a significant amount of power at the time due to the large accomplishment of winning the English Civil War.
