History of dissent and the orthodox response, 1630-55

The founders of colonial Massachusetts spent their first decades in the New World working to erect a godly commonwealth in accordance with their understanding of God's plan for his people. They struggled to forge an orthodox consensus informed both by their concerns as Puritan reformers within the Church of England and by the needs arising from their attempt to organize righteous churches in the wilderness. As they labored to create institutions that would promote spiritual purity and social stability, the leaders of Massachusetts confronted challenges on two fronts. Accused of excessive timidity by those with a more radical vision and of extremism by those who believed a more modest reformation appropriate, the colony's leaders attempted to chart a middle course through these conflicting options.

In doing so, they staked out a position within the Anglo-Puritan community that they would attempt to defend in ensuing years. The earliest of these threats arose during the initial decade of settlement, as two reputedly godly residents led movements denouncing what they saw as the colony's failure to implement divine directives. In responding to the criticisms of Roger Williams and Anne Hutchinson, the colony's leaders declared their unwillingness to embrace the separatism and mysticism these radicals advocated. The second significant threat to the emerging New England way came from the presbyterian branch of the English Puritan party, whose reform program departed less decisively from the Anglican church. Far from finding Massachusetts orthodoxy too timid, Presbyterians thought the colonial establishment too radical.