Program Information

During the 1630s, John Winthrop, governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, established strict order in Boston and in surrounding settlements, but the godly order he organized was soon under challenge.

A Moment in Time is a brief, exciting and compelling journey into the past. Created to excite and enlighten the public about the past, its relevance to the present and its impact on the future, A Moment In Time is a captivating historical narrative that is currently broadcast worldwide.

Transcript

Lead: During the 1630s, John Winthrop, governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, established strict order in Boston and in surrounding settlements, but the godly order he organized was soon under challenge.

Intro.: A Moment in Time with Dan Roberts.

Content: Winthrop was the first colonial governor of Massachusetts and is credited with successfully leading the colony through tough times, including in Winthrop's words, "much mortality, sickness, and trouble" as well as the deaths of 200 settlers during the first year. After this rocky start , the colony grew rapidly, and Boston became the largest city in colonial America and one of the most prosperous ports in the British Empire.

Winthrop and the colony’s leaders, however, were absolutely intolerant of unorthodox religious views, any criticism of Commonwealth policy and inappropriate behavior. They believed the government should have tight control of the colonists’ lives. Those who challenged could be penalized by paying a fine, being thrown in jail or often subjected to corporal punishment such as public whipping or being humiliated in the stocks. Those who were too outspoken were considered to be troublemakers at risk of banishment from the colony.

Now Roger Williams, a pastor in one of the Salem churches, was a religious dissenter who believed in “separatism” – that is that the churches in the colony should break away completely from the Church of England. Williams opposed government involvement in church affairs. He also made the seditious argument that the colony should not expropriate land that rightfully belonged to Native Americans without just compensation. Williams was banished from the colony by the General Court, and just before court officials could send him back to England, he fled. Ironically, he was secretly aided by John Winthrop, who believed that Williams’ banishment was necessary to protect the colony but could not abandon his life-long friend to the wilderness. Roger Williams founded the colony of Rhode Island in 1641 based on principles of religious freedom and toleration.

Try as they might, the Massachusetts Puritan oligarchy could not long stave off the polluting influence of non-Puritans. Within two generations immigration had brought settlers to the Massachusetts Bay Colony whose talents the colony needed for prosperity but who did not share the ardent devotion of the original colonists. Compromise along with sin had come to Eden.

At the University of Richmond, this is Dan Roberts.

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