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.