Essay Example on William Penn Goals

During the early colonization of the East coast of North America, many groups of people of Europe came to the New World such as the Puritans and Quakers. Both the Puritans, led by John Winthrop, and the Quakers, led by William Penn, were escaping persecution from England but each they had their own views and goals in religion, politics, and ethnic relations. Being on the native land of the local Indians, both Penn and Winthrop had to face issues and negotiations with the Indians.

Penn and Winthrop had their own separate approaches to politics but they both sought a more just system than the one in England. After being persecuted, both Penn and Winthrop wanted their people to be free worship, but Penn and Winthrop each had their own approach to the institution and toleration of religion. Arriving to North America, the Indians grew worried of the growing population of European settlers and colonists coming in and taking their lands. Though both Penn and Winthrop sought to gain lands for colonization, Penn had a more peaceful approach to the Indians.

Penn would create good relations with the natives and the Quakers would negotiate over the lands in a just manner. Penn encouraged the Indian culture to come into the Quaker communities while Winthrop wanted to exclude the Indians out the Puritan communities. The Puritans in turn would just take lands from the Indians and force the Indians to fall back into the backcountry. Winthrop believed that the Indians “inclose no land, neither they have any settled habitation, nor any tame Cattle to improve the land by… e may lawfully take the [land].

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” Aside from the relations with the Indians, both Penn and Winthrop had their different approaches to setting up a local government. Winthrop, being a Puritan, believed in creating a government that was ruled by the church and that the church makes the political decisions for the Puritan community. In contrast, Penn was a Quaker who believed that the government should be completely separated from the church and that the government should consists of actual political leaders to make important decisions.

Escaping from a corrupt government that England had oppressing them for many years, both Winthrop and Penn wanted a government which was self-governing and a government that was just for people. These early types of government would later help the creation of the government that would being the United States. The biggest motivation in Penn and Winthrop was their views on religion and how it should be carried out in the community. Penn was one the few and first to believe in religious oleration and freedom to worship any religion without the fear of persecution. The Quaker communities would welcome all forms of religion such as Baptism and Evangelism while the Puritans would be very secluded. The Puritans thought any other religion would bring in vile thought and immoral ideals that would affect their community. Puritans would discourage any other form of religion which made them a very isolated, homogenous, group of people. Penn’s views would also shape the future government of the United States.

Penn and Winthrop led their people to the New World with the hopes of starting a new, safe, society that escaped persecution. Their contact with the Indians and their differing views of religion would help them shape the politics of their communities. They both came with the similar goals but they would each carry it out in their own specific way. These early colonists would help influence the founding of many other communities, bringing in many new ideals and approaches that led to idea of independence, and later, the birth of the United States.