John Winthrop City On A Hill Analysis

As the Puritans spent more time in the new world, John Winthrop’s vision for a religious ‘City on a Hill’ transformed into a society with less religious fervor because problems with the natives and a desire for more secular goods and possessions made it hard and not popular for the Pilgrims to actively practice their religion. From the beginning of the Massachusetts Bay colony, John Winthrop explicitly states the intentions for the colony to be a religious haven for Puritans when he says that “the Lord make it like that of New England.’ For we must Consider that we shall be as a City upon a Hill” (Winthrop 66). Winthrop wants this new settlement to be one that fulfills the Puritan’s covenant with God; therefore, he believes that the settlers of New England must constantly …show more content…
A decrease in church membership became such a problem that in 1662, the Puritan church passed the Half-Way Covenant in which members who wished to join the church did not have to undergo the strenuous tasks required to become a part of the church. Even with the religion as the primary direction for the government, religious passion diminished as the new generations became more secular in their lifestyles and beliefs. Even with the decreased religious passion, the Puritans still remained relatively free of conflict until 1675 when in response to the Puritan’s craving for more land, the Wampanoag prince, Metacom, led an army to fight the Puritans. After a strenuous fight, the Puritan’s came out victorious, but they lost their supposed purity, which is one of the main facets that Winthrop had wanted in his ‘City upon a Hill.’ From this turning point, the Puritan’s society continued to change drastically during the 18th century due to the newfound knowledge and rationalism from the Enlightenment. New knowledge from the Enlightenment caused large divides in the Massachusetts Bay