Worksheet # 25          Home Questions Puzzle Links Next

LIFE IN THE NEW ENGLAND COLONIES

Now life in New England, in the churches and towns,

Brought people together to share their ups and their downs.

Each looked to his neighbor as a friend and a peer,

As they lived a stout life with a modest good cheer.

Families tended small farms, each tilling its own,

While livestock grazed free in fields held in common.

They worshipped and worked and relied on each other,

Since their sermons all said each man was a brother.

And while Massachusetts did prosper by Puritan rule,

Some settlers grew restless and began even to mewl

About strict social laws that were set into place,

-- And thus many lit out for some more elbow space.

Reverend Thom Hooker, for one, did gather a crew

To some lands nearby, yet a bit different and new.

As the government they formed was orderly – But

No so over-bearing in what’s now Connecticut.

And another young preacher, most thoughtful and keen,

Roger Williams set out for valleys fertile and green.

As he declared that no Church should run the affairs

Which are more properly called civic matters.

And though Puritan born, Williams was open to all.

Indeed, Jews, Catholics and more heeded his call,

When from his Indian chums he purchased some land

To form the colony that’s become our Rhode Island.

And many were glad of the freedoms there given,

-- Religious dissenters, indeed, were often there driven.

Anne Hutchinson was one, since she found it her calling

To preach frankly her views…though some thought it appalling.

And to New Hampshire as well came hale, hearty folk

To find such beautiful trees, like the pine, spruce and oak.

And with all her fine rivers, her clear lakes and her streams,

New Hampshire comes close to a fisherman’s dreams...