What major factors led to the alteration of the utopian vision held by early New England Puritans?.
There are many factors which contributed to the demise of the Puritan's idea of utopia. Some of the most influential aspects include their new concept of individualism, and revolutionists such as Hutchinson and Williams.
The vision of individualism was the solid driving force behind the utopian failure. With each generation of Puritans, the level of religious commitment became less and less. Religion developed into more of an obligation rather than a spiritual experience. The best illustration of this is found in the quote "My father came for religion, but I came for fish." Puritans originally came to the New World to escape from the English church establishing the idea of a "City on a Hill." This idea slowly changed over time with each cohort. Puritan colonists became more and more drawn to farming, trade and economic issues, and began to stray from the church and the religious believes of their forefathers. .
There were also many influential revolutionists who aided in the division of the Puritan people, two in-particular: Anne Hutchinson and Roger Williams. Basically, Anne Hutchinson was pioneer in the principles of civil liberty and religious freedom. Her teaching can be summed up in one of her statements: "As I do understand it, laws, commands, rules and edicts are for those who have not the light which makes plain the pathway. He who has God's grace in his heart cannot go astray." She was charged with heresy and blasphemy and fled to England. She later moved to New York where she was killed. Roger Williams was a preacher, first at Salem, then at Plymouth, then back to Salem, always at odds with the structured Puritans. He believed in a total and complete separation from the church and state and that the colony's land should be rightfully purchased from the Native Americans. He was banished from the Massachusetts Bay Colony and later was granted a charter and formed Rhode Island.
