The American Puritans: Christian History Timeline
Dr. Francis J. Bremer is professor of history at Millersville (Pennsylvania) University. He is author of The Puritan Experiment: New England Society from Bradford to Edwards (St. Martin's, 1976).
January 1, 1994
The Puritans
1569-1619 1569 Thomas Cartwright argues for a purified English Christianity 1571 Parliament approves Thirty-Nine Articles of Religion 1590 Thomas Cartwright and others arrested for trying to reform the church 1593 Execution of two separatists 1603 James VI of Scotland becomes James I of England 1604 King James I thwarts most Puritan reforms in their “Millenary Petition” 1608 Puritan separatists from town of Scrooby migrate to Netherlands to avoid persecution 1620-1639 1620 Scrooby separatists return to England and then sail for Virginia on the Mayflower; these Pilgrims settle outside Virginia’s boundaries 1629 Increasing pressure put on Puritans in England. New England Company reorganized as Massachusetts Bay Company 1630 The Arbella and sister ships sail for Massachusetts; Governor John Winthrop makes Boston seat of colony 1633 William Laud becomes Archbishop of Canterbury, fueling Great Migration of Puritans to New England 1635 Roger Williams banished from Bay Colony, founds Providence the following year 1636 Harvard College founded. Puritans from Massachusetts found Hartford, Connecticut 1637 Native Americans and Puritans battle in Pequot War. New Haven colony founded 1638 Anne Hutchinson banished 1640-1659 1640Bay Psalm Book published 1642 English Civil War begins; American Puritans side with Parliament against King Charles I 1643 Parliament establishes Westminster Assembly to reform the English church 1644 Rhode Island granted charter 1649 Cambridge Platform defines New England congregationalism; King Charles I beheaded; Commonwealth of England proclaimed; reforming forces reign 1650 Anne Bradstreet’s poetry published in England 1651 John Eliot founds village for praying Indians 1653 Puritan Oliver Cromwell becomes Lord Protector of England 1656 First Quakers in Massachusetts arrested and banished 1658 Oliver Cromwell’s death opens struggle for English supremacy 1660-1679 1660 American Puritan hopes for reform permanently dashed when Catholic Charles II crowned king of England; persecution of English Puritans resumed; many emigrate or return to New England 1661 Executions of Quakers in Massachusetts halted by Charles II 1662 Connecticut absorbs New Haven Colony.
Day of Doom, a best-selling verse jeremiad, calls for repentance. Half-Way Covenant eases requirements for church membership 1675 Wampanoags and Puritans battle in King Philip’s War 1677 Massachusetts incorporates Maine into its jurisdiction 1679 Reforming Synod calls for spiritual renewal and supports congregationalism 1680-1699 1684 Complaints against Bay magistrates lead to revoking of Massachusetts Charter; two years later, royal governor appointed for Dominion of New England (Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, Plymouth, and Rhode Island) 1687 Solomon Stoddard advocates open Communion, liberalizing requirements to take Communion 1688 Glorious Revolution: Protestant William of Orange invades England, and Catholic James II flees 1689 Boston rebellion topples the Dominion government; Act of Toleration in England eases pressure on non-conforming Protestants 1691 William and Mary grant Massachusetts new charter, partly restoring popular basis of government 1692 Witchcraft trials at Salem Village 1699 “Brattle Street Manifesto” by a new congregation greatly eases membership requirements and marks appearance of liberal faction 1700-1734 1700 Harvard liberals force out Increase Mather as college president 1701 Yale University founded by orthodox Connecticut clergy 1702 Cotton Mather publishes Magnalia Christi Americana, a history of early New England 1708 Connecticut clergy adopt Saybrook Platform, modifying pure congregationalism 1721 Smallpox epidemic in Boston Cotton Mather advocates inoculation 1734 Jonathan Edwards’ preaching stimulates revival at Northhampton and beginning of Great Awakening Other Events
1569-1619 1588 Spanish Armada defeated, giving England control of seas 1589 Forks first used in French court 1610 Henry Hudson reaches Hudson Bay 1611 King James Version published 1616 William Shakespeare dies 1620-1639 1632 Maryland colony, a haven for Catholics, chartered by Charles I 1633 Galileo forced to recant 1634 French explorer Jean Nicolet sees Lake Michigan and thinks he has reached Asia; Oberammergau Passion Play given for first time. 1640-1659 1644 Ming dynasty in China ends 1646 George Fox begins ministry; start of Quaker movement 1650 Tea first drunk in England 1651 Thomas Hobbes’s The Leviathan 1654 Blaise Pascal converted 1660-1679 1664 British take New Netherlands and call it New York 1665 Great Plague of London kills nearly 70,000 1667 John Milton’s Paradise Lost 1675 Spener’s Pia Desideria signals emergence of Pietism 1678 John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress 1680-1699 1682 Peter the Great czar of Russia 1685 George Frederick Handel born 1687 Isaac Newton’s Principia 1690 John Locke’s Two Treatises on Civil Government 1700-1734 1707 Isaac Watts’s Hymns and Spiritual Songs 1718 In Texas, San Antonio Mission (the Alamo) is founded 1721 J. S. Bach writes Brandenburg Concertos 1723 Benjamin Franklin becomes printer in Philadelphia Copyright © 1994 by the author or Christianity Today International/Christian History magazine.
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