Dissent in New England

The New England colonies were settled in the early seventeenth century by men and women who could not in conscience subscribe to all aspects of the faith and practice of the Church of England. In creating new societies they struggled with how to define their churches and their relationship with the national Church they dissented from. As their New England Way evolved the orthodox leaders of the new order identified and took action against those who challenged it. Interaction with dissenters such as Roger Williams, Anne Hutchinson, Baptists, and Quakers helped to further define the colonial religious establishment.

Namumpum, “Our Beloved Kinswoman,” Saunkskwa of Pocasset: Bonds, Acts, Deeds

This chapter analyzes deeds and other documents in which the Wampanoag saunkskwa Weetamoo appeared as a major diplomatic figure, setting the stage for her alliance building during King Philip’s War. Weetamoo materializes only on the eve of war in most histories, which often rely on postwar narratives that displace both her diplomacy and the war waged against Indigenous women and their agricultural fields. This chapter fills a substantial gap in the record, focusing on the documents that demonstrate Weetamoo’s leadership prior to the war, as well as the challenge she posed to male settlers in Plymouth and other New England colonies, who sought to impose local colonial rule. The chapter interprets key documents through the frameworks of Indigenous kinship, geography, governance, and sustainable agriculture, highlighting the strategic adaptations of Wampanoag and Narragansett leaders in response to English colonialism. By bringing together many obscure but related documents, this chapter builds a frame for better understanding the motivations, interventions, and experiences of Weetamoo and other neighboring Indigenous leaders which formed the ground for their responses to King Philip’s War.

PRZESTĘPSTWA I KARY W REGULACJACH PRAWNYCH NOWOANGIELSKICH KOLONII W AMERYCE PÓŁNOCNEJ W XVII WIEKU

CRIMES AND PUNISHMENTS IN LEGAL REGULATIONS OF NEW ENGLAND COLONIES IN THE 17TH CENTURY Summary The subject of this article pertains to a colonial criminal law of New England colonies in 17th century. There are few studies on this matter, however the dominating aspects relates to a history of constitutional solutions. Comparison between normative aspect and examples of their application undoubtedly confirms some undemocratic background of colonial life. Moreover, contemporary interest in historical sciences seems to be increasing what should be sufficient reason for refreshing the older researches. Although New England colonies were founded under specific circumstances implied by relation between state and religion, they manager to set up a public system of criminal law. Nonetheless, colonists, while mainly focused on constitutional basis for their self-government, they used English and biblical paradigms for criminal regulations. One may find, however, that colonial documents consisted of rules describing a meaning of selected crimes and created relatively systematic catalogues. Detailed problems here analyzed are as following: general features of colonial criminal laws, crimes against a state and a government, against religion, against an individual and a property, against a family, crimes connected to administrative indications and selected instances of penalties.