Jul 1, 2020
In the aftermath of the Remonstrance of 1646, two things
happen. One, Massachusetts deputies and magistrates stay
united long enough to implement watered down versions of some of
the reforms the deputies had been pushing for all
along.
Second, though, New England set about to declare to the world what
the Congregational way to govern a Church was (and by this, I do
mean the United Colonies, everyone except Rhode Island). By
rejecting both Presbyterianism (which was too hierarchical, and
accepted the inclusion of almost anyone as an individual) and the
Independents (a movement comprised of a wide variety of
denominations, some of which were quite radical, and others quite
heretical), New England found itself growing unpopular in
England. The possibility existed that Parliament would
intervene in the future, so they had to write a document which
would show exactly how their ideas worked, and the merits of those
ideas. That document became the Cambridge Platform, and it
became one of the most important religious documents in American
history, and one of the most important documents in American
Colonial history.
Also, Massachusetts executes its first woman for
witchcraft.