Discovery and Settlement of the New World 15there was no need to consult with or take directions from any group in
England in making governmental decisions. To a very large extent, the
Company was totally on its own. The colony was administered by
the governor and eighteen assistants elected by the freemen, called the
General Court. In 1634 the General Court, responding to criticism,
allowed each town to elect deputies to sit with the assistants. Then,
ten years later, the court divided into two houses, thus creating a bi-
cameral legislature to fashion the laws for the entire Massachusetts Bay
Colony.
But there were dissenters among them who objected to partic ular
rulings or actions, or the system of government. One of these was
Roger Williams, a young Puritan who led a congregation in Salem
and who preached unacceptable heresy—at least it was heresy to the
ruling clergy in Boston. Williams truly respected the Indian tribes
and their culture. He made no attempt to convert them to Christian-
ity. He felt that individuals could differ in the way they worshipped
God. He even tolerated different interpretations of the Bible. God’s
gift of faith in the formulation of one’s conscience was the only road to
salvation in practicing one’s religion, he preached. He was banished
from the colony because he questioned the right of a civil government
to enforce religious beliefs. But he foiled an attempt to ship him back
to England by escaping into the wilderness and fl eeing south. With a
group of his followers he founded the town of Providence, the fi rst
Rhode Island community where religious freedom and separation of
church and state were made possible. In 1644 he received a charter for
his colony.
Anne Hutchinson, another dissenter, held meetings in her home to
discuss religious matters and the worth of individual clergymen. She
preached a “covenant of grace” that emphasized an individual’s direct
communication with God through divine grace. She attracted a con-
siderable following. Condemned as an “antinomian,” she was expelled
from the colony in 1637. She and her disciples fled to Rhode Island and
joined the followers of Roger Williams. She and her family were later
murdered by Indians.
One of the most pop ular preachers in the Massachusetts Colony was
Thomas Hooker, and his very popularity generated jealousy among
other preachers, most notably John Cotton, the se nior minister in the