The Nonfulfillment of New Haven’s Aspirations

Between the early to mid 1600’s, British outcasts had begun to venture out to North America to seek religious freedom. However, many of these settlers weren’t making the perilous voyage across the Atlantic for solely religious reasons. The colony of New Haven was an organized settlement that was both religiously and economically inclined. However, despite their unity and good work ethic, the colony was unable to achieve much significance by the turn of the century. Ever since the colonists arrived in New Haven, they encountered many difficulties that at first thwarted them from creating a thriving economy, and eventually shattered what hopes they had of creating the strong and influential haven they had imagined (10,14).

Although New Haven did not develop into a prominent and successful colony, it began as a very organized and well-prepared undertaking. The settlers first came together in 1637 when John Davenport, a pastor persecuted by both the English and the Dutch due to his radical puritan beliefs, ultimately came to the conclusion that the optimal course of action would be to flee to the New World (1, conn the book pg. 47). Davenport yearned to pursue his beliefs somewhere his ideas would be accepted, and knowing that many were considering the same course of action in England, he recruited a group of Puritan families in England who were both devoutly religious, yet also were focused on making money. The group of 500 people that he eventually created consisted mainly of wealthy merchant class families who desired to practice their religion freely, while maintaining their comfortable lifestyle (14, the story of conn. Pg. 100). Once John Davenport had gathered a group of settlers who shared the same goals and beliefs, he h...

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