The Life of Adam Smith
In September, 1630 a group of Puritans under the leadership of John Winthrop set sail to the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Among the thousands of colonists traveling to New England was Adam Smith and his wife. Adam Smith had left England to find religious freedom. This is his story.
Adam Smith was born to Mary and Thomas Smith on June 15, 1610 in Suffolk, England. He was born into a wealthy family, for his father had been a lawyer and his mother was seamstress. Adam started school at age six and continued his education until he was 18. When Adam was fourteen he was introduced Anne Marie Candon at the Anglican Church or the Church of England. By the age of sixteen Adam had married Anne. Together, Adam and Anne actively participated in the church. As they grew older, Adam and Anne were becoming more and more unsatisfied with the Anglican Church.
Adam Smith; engraving
English: Adam Smith statue in Edinburgh's High Str...
Anne Hutchinson on TrialThey felt that the church had kept too much Catholic tradition and rituals after being reformed by King Henry VIII's daughter, Elizabeth I. They joined a group called the Puritans, because they, like every Puritan, wanted to "purify" the Anglican Church by eliminating traces of Roman Catholicism. Some groups of Puritans thought they should stay with the Church of England and reform it from within. Other Puritans did not think that was possible, so they formed independent churches with their own ministers. These Puritans were called separatists. Like the separatists, other English Puritans, Including Adam and Anne, also felt the burden of increasing religious persecution, political repression, and dismal economic conditions. These Puritans decided that, like the separatists, they would also look to New England for religious freedom.
In September, 1630 Adam and Anne boarded one of the seventeen ships on route to...