Question

Why were the Puritans at first so interested in converting the Native Americans?

a) To learn from Native American spirituality
b) To exploit Native American labor
c) To establish trade networks
d) To spread Christianity

Answer 1

The Puritans had a strong interest in converting Native Americans to spread Christianity, in line with their charter's goal for the settlement of the Americas. Option d) is correct.

Step-by-step explanation:

The Puritans were primarily interested in converting the Native Americans to spread Christianity. According to the charter of the Massachusetts Bay Company, the purpose of Puritan settlers traveling to the Americas was to "win and incite the natives of this country, to the knowledge and obedience of the only true God and Saviour of mankind." The Puritan missionary John Eliot echoed this sentiment by establishing "praying towns" for converted Native Americans and translating the Bible into the local Algonquian language, aiming to enable natives to read and understand the Bible and thereby facilitate their conversion to Christianity.

Although early relations with the native peoples were complex, following the Pequot War, concerted efforts in conversion began, with the eventual establishment of "Praying Towns" and education in Biblical teachings for the Indians.