<P> Early dissenters of the Puritan laws were often banished from the Massachusetts Bay Colony . The Connecticut Colony was started after Puritan minister Thomas Hooker left Massachusetts Bay with around 100 followers in search of greater religious and political freedom . Puritan minister Roger Williams left Massachusetts Bay to found the Rhode Island Colony, while John Wheelwright left with his followers to a colony in present - day New Hampshire and shortly thereafter on to present day Maine . The Puritans also established the American public school system for the express purpose of ensuring that future generations would be able to read the Bible for themselves, which was a central tenet of Puritan worship . </P> <P> It was the dead of winter in January 1636 when Salem minister Roger Williams had been banished from the Massachusetts Bay Colony because of theological differences . In Salem, he preached that government and religion should be separate; he also believed that the Wampanoag and Narragansett tribes had been treated unfairly . That winter, the tribes helped Williams to survive and sold him land for a new colony in present - day Providence, Rhode Island which he named Providence Plantation in recognition of the intervention of Divine Providence in establishing the new colony . It was unique in its day in expressly providing for religious freedom and a separation of church from state . </P> <P> Roger Williams returned to England two times to prevent the attempt of other colonies to take over Providence and to charter or incorporate Providence and other nearby communities into the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations . </P> <P> Later in 1636, Thomas Hooker left Massachusetts with one hundred followers and founded a new English settlement just north of the Dutch Fort Hoop that became Connecticut Colony . The community was first named Newtown then renamed Hartford shortly afterwards to honor the English town of Hertford . One of the reasons why Hooker left was that only members of the church could vote and participate in the government in Massachusetts Bay, which he believed should include any adult male owning property . The Connecticut Colony was not the first settlement in Connecticut (the Dutch were first) or even the first English settlement (Windsor was first in 1633). Thomas Hooker obtained a royal charter and established Fundamental Orders, considered to be one of the first constitutions in North America . Other colonies later merged into the royal charter for the Connecticut Colony, including New Haven and Saybrook . </P>

What was the economy like in the new england colonies