ECW 31: Frustrations in Rhode Island

Rejects & Revolutionaries (American History Podcast)

While New England's comfort generally increased in the Cromwell years, Rhode Island suffered from a lagging economy, political divisions and even issues with religious dissidents who worked to destabilize the already unstable colony. Plymouth's prosperity also waned as trade came to dominate the New England economy.

And in the United Colonies, the issue of infant baptism continued to create problems. In response to the limits of Church-membership exclusivity (including but not limited to infant baptism), younger people were either losing interest in religion or turning to more radical Puritan sects, like the Baptists. Baptists, who advocated for no infant baptism at all, rather than simply limited infant baptism, grew more numerous and popular throughout New England. Their ideology evened the social/political playing field as well as providing a simple solution to religious questions.

In response to these trends in New England religious life, United Colony Churches (with some exceptions) adopted the Half-Way Covenant.