The Protestant Reformation began when Luther posted his Thesis in 1517, twenty-five years after Columbus’s first trip, and it was a world shaking event for European cultures and the current religious practices. He clearly had some serious issues with the Catholic Church’s administration and theology. But apparently the Papal Bulls authorizing the seizure of property and goods, and perpetual slavery, were not part of his concerns. Luther surely was aware of the events in the Western Hemisphere. His homeland, Germany, even dabbled a bit in colonization for a time, but there doesn’t seem to be any statements from him regarding Indigenous Peoples. Admittedly, he was primarily occupied with the Reformation and taking precautions to avoid being arrested, tried and perhaps executed. So it’s understandable why he didn’t spend any energy on colonization. Later in his life, he became a fairly adamant critic of Jews and Muslims. Primarily because he thought they weren’t intelligent enough to understand his arguments for accepting an invitation for Christian conversion. His attitude reflected the accepted position of Christian ‘superiority’ of that period.
The Reformation had little, if any, impact – good or bad – on the Colonization Practices employed by the invading Catholic and Protestant countries. The Ten Rules of the Doctrine of Discovery were still intact, especially the ‘prime rule’ that the colonizers must be Christians, whether they were followers of the Pope’s directions or not. Certainly for the Indigenous Peoples of the world, it made no difference what kind of Christian oppressor was ruining their lives.
In a very broad sense, the Reformation did influence a series of events that affected the colonization of the lands of the Western Atlantic, specifically the northern regions invaded by the British. It’s highly likely the actions taken by King Henry VIII of England to create the Church of England would have occurred regardless, given his personal agenda. But the founding of the Church of England also created some divisions within the English populace. There were some who preferred to stay with the Catholic Church. And there were those who didn’t mind the change, and/or didn’t care about the change, or didn’t even know about the change. But there were at least two other smaller groups, one that wanted to leave both the English and the Catholic Church entirely, and another that wanted to stay in the English Church, but eliminate its hierarchal controls. The first group were called ‘Separatists’ until about 1800 when historians and scholars decided to call them Pilgrims. And the other group were called Puritans.
The Separatists were harassed by the English authorities because they didn’t obey the law that stated all citizens had to attend Sunday church services. So, some of them left England and settled in The Netherlands. The Dutch accepted them and they survived there for about 12 years. While they were free to live and worship as they wanted in The Netherlands, they realized they would eventually become more Dutch than English, which was not what they had planned or wanted. It was decided they should find their own land and a plan was developed to migrate to the ‘New World’.
A delegation was sent to London to negotiate with the London Company for a grant for a suitable piece of land. The London Company had the royal license to manage the distribution of property for those interested in settling along the coast of the Western Atlantic. While there were some delays with the process, the grant was eventually issued and the Separatists began acquiring the necessary supplies and a ship, the Mayflower, for their journey. At no time during the process was any consideration given to the Indigenous Peoples living on the land, other than to be alert for their possible resistance. The London Company’s position was similar to that of the English royal, religious and secular leaders at the time. Which, by the way, was consistent with those expressed in the earlier Papal Bulls and Letters Patents, i.e., Indigenous Peoples were pagan enemies of Christ and it was best to deal harshly with those who resisted conversion to Christianity. One of those leaders was Sir Edward Coke, the Lord Chief Justice for a time, who ruled in a case involving migrants and aliens that, “for all infidels there could be no peace, and a state of perpetual hostility would exist between them and Christians.” The London Company went so far as to issue instructions for kidnapping Indigenous children so as to educate them with English values and religion. A notion that became the precursor of United States government policy for establishing Indian Boarding Schools in the latter part of the 19th century.
The theology and church administration of the Separatists were closely aligned. The Separatists believed in the idea of a “gathered church” founded by the Holy Spirit, not by man and certainly not by the state. True Christian believers should seek out other Christians and together form their churches. It was the right and responsibility of each congregation to determine its own affairs, without having to submit those decisions to the judgment of any higher human authority. This included its theology, though that was limited to non-Catholic principles. The Separatists were in stark contrast to the ‘territorial’ approach of both the Church of England and the Vatican.
There were only about 30 Separatists on the Mayflower that had actually lived in The Netherlands. The other passengers were some of their members who had remained in England, plus some craftsmen, soldiers and adventurers. Before they landed and began to build a settlement, the travelers drafted an agreement that was meant to guide them in common practice for creating a colony. It is generally referred to as the Mayflower Covenant and it states, in part:
“Having undertaken for the Glory of God, and Advancement of the Christian Faith, and the Honour of our King and Country, a Voyage to plant the first Colony in the northern Parts of Virginia; Do by these Presents, solemnly and mutually, in the Presence of God and one another, covenant and combine ourselves together into a civil Body Politick, for our better Ordering and Preservation, and Furtherance of the Ends aforesaid:”
The Covenant was successful in that it did help the Separatists establish and grow the Plymouth Colony and produce profits for the London Company. It also was a guide for the colonization practices that diminished the Indigenous Peoples already living there for “the Glory of God, and Advancement of the Christian Faith.”