Colonial political culture grew partly from the religious motives of many early English emigrants. These communities often wanted a stricter Protestant order than the comparatively moderate Restoration settlement under Charles II would provide. Charles tried to create enough political accommodation for his Catholic brother James to succeed him, but James lacked his political skill. Memories of persecution under Mary I made a Catholic monarch especially alarming to many English Protestants. The resulting conflict involved societies that had developed different expectations about religion and legitimate authority.
Notable Point · 39:32-43:43
Religious migration widened the colonial political distance
Colonists who left England over religion carried constitutional expectations that increasingly diverged from Restoration politics at home.