The European actions against the natives were in error, because they were committed by Protestant Christians, who, unlike Catholics or savages, should have known better and responded with higher forms of faith and feeling. The Indian atrocities were seen as inevitable, the result of "undesigned provocation" (even though Wesley acknowledges that the settlers are interlopers) rather than a response in defense of their land (Ward, 1872). Thus, although the First Amendment of the Bill of Rights may proclaim religious separation from all churches, America was actually founded by individuals seeking to create what today we would call a theocracy. Despite early amicable relations with the natives, eventually conflicts over territory caused the two populations to be hostile. The violence that ensued was justified by the religious rhetoric and beliefs of the Puritans, as they strove to create a New Jerusalem in a land that was inhabited by people whose civilization and faith they saw...

(2008) "Pilgrims and puritans." American Studies at the University of Virginia. Retrieved 25 Jan 2008 at http://xroads.virginia.edu/~CAP/puritan/purhist.html
Native Americans of North America." (2007). Microsoft Encarta Online Encyclopedia Retrieved 25 Jan 2008 at http://encarta.msn.com

Religious tolerance in Colonial America (2008). Geocites. Retrieved 25 Jan 2008 at http://www.geocities.com/crownac/religious_tolerance.htm

Ward, Nathanial. (1647). "Against toleration." E-text of American History Told by Contemporaries. Vol. 1. pp. 393-96. Retrieved 25 Jan 2008 at http://personal.pitnet.net/primarysources/ward.html

Wesley, John. (1872). "A caution against bigotry." Reprint of complete sermons.

Edited by Thomas Jackson, 1872. Retrieved 25 Jan 2008 at http://new.gbgm-umc.org/umhistory/wesley/sermons/38