SOCIAL PROGRAMS.
Democrats are HUGE in support of social programs, ex) obamacare.
religious toleration
Rhode Island founder Roger Williams believed in religious toleration.
Williams (1603-1683) founded the Rhode Island colony after being banished from Massachusetts in 1636 because of his views. He advocated keeping church and state separate. Rhode Island became a safe place for various religious dissenters and minorities to find a place to exist peacefully -- Baptists, Quakers, Jews and other religious minorities. Years later, when colonial America became the United States of America and the US Constitution was being written, Roger Williams idea of maintaining a “wall of separation” between church and state influenced the framers of the Constitution and Bill of Rights.
Prior to 1497, most goods were transported from India and China to Europe over a land route, since no true sea route had been established. This was obviously far more costly and time-consuming. <span />
<span>In1629 the Massachusetts Bay Company set out for America. Around 18,000 puritan settlers immigrated at that time having given up on the idea of reforming the Church of England. The colonists wanted to keep the bulk of the ideas held by the Church of England but were anxious to be rid of some aspects. The community centered heavily around the church and most legislative activity was conducted at the church meeting house in the same way that religion was at the center of every Puritan's life. Only male members of the church had any say in the governing of the colony. John Winthrop, the first governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, outlined the goals of the colony in his sermon called "A model of Christian Charity." He dictated that the colony should be based solidly on the ideas of the church and that all law should flow directly from their Godly beliefs. The colony believed that their success was directly tied to their selfless devotion to God and community.</span>
