Thomas Hooker

• In the Massachusetts Bay Colony, in order to be a voter for governing officials (e.g., Governor), you were required to be a practicing member of a Puritan Church.

• The Rev. Thomas Hooker thought it was fine to require people to be church members in order to vote for church leaders, but when it comes to the civil/secular government, Hooker believed that every man should have a say in choosing their leadership (democracy), regardless of whether those voters were church members or not.

• John Winthrop believed that only church members can be trusted to make good decisions, regardless of whether those decisions pertained to the church or the civil government.

• Winthrop and Hooker argued about this, and Winthrop prevailed.

DECISION: You are Thomas Hooker. What do you do in view of the fact that your idea of "democracy" has been rejected in Boston?

Click here to find out what Hooker actually did.