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Religious freedom varied greatly from colony to colony in the British North American Colonies prior to 1700. Some colonies had no religious freedom at all. Massachusetts set out from the beginning to be a non-separatist Puritan colony; they would not even say that they were separated from the Church of England. The church heavily influenced state affairs. You could not even be eligible to be a freeman unless you were a “visible saint”, but the power the preachers had was not absolute. A congregation had the right to hire and fire it’s minister and to set his salary. Clergymen were also not allowed to hold an official office. While many c