Actually, the Puritans left England for Holland because they were at the receiving end of violent imprisonment for holding religious convictions that differed w

Actually, the Puritans left England for Holland because they were at the receiving end of violent imprisonment for holding religious convictions that differed with the Anglican church and authorities. Then they left the Netherlands because they felt that their children were becoming too Dutch. After the Puritans founded Plymouth Bay colony, they let William Rogers (if I have his name correct) leave when he disagreed with them, and he went and founded Rhode Island... where he eventually excommunicated his own wife (so maybe he just had issues getting on with folks). So I'm not sure what episodes of violently attacking neighbors you're speaking of. Additionally, according to American feminist history researcher Mardi Keyes in a lecture I heard years ago, Puritan New England was the first society in the world where legally women had the full right to bring divorce suites in cases of abuse, infidelity, or neglect; 50% of the cases were brought by women (she said if you look of the court records one can see this evidence) and it was the closeness of their communities that enabled neighbors and friends to provide testimonial evidence, which often enabled women to leave dreadful marriages. This stands in stark contrast to the pejorative caricaturing of Puritans as anti-women.