Did the Puritans object to ecclesiastical courts during the Puritan Movement ?
This successful , though initially quite difficult , colony marked the beginning of the Protestant presence in America ( the earlier French , Spanish and Portuguese settlements had been Catholic ) , and became a kind of oasis of spiritual and economic freedom , to which persecuted Protestants and other minorities from the British Isles and Europe ( and later , from all over the world ) fled to for peace , freedom and opportunity .