The Jamestown colony was settled in May 14, 1607. The Salem witch trials occurred in 1692.
In the deeper south, Alabama, for instance there were waves of explorers that claimed the territory from the Indians that lived in the region for probably, 12000 years. Further the Spanish were there first. I haven’t heard stories about them burning witches, they were more interested in looking for gold, the fountain of youth, and burning the occasional heretic. Later European explorers were looking for land and were more or less democratic.
The point is that the Puritans were long established and though they stopped burning old ladies, their other values were passed on to their less zealous successors. Our overall moral, sexual, and religious attitudes would probably have been better served if the Puritans got lost on the way and disappeared into history.
Most of the Eastern Colonies and the first 13 states were there for religious freedom or in lieu of a prison sentence in England. I notice that Australia whose original settlers were shipped there on prison ships have a much better outlook on life and are not so consumed by Puritanical attitudes toward religion, sex, and punishment. The fact that they were a-religious or even atheist contribute to the fact that they have a much less oppressive government and a better outlook on life. Atheists, in my opinion are much more suited to public service and leadership than religious zealots.
As for the southern states, they started going down hill when the Southern Baptist preachers moved in and gave them biblical excuses for slavery. I find it ironic that they would teach the slaves religion but not reading. Religion is a great control mechanism, reading leads to too much thinking, hence the neocon push to weaken and eliminate the public school system