Compare And Contrast Rawson And Puritan Family

Puritanism was a major belief during the 1500s-1700s, Puritans believed that you are required to devote your whole life to the Lord. In order to be a Puritan you had to glorify God by attending church, report sinners, and show God’s grace through your own actions. In

In New England, the Puritans had a strong belief in frugality, believing money spent on entertainment or anything unprofitable was wasted. This directly affected the economy because of the large population of Puritans in New England; they were constantly working and rarely rested. Their work ethic influenced other groups in the area because they had to keep up with the business that the Puritans were doing. In Document I, Robert Keayne writes “…many spare hours to spend unprofitably away or to refreshe myself with recreations…but have rather stuyded and endeavored to redeeme my time as a thing most deare and precious to me…” This excerpt shows how a Puritan would do business. The Puritans made very humble livings in the early days of America. They typically made livings by being farmers and ministers. Others were merchants and sold goods. The merchants were the wealthier of the puritan people. Many of the women in Puritan society helped to make a living in society by creating clothing and food to sell to other villagers.

Puritans live in a life with a life of rules. They live by religious beliefs and literature purposes. The puritans believed in God being all powerful, Bible is God’s true law, success is a sign of improvement, and how education was written to glorify God and for education only not for entertainment.

When it came to parents raising their children they were strict and believed their wills had to be broken and although they loved their children they were not against using mental discipline and love but, if that did not work the Puritans practiced what is called “sending

The Puritans’ greatest lasting impact was on education. They believed that education was important in order to understand the Bible, and therefore stressed the education of all persons. Religious zeal was the main drive for establishing a system of education. As stated in Puritanism in Early American History, “Puritan leaders

Women in Puritan society had different roles nothing like they have now. Women acted as farming hands , as wives, responsible for caring for their husbands and as mothers, producing and guiding the next generation of Puritan children. If a family had a boy the would be happy because they had helping and working for money hands . If they had a girl they wouldn’t be as happy because that meant they would have to feed a child that wasn’t going to bring money home. Which meant that

One aspect of Puritan society that is uncommonly known is the marriage. It is not extremely different from the modern day marriage that most people are familiar with. It is, on the other hand, different from other marriages in the same time. While other marriages were based off of arrangement and love, Puritan marriage was not. The Puritans believed in things that were very different from those of other religions. Each Puritan marriage was different, but some aspects such as gender roles and parental approval were the same.

In addition, the bible was there sole authority, for they believed it applied to every aspect of daily life. As for their other beliefs, Puritans thought Satan was responsible for everything bad happening in day-to-day living. The Puritans believed that the members of society, weakest at upholding Puritan values and morals, specifically women and children, would be selected to carry out his work. This means women accused as witches were those who strayed from the Puritan lifestyle and were considered to be social outcasts. For the Puritans, religious and political life were completely intertwined. Each Puritan town had town meetings to determine how the town would be run, and only male church members were allowed to vote on these issues. This is probably the reason why the women were seen as the weakest society member’s maintaining Puritan values. "The Devils have sometimes represented the Shapes of persons not only innocent, but also very virtuous" (Salem Witch Trials). “…And I cannot but tell you that my faith is strong concerning them, that they are deluded, imposed upon, and under the influence of some evil spirit, and therefore unfit to be evidences, either against themselves or anyone else” (Salem Witchcraft Trials).

Puritan society had class system much like every colony now which started with the elite or gantry, middle class, indenture servants and lastly the slaves. The Puritans community was on based off strict religious customs. However, the people do have a voice in this society called Public Opinion which is like a jury. Moreover, Godbeer portrayed the Puritans as abrasive towards

Puritans believed God had made a “long promised summons” to them. Creating a society in every way connected to just God was challenging enough for the Puritans but also the need to spread His words to other people. The Puritans’ priorities were centralized on their religion and the teaching of it. This shows their focus in education to them was to teach children religious and moral beliefs. No doubt that the educational life of a Puritan began at home. In keeping with covenant household, the salvation of children and their spiritual being was in the heart of every parent. Parents prayed that their children would become a source of glory. The Puritans started the Old Dilutor Act: to teach children to read and write so they can understand the

The Puritans raised their families to be very reliable on themselves instead of others. As Puritan children got older throughout their life they got taught to be dependable and to take care of themselves to prepare them for their future of being responsible adults. Throughout the young puritan boys’ and girls’ lives, they were expected to take on many hardworking tasks to help their parents and other family members in and outside the house. Puritan women were in charge of the household but were thought of as irrational because they were emotional, but men were thought of as sane and reasonable (Dunklee et al.). Men may have had a lot of power, but “Women exercised considerable power within their families, including the authority to divorce their husbands by setting their belongings outside the longhouse entrance” (Lapsansky). The Puritan boys were accompanied to do outside chores such as hunting, crafting, and also learning carpentry. The girls were to do inside the house chores such as cleaning, cooking, and helping their mothers in the house. The Puritan parents held their children to high standards to prepare them to be proper husbands and

The Puritans belief set is simple: If you commit a sin, you are guilty and punished by execution. The Patriarchy, which is a system, society or government in which the father or eldest male is head of the family and descent is traced through the male line, is the foundation of this religion. Women could be guilty of almost anything if a man accused her of it. The governing council is only made up of men and they keep a strict hold on everyone in the community. Their harsh laws are based off of the Old Testament. “In Hawthorne's story Governor Bellingham and his fellow magistrates used this vision not only to unite the community, but to control, by humiliation, banishment, or death, any wayward member” (Hodges 5). This way of thinking ensued fear into women. They were taught to never speak out or act in any unholy manner. So, when Hester gave birth to a child who did not belong to her husband, she was no longer treated with any respect. “Thus the young and pure would be taught to look at her, with the

A Puritan defined is “a member of a group of English Protestants of the late 16th and 17th centuries who regarded the Reformation of the Church of England under Elizabeth as incomplete and sought to simplify and regulate forms of worship.” Puritan society in America depended on the belief that all members were working for the glory of God. The Puritans did not allow deviations from the strict code of behavior which would not allow any member to have individuality. They restricted any type of entertainment, except that which was endorsed by the church. They worked and worshipped.

Morgan organizes The Puritan Family into six different main topics. “Puritanism and Society” begins with insight on the behavior, thought processes, and ideals of a “good” Puritan, in addition to how they functioned within their own society. “The Education of a Saint” details the beliefs and morals a Puritan is surrounded by as a child. Lastly, “Puritan Tribalism” introduces claims involving the cause of the Puritan downfall. The remaining chapters “Husband and Wife”, ”Masters and Servants”, and “The Family in the Social Order” are all self-explanatory to their respective titles.

In their society the Puritans based their lives, beliefs, and communities on what they deemed as God's law and true word, the bible (Barger). Reading the bible was expected for the members of society, this included women and children, which was often unheard of (Foner 66) at that time. With their lives being restricted to the word of the bible this left very little leeway for anything other than what was deemed acceptable, and this rigid way of life was another straw that led to the eventual troubles and fervor that took over.