Dbq Puritan Values

Puritans and reformers of seventeenth century England have been given a bad name for their part in history. This is primarily because they were working against the grain and trying to create change in world that saw change as a threat. The time period was turbulent and there was bound to be resistance in a world that was dominated by Catholics and those that had reformed to abide by their King’s law. The puritans of the time were considered extreme and rubbed people the wrong way because they wanted a world that abided by their morals and ethical codes. For this, they took the blame for the misery that many suffered during this age, but as we see in Fire from Heaven, this is not a fair assessment. The Puritans of this time wanted to improve the lives of the people and society as a whole through morality and purity.

The Puritans impacted the New England region. They believed that the people should elect a reverend and the government’s power should lay in the hands of the people. The idea of a democracy was a huge step forward in improving the colonists lives and allowing the people to feel as though they had more control. As John Winthrop states “we [the people] must be knit together, in this work as one man.” (Document 1), the Puritans wanted to unite the people in the New England colonies to become one. The Puritans also incorporated their religion into their government, something that is not seen today. The Puritans valued religion over nearly everything and wanted to show its importance to the rest of the world. They voted on a reverend to be their leader and allowed the Lord to set boundaries in which the Puritans

In the 1630's and the 1640's, the Puritans traveled to the colonies to detach from their opinion of a convoluted Church of England. They set up towns and started new lives that were all based on their idea of a pure religion. The Puritan's definition of a pure religion did not include many of the ideas of the Church of England. They built the colonies and made a system based upon the idea that God was the most important aspect of life. Puritan ideas and values influenced the political, economic, and social development of the New England colonies from 1630 through the 1660’s by spreading their beliefs into every facet of daily life. Politically their ideas regarding what was considered sinful behavior and how power was separated among the

The Puritans had what was known as town meetings, which was where members of the community would come and discuss town issues and would then vote using the principal of majority rule. Another form of government the Puritans had was the General Court, which was the state legislature and also a judicial court of appeals. Puritans were known as Congregationalists; that is when the church congregation is independent and is self-governed. Only elected members could serve in the church; they were known as living saints. Among the first Puritans to arrive in the New World was John Winthrop who was appointed governor and his intent was “to create a city upon a hill”. This city was to act as an example for the rest of the world. Now because of the Puritans we have democracy and forms of congregationalism which took part in politically developing the New England

Above all, Puritans believed that it was their destiny to settle in what was the New World, and set up an example of the ideal community for the rest of the world to emulate. They also believed they were sent by God on a divine mission to escape persecution and spread their religion freely. Since the United States rose to power its people have been convinced that the democratic system, equality, free markets, and its way of life are the most perfected governing methodology to date. The first trace of this was in Monroe Doctrine, then the civil war, followed by the United States? involvement in World Wars I and II, and above all

The church and Christian beliefs had a very large impact on the Puritan religion and lifestyle. According to discovery education, “Church was the cornerstone of the mainly Puritan society of the 17th century.” Puritan laws were intensively rigid and people in society were expected to follow a moral strict code. And because of Puritans and their strict moral codes, any act that was

Their government was in the form of a republic, which later became a model for the United State’s future government. They came up with the idea of two houses of representatives that could pass bills and as we can see in the U.S. government today, their idea stuck (Chamber, ). Even though their government was a republic, the Puritans pushed the principles of democracy. Their ideals, such as freedom, liberty, and religion, became a base for our society today. The Puritans also left a legacy of conservatism which remains an important factor in North American government today (The Social Studies Help Center). What’s more, Puritan influence helped shape North American constitutional and common laws, such as “Congress shall make no laws establishing religion…” (McGowan et al. v. Maryland).

The puritans go create the Massachusetts Bay Colony. They didn’t have strict rules like England, people were not forced to go to church, it all seems great. However, there were many issues. Puritans believed in Calvinism, or predestination. This was the idea that everything is preset by God and nothing you do can change your fate. “Nothing a person did in his or her lifetime could alter God’s choice or provide assurance that the person was predestined for salvation with the elect or damned to hell with the doomed multitude.” (The American

2. "Explain how the Puritans’ theology shaped the government and society of the Massachusetts Bay Colony." Puritans tried to reform the church from within is support of parliament. They Church in england wanted reformation causing the Puritans to be resented by the leaders of the church. This then lead to the persecution of Puritans which caused them Puritans to escape and search for new life in the colonies. Living by the Puritan lifestyle in the colony society permitted the basic freedoms including the right of voting. The society in the colonies favored the Puritan belief because it allowed the tolerance of religions.

The political principals of the Puritans were derived directly from their religious beliefs. In his work "Limitation of Government," John Cotton declared that "It is most wholesome for magistrates...in [a] commonwealth never to affect more liberty and authority than will do them good” because he believed that God had set boundaries for the power of man (Doc H). Thinkers like Cotton would pave the way for limited government to become a core element of New England society. A natural extension of the idea of limited government would be the dissuasion of monarchy and support for a democracy, which is best suited for the curtailing of government power. It is true that the Puritans were extremely zealous in their faith and

Seventeenth century Puritans had several aspirations, successes, and failures when it came to creating a model society. They had many successes in their society, some examples are their education system, their advancements in equality for women, and the way they created a tight knit close society. Although they had many achievements, the Puritans also did fall short in many aspects of their society. They ultimately did fail at their perfect society, and that is a very important aspect since that was their main goal. They also were very strict about their policies regarding the church. Once the generations progressed, they had to create new rules to allow people basic religious rights such as baptism. They also fused church and state, which was necessary in a society such as this, but it ultimately hindered progression such as allowing non church members to vote. As the years progressed more and more non Puritans entered the Puritan society, this hindered society because eventually the small majority was making the most riveting decisions. Ultimately the Puritans had both failures and successes when attempting a model society, but the weight of the failures simply outweighed the successes.

Catholic leaders believed they were defending traditional Christian civilization against rebellions and anarchical forces, whilst the latter argued they were restoring pure religion and defending against corruption and superstition. To them, the Pope was anti-Christ, whilst to the Catholics, Luther, Alvin and all other ‘reformers’ were heretics. Consequently, the secular rulers sought to base their political unity upon that of a religious nature, using their authority to compel their subjects into adopting one form of Christianity. In contrast to Pope Leo X, who face the Lutheran revolt, who urged secular leaders to suppress Protestant heretics by force, Luther appealed for this same force to be used against Catholics, and even Calvin, considered to be an apostle of religious tolerance didn’t permit Catholics to reside in Geneva. Meanwhile, Spain, Portugal and Italy all used methods such as the Inquisition and the Index to eliminate religious dissent and persecute Protestant subjects. Therefore, this shows that despite the argument regarding whether England was ‘torn apart’, the rest of Europe was considerably so, which could subsequently have impacted England.

The 17th century Puritans were known to represent a religious group migrating from England to America in order to practice religious freedom. These groups were determined to “purify” churches of England from Catholic practices. Puritans are known for their religious, social, and political influences on early America. Edmund S. Morgan’s novel The Puritan Family highlights a part of history that many would tend to look over upon- that is, the complex structural life of Puritan Families in the 17th century.

As the Puritans left England to escape religious persecution, they established a thriving society in New England, based on puritan doctrine, virtue, and the church. They intended to create a utopian society that would honor God's laws. They intended for this utopia to be an example to the world. However, as religious dissenters gained a voice, Puritanism seemed to splinter and secular concerns became more important to the citizens of the New England area, the region lost the homogenous culture it once had.

For the Puritans in the early New England colonies life was by no means easy, but there was the possibility to expand their beliefs free from the persecution from Church of England. They had the opportunity to create their ideal society under God with the bible as their law from which they would define how to live. The Puritans set out to create their model society which could spread and cull the impurities from the church. But how did these beliefs and goals ultimately effect their society?