How Did The Puritans Affect Their Society

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.

One area that has been shaped by Puritan influence is public education. Puritans created the first free formal school in 1635 called Roxbury Latin School. The objective was for everyone to be capable to learn to read and have a better educated Puritan society. Consequently, the institution was so remarkably influential that just four years later, the first college, Harvard, was formed. Even younger kids, mostly ages 6-8, were able to attend a Dame school where they studied how to read. This system has many similarities to our public education system today. Children today go to elementary school where basic reading, writing, and math is taught, which can be

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

Some of the Puritans’ main focuses were spreading their culture and faith. They thrived on the belief that they were sent from God, who expected them to study and live by his scriptures in the Bible. They believed stories in the Bible could be applied to every aspect of their lives. A big part of the reason they left England to have a new start in America is so that they would have an opportunity to purify the Church of England that they were accustomed to.

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

While the current child considers their life to be stressful and busy, the children of the Puritan religion had much more to be worried about, on top of all of their daily activities. The adults in the community looked down upon the children that represented the devil and his works. Children were born with the burden of Adam’s sin, and they must be broken from sinning. By the time that the children were five, they were put to work, to contribute to the family. Most children were small, and able to help with the weeding of plants and house work. After an early morning work session, most children would attend school. Schooling was very important to the Puritans because they believed that the devil would influence anyone you was easy

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

Dissent always existed in the New England Colonies; the Puritans rarely all agreed on one point. Differing theological opinions forged a schism between groups and lead to the creation of colonies such as Rhode Island. As they stressed literacy, individuals formed their own impressions of the gospel. Minister Roger Williams, for example, disagreed with the Massachusetts Bay Colony’s Indian relations and lack of religious freedoms. Roger Williams wrote this on the matter, “God requireth not a uniformity of religion to be enacted and enforced; which enforced uniformity sooner or later is the greatest occasion of civil war.”

The New England colonies developed rapidly throughout the early 1600s. Their development was largely influenced by the Puritans, who had emigrated from Britain and helped found most of the region’s colonies. The philosophies, ideas, and values of the Puritans greatly shaped the development of the colonies in a number of distinct ways. Politically, the idea of a united, representative government, which later became a staple of the United States, was derived from Puritan ideals. Economically, the ideals of fair pricing and the celebrated “Yankee frugality and thriftiness” originated from the Puritans. Socially, emphasis on church, religion, and education was another lasting influence of the

Seventeenth century Puritans had a few specific goals when it came to the creation of their model society. Most importantly, they wanted every member of the community to be one of the elect. The elect were those who had received salvation and would in turn make it to heaven. They also

Puritans believed in religion, work, and education. Because Puritans believed that work was important to be a follower of God they did a lot of work. To keep everyone under control, Puritans set rules , regulations, and laws. Which is a lot like how America has set up laws to keep the citizens in line today. Huguenots were Calvinist French protestants.

Regarding the social aspect of Puritan colonies, the Puritans primarily focused on religion which would guide their actions in society. Because there was such a need to read the Bible, schools were established in settlements that had at least fifty families in order to provide basic education such as reading and writing. This was the first public school system in the colonies. Also because of this emphasis on reading the Bible, Harvard College was established to educate young men to become Puritan ministers. The biggest social influence on the Puritans

The Puritans' ultimate goal was for their ideal society, their City Upon A Hill, a model Christian society. According to Dr. Terry Matthew in Puritanism in America “They did not come to this country to find a place to practice freedom of worship. Instead, they came to find a place where their true religion could flourish.” They wanted to influence more than just their communities and those surrounding, they wanted to influence the Church of England and further in the hopes of purifying those that had strayed from what they deemed as the true and righteous path all by showing the way by their hard-fast examples.

The Puritans dream was to create a model society for the rest of the Christians.. Their goal was to make a society in every way connected to god. Every aspect of their lives, from political views and employment to recreation and dress, was taken into account in order to live a more pious life. But to really understand what the aspirations of the puritans were, we must first understand their beliefs. The Puritans believed that a man’s only purpose in life was “to glorify God on earth and, if he were especially fortunate, to continue the good work in Heaven.” For the puritans, to glorify god meant keeping him in mind at all times, working to the best of their ability at whatever job god had had set fate for them to do, and following a