How Did The Puritans Influence Social Development

As England became increasingly unbearable to a variety of faiths, people such as the Puritans began to look to the New World as a haven. Eventually multitudes of Puritans flooded the east coast, mainly inhabiting the New England colonies. Though many factors contributed to characteristics that defined the New England colonies, Puritan values caused the colonies to grow and expand throughout the 1600’s. Their belief in a driven and productive lifestyle gave New England surprising economical success that was the envy of the English empire. Additionally, Puritan values of religion and the importance of education affected their social interactions with the Native Americans and intelligence of the New England community. Finally, Puritan values

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 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

Therefore, the Puritans strived to work towards religious and moral reforms, and to do so, first escaped persecution from the Church and the King. As a result, a group of non-separatist Puritans led by Thomas Dudley and John Winthrop established a colony in Massachusetts Bay, mainly in order to have religious freedom, but also to maintain British cultural influences (before they had ventured to North America, they lived in Holland for a few years, but decided to leave in order to settle “as a distinct body of themselves” in the New World). Unlike in the Chesapeake Bay regions, religion was at the forefront of everybody’s mind, as every settler was a devout follower of God (at least at the beginning). Therefore, the cardinal principle in their community was a sort of religious exclusiveness as the Puritans held their spiritual beliefs, which translated into certain “community laws” and customs, highest. On the other hand, religion was a negligible motivator for colonists settling in the Chesapeake Bay regions.

The New England colonies development was influenced upon the arrival of the Puritans. The Puritans brought with them many ideas and values to help better the colonies. One of the political ideas the Puritans had were town meetings which was a form of democracy. Economically, the Puritans were big on trading, fishing and farming. Also one of the main reasons the Puritans came to the New World was to purify the churches which impacted the colonies socially. The ideas and values of the Puritans influenced the development of the New England colonies politically by having the first pure form of democracy, economically by trading and farming, and socially by purifying the churches.

The Puritans travelled from England to North America in the 1600s seeking religious freedom. However, the idea of “religious freedom” is quite different compared to what we usually understand. The Puritans wanted to implement their religious beliefs and practice them without any objections, and therefore missing out religious tolerance. The Puritan lifestyle was composed of very strong beliefs among which predestination and self-examination were prominent ones. Their social norms and beliefs were portrayed in their literature where they glorified God. Any literary writings that were not of any religious topics or failed to worship the lord were avoided. The Bible and other religious manuscripts and oratures were the basic source for their literary

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

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

During the 1600’s, puritans emigrated from England and made settlements in the New England regions along the Massachusetts Bay. The puritans did not primarily have much interest in economic development but rather wanted to create a pure Christian society that evolved around the community and family aspects of life. Puritans made a system based on economic ideas of life. Colonist from the Chesapeake region was more concerned about the economics, rather than religious purposes. By creating a government pertaining a great deal of religion, puritan ideas and values Puritan ideas and values influenced the political, economic, and social development of the New England colonies from 1630 through the 1660s.

In the 1630s to 1660s, the Puritans strong belief in god and its upholding shaped the Massachusetts Bay Colony’s development. The colony was fully based on the Puritan’s view which painted their religion and it effected the lifestyle. The Puritans were a highly religious group that believed god’s will was the absolute. As shown in document 3, it states how the church is always right and nothing should be done to offend it. This shows the grasp of the Puritans hold toward god because this was a statement of the church’s membership and so it should display their beliefs.

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.

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.

Over the years, people broadcast the Puritans as a group of people who were extremely legalistic and against anything that would be considered fun in the modern world. This incorrect broadcast of the Puritans has led to many misconceptions about how they lived when they came to the New World and settled in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. The Puritans were not legalistic, but rather sought to please God by creating a society that focused on fulfilling their calling through the institutions of family, work, education, and government in a positive environment. This led to a fruitful society when it followed in its original intentions.

The puritans believed in the doctrine of a “calling” to do God’s work on Earth. One could only be a part of the church clergy if they had experienced a conversion and followed the doctrine of the “calling”. However, Puritans were not tolerant to others that did not share the same religion or beliefs as them.

One of the main things that the Puritans believed in was God. They believed that God was always there for them and watching their every move. They also believed that God arranged everything with a purpose. The Puritans were very big on having faith. They considered faith and belief to be the conversion experience. If you did not have faith then you did not have anything. Faith was the one thing that would give them strength and get them through any situation. They believed that God was the only one that had a say in what would happen when it came to certain situations that people had to deal with or problems that people had.