Influence of the Puritan Faith on the Development of New England

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 came to america in hopes of finding a religious haven. They were trying to separate from the thought to be corrupt Church of England. Although the Puritans agreed with some of the that views the Church of England had, most were to liberal for the them and they needed to start a more conservative church. What better place to start then a blank slate, the New World. Developing a new colony was a challenge for the Puritans, but they persevered in their endeavors. They came with a goal based on religion and their new colony was created on solely that. Religion affected the political, economic, and social development of the New England colonies.

In 1630, John Winthrop formed his ideas for his ideal settlement, City Upon a Hill. He wrote down his ideas in a document titled “A Modell of Christian Charity”(Doc 1). In this document, he planned ideas for a perfect Puritan society. At the start of this settlement, he became the governor of it. These ideas and values were an important aspect of the political, economic, and social development of the Puritan society in New England. The most important values were community, religion, and education. These values that the Puritans upheld in Winthrop’s society are responsible for the political, economic, and social development of the New England colonies from the 1630s to 1660.

From 1630 to the 1660s, The Puritans established and shaped the New England colonies, ultimately making the outline for what those societies would be like today. The Puritan ideology held great influence over the New England colonies as it prioritized religious values in order to create a political order with a unified government. These values also assisted in the formation of a social identity based on patriarchal ideals and a stress on the importance of a diligent work ethic to prevent materialism. Throughout New England, the Puritan concept of unity greatly influenced the political development of the colonies.

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.

Puritans’ Effects on New England Colonies Throughout the 1600s, the New England colonies rapidly developed in many aspects. The development of the colonies was greatly affected by the Puritans— a group of English Reformed Protestants hoping to model a perfect Christian society. Their values and philosophies led to the political, economic, and social development of the New England colonies. Politically, the Puritans’ representative government would later result in the establishment of the governing system still in place in the United States today. Economically, the idea of a part-to-whole ratio for Puritan communities was recreated throughout the colonies.

In the spring of 1630, John Winthrop and his group of Puritan immigrants arrived on the shores of the Massachusetts Bay. There they founded the Massachusetts Bay Colony, an exclusively Puritan settlement based on the strict religious ideas of the colonists. As the colony expanded from the 1630s to the 1660s, these strict Puritan ideas and values influenced its economic development by putting the focus of the colony on the religion instead of on the creation of a settlement for monetary or expansive profit, its political development, by and its social development, by regulating the way other religions, women, and education were treated.

In the early seventeenth century, the Puritans settled in New England, establishing the Massachusetts Bay Colony. They had religious reasons for settling, hoping to separate themselves from the English Anglican Church. The Puritans created colonies to serve as their ideal models for other American settlements. As stated by John Winthrop in Document A, their goal was to create a “city upon a hill”, which shows their motivations to build a permanent religious settlement. Although the Puritans did not completely push aside trade, they advised traders and workmen to follow a moral ethical code that would allow them to serve God and their neighbors (Doc E). The Puritans assembled their society based on their religious beliefs of great worship and predestination of the good because of their Covenant of Grace. In addition, they believed that they were all brought together by God to harvest crops and build a quintessential society (Doc D). Because the settlers did not believe in personal profit at the expense of others, they employed a General Court which regulated trade and commerce (Doc E). On the other hand, the settlers of

During the 1700s two major regions, New England and the Chesapeake Bay both were colonized by large amounts of English origin, both varied in very distinct ways in spite of both areas being settled by the same country. The New England colonies emigrated with family units and focused more on the religious aspect of life whereas The Chesapeake colonies consisted of farmers, the colonies were focused on agriculture and economics. Originally in England, Puritans that were persecuted because of their beliefs wanted to create New England. By creating this new colony, Puritans were able to freely practice their religion without being penalized. Puritans wanted a tight knit community along with the church and government to join together to make a close

The Puritans valued hard work and freedom to worship which greatly influenced the social, political and economic development of the New England colonies from 1630 through the 1660s. The Puritans were a very religious group of people and sought to create a model Christian community in New England. They were also a very God-fearing society which caused them to really value education and discipline but also to be intolerant to other religions. In terms of political development, Puritans valued being able to voice their opinion and govern themselves. Lastly, because the Puritans settled in New England as a safe haven to practice their religion, making a profit was not very important to them.

The New England Colonies included the colonies of Connecticut, Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, Massachusetts, and Province of New Hampshire. The colonies were where the Englishmen settled and lived. Their economy, religion, and politics grew gradually due to various factors which include the community setting where lands were separated into small portions. The settlers of the New England traded sugar and molasses with other parts of the world. Also, this colony practiced subsistence farming where they produced enough food for their family need. Before farming, these colonies had small-scale factories and built ships to improve their economy. They were Puritans. They formed this religion after freeing from the Church of England. The colony also had communities that lived close to each other and watched out on their fellows. As a result, the Puritans lived longer and able to maintain their traditions. Politically, the colonies had the concept of self-government through the elections and the appointments.

The colony of New England was very heavily influenced by the Puritan way of life. The Puritans were a group of English Protestants who desired to absolve the Anglican Church from its Catholic practices in the 16th and 17th centuries, retaining that the Church of England was only somewhat reformed. The people were very supportive of each other, and created a system with only one class: the middle class, which resulted in a homogenous background. The climate and location largely impacted the economic aspects of the New England Colonies. In this region, the colonies faced long winters and the rocky soil made farming limited to crops such as corn, pumpkins, rye, squash and beans. The Northern colonies of New England focused more on town life and shipbuilding and small-scale factories were common. In the 17th century, most European kingdoms had adopted the economic policy of mercantilism. Mercantilism provides that in order to build a strong economy, a nation must export more than it imports. To achieve this, colonies were to provide raw materials to the parent country to contribute profit and growth to that countries

With religious reforms causing controversy in England came the Puritans, known for their simplicity in their way of life. They wore basic clothing and were against consumption of alcohol and sex (unless married). With the disagreements of the religious conflicts happening in England, the puritans “wanted to purify the Church of England from within.” The sole reason the idea sparked to settle a colony in America was in search of a Puritan lifestyle and the freedom to do so. On March 4, 1629 King Charles gave the Massachusetts Bay Company a charter while not knowing the true nature of what this colony was to become and for the reasons behind it. Still, the Puritans left for America in March 1630. In contrast to the type of people who immigrated to Virginia, the Massachusetts population was mostly nuclear families, meaning husband, wife, and kids. Also differing from the colonists in Virginia, the settlers in Massachusetts Bay worked together for the common good of the colony. Along with their lives and beliefs, their government and politics were religiously based as well and soon they decided upon a Congregationalism form of church government. Their churches were a matter of choice but in order to become a member they had a strict regulation “In order to join one (a church) a man or woman had to provide testimony–a confession of faith–before neighbors who already had been admitted as full members.” Because religion was the bases behind Massachusetts being colonization crimes and religious disagreements called for serious

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.

William Bradford provides a detailed record of Puritan life, starting all the way back at their arrival in “Cape Cod, the 11th of November” (134). Much can be gained from reading his account of the Puritans first arrival in Massachusetts, as it describes the inception of the Plymouth Colony and gives background to the history of the Puritans. Bradford clearly states that the Puritans have arrived in the New World “for the glory of God, and advancement of the Christian faith,” an indication that the colonists focused not on this life but on preparing for the next (138). The Puritans were a people who had their entire cultural identity wrapped up in their religion, and so every piece of Puritan literature or aspect of Puritan life has a Christian focus. When the colonists narrowly escaped a conflict