Puritan Beliefs

The Puritans arrived in the New World in the hopes of “purifying” the Church of England. They practiced certain principles that they believed in and that centered around the idea of God. The main purpose of their journey to New England was to set an example to others how the Church should be, and so their motive for settlement was solely related to religion. The Puritans positively influenced the political, economic, and social development of the New England colonies from 1630 through the 1660s because they were a “city upon a hill” that served as an example to other parts of the world as a result of their strong belief in God.

William Bradford’s Of Plymouth Plantation gives insight to typical seventeenth century Puritanical thought. The Puritans believed that God’s will directs and guides all aspects of the universe. Puritans further believed the Bible could help them understand God’s will in their personal lives. Bradford’s writing was meant to express an understanding of God in everyday life and to teach future Puritans how to see God in their lives.

Religion was the foundation of the early Colonial American Puritan writings. Many of the early settlements were comprised of men and women who fled Europe in the face of persecution to come to a new land and worship according to their own will. Their beliefs were stalwartly rooted in the fact that God should be involved with all facets of their lives and constantly worshiped. These Puritans writings focused on their religious foundations related to their exodus from Europe and religions role in their life on the new continent. Their literature helped to proselytize the message of God and focused on hard work and strict adherence to religious principles, thus avoiding eternal damnation. These main themes are evident in the writings of

1. "Describe the Puritans and their beliefs, and explain why they left England for the New World." What the Puritans desired was the purification of the English church. Puritans wished to simplify worship and control the regularity of its occurrence. The protestant reformation which seemed everlasting caused conflict with the Puritans. Some Individuals believed only “visible saints” would be allowed a house in the Church. King James threatened the persecution of the separatists so the fled in search of religious freedom inside of the new found colonies.

The migrants have came all the way across the ocean to with the help of God, and were very pleased with the safety that He exhibited. The Puritans put building worship center for Christ right with the necessary means for life (food and shelter). This document shows the importance of worship in their social lives. They started their educational values and schooling based from the virtues of the original Church. This led their political concepts to be dominated by the beliefs of the Church, and even though some people began to start to break away from Puritanism and tried to run for office, they were not successful in their mission. This document was written with the purpose to inform the reader that they were pursuing education to not enter an illiterate Ministry. Many people would just assume that the Puritans were just creating their colony to spread their religions, but with this article people can realize that the Puritan’s education was vital to the creation of their politics and social

The development of the New England colonies from 1630 through the 1660s greatly reflected the Puritans’ fundamental ideas and values in result of the large Puritan settlements in the region. The Puritans were deeply religious colonists who fled Britain in hopes of a better life where they could practice their beliefs freely. As a result of their practices in the region, they politically influence the values of the limiting power of the government, separation of church and state, and direct democracy. Economically, Puritans influenced the hard-work ethic, self-efficient farms, and fair business transactions in the region. Not only that, socially, the Puritans’ values led to greater emphasis on education and racial prejudice. As the Puritan

The Puritans who came to America originally in 1620 sought religious reform instead of breaking off from the Church of England versus their counterparts the Pilgrims who had left ten years prior. Puritans were a large factor in establishing and founding the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Their influence in the New English region of America in these thirty years was truly mind-blowing. From their emphasis on organization, family life, education, and a great work ethic is admirable in each every sense. Organization in their towns were a key factor to their lifestyle, with the centralization of the more commonly used buildings show their importance on Church [Document B] which is centered in the town square.

The Puritans were a group of people with strong beliefs, ideas and values in the 1630’s to the 1660’s. Their ideas influenced society in multiple ways during this time including politically, economically, and socially. Politically, they believed in having a theocratic government , economically, they used the value of hard work to run the economy and stimulate prosperity and also, socially the influence of the religion and the need for a tight knit communtiy influenced New England in many more ways than one. All of these influences were part of the ideological belief of the Puritans to attain a “City Upon a Hill” society where they would have the perfect community and established ethos for other communities to later follow in their footsteps.

When the first wave of European immigrants faced the hardships of the voyage across the tumultuous Atlantic Ocean, these English Puritans had hopes of a future free from the harsh persecutions and injustices they were subjected to in 17th century England. Puritans values were documented in the writings of such immigrants such as “A Model of Christian Charity”, written by John Winthrop while aboard the Arabella in 1630, and “The Mayflower Compact”, a constitution-like document drafted and signed by the men on board The Mayflower in 1620. In the former, Winthrop emphasized the significance of maintaining unity under God and sharing in the struggles of one another so that the burdens and hardships of one are those of the community as well as the Puritans arrived in the New World. Similarly, “The Mayflower Compact” encouraged unity and equality through the formation of a civil political body to enact governing laws and constitutions that would uphold their societal and religious values to promote equality and justice for all. Despite such principles that the Pilgrims believed they were instating during the formation of the New World, I believe these values were quickly distorted, leading to a biased and prejudiced society that prevails today. Through the analysis of the history of early America, it is evident to me that though the Puritans left England as the persecuted and claimed to aspire to a just society, they arrived in the New World as persecutors of those whose beliefs

Despite the fact that both Puritans and Quakers are Protestant Christians, the Quakers were unwelcome in the Puritan society of New England. A University of California at Los Angeles Ph. D. candidate in the Department of History, Carla Gardina Pestana provides an explanation as to why these Christians were frowned upon in the society. In her article “The City upon a Hill under Siege: The Puritan Perception of the Quaker Threat to Massachusetts Bay, 1656-1661”, Pestana gives a detailed analysis of why the Quakers beliefs were seen as a threat to the Puritan society.

Puritans are well known for their strict religion and code of ethics. There were many people who lived by them throughout the sixteen and seventeen hundreds. Because of this, the Puritan’s devotion to their religion was often expressed in their works of literature. One of these works is a sermon by Jonathan Edwards known as Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God. Another is a poem by Anne Bradstreet known as Here Follow Some Verses upon the Burning of Our House, July 10, 1666. Both Jonathan Edwards’s sermon and Anne Bradstreet’s poem express the Puritan devotion to religion through works of literature.

When the Puritans made their initial journey to America in 1630, they possessed high aspirations and ideals in the hope that their future settlement at Massachusetts Bay would become a “city upon a hill”. The utopic settlement envisioned by the Puritans was supposed to serve as an example for the rest of the world in proper living. However, an increasing number of onerous factors and hardships fell upon the Puritan settlements, which would eventually lead to the diminishing of their once prominent religious faith in the colonies. Internal adversity as well as external conflicts between the Puritans and assemblies of opposing religious faiths was significant in contributing in their decline of influence. The Puritans intolerance of other religions became increasingly problematic as an expanding proportion of immigrants brought with them a number of different religious practices. The Puritans continued to condemn and try to impose their single strict religious code upon non-Puritans, but their attempts were ultimately unsuccessful as the Great Awakening and Enlightenments movements in the 18th century reformed the religious and cultural philosophies in America tremendously.

Thrift, diligence, and delayed gratification, the religious values of the Puritans gradually interiorized. Puritans believe in God, they respect and follow the truth in God’s words. A Puritan explained “God sent you unto this world as unto a Workhouse, not a Playhouse.” (Alan Taylor, Colonization in New England, 162) Puritans believed that they could arrive

Once the Puritans arrived in America, they found that the Native Americans believed in polytheistic religions mostly centered around nature. Even though the Puritans believed in theology and in how God watches over everyone and is smiteful of sinners, the Puritans found since the Native Americans were mostly savages and heathens, it was okay to find them inferior and in some cases it was okay to kill the “savages”. The Puritans established two important and prominent colonies being the Boston colony and the Salem colony. The Boston colony was the more successful colony of the two. Although the Puritans did not fully agree with the Church of England in some instances they still were allies as well as allies with England.

Puritans were a group of heretics who immigrated to the New World under the Massachusetts Bay Company for religious freedom. On unsettled land, the Puritans were able to develop their utopia, built on similar beliefs and values. The Puritans value system was centered on family, the community, and relationship with God. These common commitments fueled the Puritan’s pious and hardworking lives, and ultimately, influenced the political, economic, and social development of the New England colonies. The values of the Puritan body influenced the political development of New England colonies.