Puritan Period Significance

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 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.

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 Puritan people migrated to what is now present-day America due to their persecution in Europe. Their religion observed many beliefs that did not agree with other European Christians. These ideals stayed with the Puritans as they settled in America to build their idealistic, utopian society. Even though Puritan society was largely unsuccessful in meeting their expectations, several of their fundamental values are still exemplified by Americans today. These beliefs included the dislike of anything dull, an intense hatred of tyranny, and the idea that America is a shining example for the rest of the world to follow.

The decades surged by and thoughts other than religion began to crowd the minds of the American people. The smoldering ideas of independence, enlightenment, and innovation elicited a new mentality in America. Puritan ideals were not held as high, for other religious sects had taken their place. The stringencies of the Puritan lifestyle wafted away as America grew in its diversity, but the Puritan mindset was rooted in the soil and could not be torn away. The words that John Winthrop had spoken on the Arabella were held at the base of the country, “For we must consider that we shall be as a City upon a Hill, the eyes of all people are upon us.”

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

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.

New England colonies developed rapidly throughout the early 1600s and the Puritans helped found most of those colonies. They were Christian group who fled from Europe to escape persecution from the Church of England and the ruling class. They originated from a movement for reform in the Church of England and came with certain values and ideas. They believed that God wanted them to set a good example that would cause those who had remained in England to reform their “sinful” ways and pretty much wanted to be the example community (The City upon a Hill) (Doc A). Over time the aspects of the Puritan’s lifestyles slowly integrated into American culture like strong work ethics and the importance of education in society. They are part

Following the European Reformation the agency of various denominations in History decreases drastically. Many people never learn anything about the Anabaptists and Calvinists history after the year 1600. One group however that had a significant influence on the early development of the United States were the Puritans. During the mid to late 1600’s two crises arose in Puritan villages; first the Antinomian controversy and later the infamous Salem Witch Trials.

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.

The puritans believed that God was all-knowing and all-powerful and they emphasized the idea of divine sovereignty known as predestination.

As we all know during the early 1600's a period called the Reformation saw changes in the way Europeans looked at religion. The Catholic Church split apart and many new Christian organizations called Protestants were formed. Some people in England, however, viewed religion differently. As a result a new protestant religion called Puritans evolved. The ruling Anglican church disapproved of Puritan beliefs and persecuted the Puritans. Though Puritans did gain control of England for a short time (Oliver Cromwell) many fled England and came to the New World (United States of America) to escape religious persecution. The Pilgrims were Puritan settlers and many of the early settlers in New England were Puritans. We are going to see how the puritans affected America’s religious background and affected in education in different kind of way it also affected the way politics work now. One of the many novels that are about the Puritan religion is The Scarlet Letter; being about women, who committed adultery, is punished having to wear a red scarlet letter “A.” Although it may not seem like it, Puritanism has big impact of today’s culture, religion, and government.

Their requirement of attending church and knowing the gospel leaves little room for error. Their intolerance towards people who aren't religious instills fear in the general population. The Puritans of this generation and Puritans of the 1690’s are close-minded and can not see the error in their intolerant

America has been through many changes and alterations over the years. But each change contained content from the age that preceded it. Whether it be a form of writing or a manner of speaking there are always remnants. But what can be learned from the past of America? By looking deeper into America's past. What did the Puritans do wrong what impact did they have in this world? To truly dive deep into America’s past one must think about what is informative about America's past and how it was settled, the way puritans previous actions affect people today, and the impact of speeches given by Puritans.

In their society the Puritans based their lives, beliefs, and communities on what they deemed as God's law and true word, the bible (Barger). Reading the bible was expected for the members of society, this included women and children, which was often unheard of (Foner 66) at that time. With their lives being restricted to the word of the bible this left very little leeway for anything other than what was deemed acceptable, and this rigid way of life was another straw that led to the eventual troubles and fervor that took over.