Puritan Vs American Society

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

Puritan society had class system much like every colony now which started with the elite or gantry, middle class, indenture servants and lastly the slaves. The Puritans community was on based off strict religious customs. However, the people do have a voice in this society called Public Opinion which is like a jury. Moreover, Godbeer portrayed the Puritans as abrasive towards

Due to predestination, the Puritans believed they were destined for either heaven or hell. They also believed, however, if they worked very hard and did well in God’s eyes, they would receive a sign as to which they were destined for. Consequently, the Puritans had an incredible work ethic. The Puritans also had strict social codes, which caused them to be fairly intolerant of other religions and therefore have somewhat hostile relations with the natives of the area.

The Puritans lived a very strict, religious lifestyle. They believed that God worked in their daily lives. In a response to the Age of Enlightenment and people straying from the church, the Great Awakening began. A revitalization of religious piety swept through the colonies. Preachers taught that the people of the church were to trust their hearts over their minds and rely on biblical revelation, rather than human reason. One very memorable preacher is Jonathan Edwards, whose use of imagery encourages congregants to return to the church, especially in his best known sermon “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.”

A Puritan defined is “a member of a group of English Protestants of the late 16th and 17th centuries who regarded the Reformation of the Church of England under Elizabeth as incomplete and sought to simplify and regulate forms of worship.” Puritan society in America depended on the belief that all members were working for the glory of God. The Puritans did not allow deviations from the strict code of behavior which would not allow any member to have individuality. They restricted any type of entertainment, except that which was endorsed by the church. They worked and worshipped.

The Puritans believed in a hierarchal economic system. Land was distributed based on social status and family size. Only full covenant members could own land. Those who did get land were free to do with it what they pleased. They were able to pass the land down to their heirs, or sell it. There were inequalities between the genders as well. The family was a hierarchy with men as the heads of households. Women could take over the role of her husband in his absence, but were thought to be subordinate for the most part.

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.

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

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

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.

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.

While the Puritans are generally perceived as hard working and God fearing people, they were also a highly educated people and their education found its expression in their writings. Their writings reflected their engrained beliefs, especially religion which was integral to their existence and hence early American literature is infused with religiosity.

They valued hard work and believed that by maintaining a strong work ethic, they would be chosen as the “elect,” or someone who would be chosen to be saved by God. An example of someone who lived their life dedicated to doing worthwhile things was Robert Keayne. In Document F, Robert Keayne describes how his life has been full of hard work and his purpose in his last will and testament is to inform others about how he spent his life committed to work and did not waste his time. Keayne’s testament is an example of the Puritan work ethic that encouraged employment and kept unemployment rates low. Had Keayne not worked hard, he would not have been considered one of the “elect.” As a result of the importance of working hard, the New England colonies developed to have a strong work ethic. The colonists positively benefitted from a strong work ethic because they were able to prosper and advance. Men were encouraged to find jobs in order to please the Lord. Another way in which the Puritans influenced the economic development was by increasing awareness of the importance of wealth. Although the Puritans, such as John Higginson, did not agree that wealth was an important factor in life as compared to religion, the fact was that having land and money was becoming a higher priority for many. Higginson’s point of view in Document G is biased because he strongly supports religion over wealth.

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

Puritans in England were Protestant Christians who were mainly influenced by Calvinism. The Puritans strongly believed in living a pure life and their sins were punished harshly. Unfortunately for Puritans, the Church of England was compulsory and in order to live a pure life, many escaped to a setting where the community was designed to be able to live religiously pure-Massachuttes Bay Colony. Here Massachettes present religious freedom to some extent (they will still suppressed by Puritan religion). In The Scarlet Letter, the marketplace was one of the main gathering places and was almost always overcrowded and busy.