Puritans Writing In The Colonial Period

Rummel gives an analysis of the history and development of Puritanism in New England during the 1600s. In simple words how the people had formed a society in order to reform England and separate church from government. Puritans had God as an almighty, they were known as people with strict education, solitary environment, and own beliefs such as their obsession with the devil, evil and good. Rummel states that even if Hawthorne mentions religion in his short stories most of it Puritanism, he still never recommended any particular opinion. The story is focused on Puritan elements and Hawthorne’s approach to it. Hawthorne uses religious phrases and elements that makes the reader analyze each several object, action, figure, and scenario in the story. That’s why Goodman Brown has too much conflict going on and is very detailed on what he feels and sees. The article is one great piece of information that supports the understanding of the Puritan religious mindset and Hawthorne’s attitude towards it. Of course into the interpretation of what might had happened in the story.

Erikson explains that to most English people of the 16th century, Puritans became an annoying sect of rebels. Overbearing and unrelenting, many detested the exaggeration of conventional values that the Puritans displayed. Feeling restricted by the formalities of the Church, Puritans quickly became deviant in the eyes of society. By moving to Massachusetts Bay, Puritans hoped to create their own ideas of what is “right” and “wrong”, much like any community attempting to set boundaries. However, problems arose when laws were to be mandated in a Biblical sense. God could not sit at a pulpit in a courtroom, so then how would a strictly religious group maintain itself? As Erikson states, “one of the surest ways to confirm an identity, for communities as well as individuals, is to find some way of measuring what one is not”. From this, they developed a keen sense of Devil distinction – that is, ways in which the Devil presented himself through the behaviors of individuals.

In the Puritan religion, one cannot love anything more than one loves God. In the case of John Winthrop, this edict became an issue. He did not want to abandon the Church of England as the separatists did, a decision which eventually led to the pilgrims starting their own new church. Winthrop wanted to purify the church; however, the government in England made this particularly hard and eventually this is what led to Winthrop leaving England for the New World to solve the Puritan Dilemma. The Puritan Dilemma was a figurative battle between the Church of England and the Puritan religion. It was also a real threat with opposing religions that would come and threaten the Puritans way of life. John Winthrop recognized these problems and sought to remedy them.

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

During the 1630’s, there was a group known as, the Puritans. The Puritans immigrated from England to America, for the sole purpose of religious freedom and their belief that the church of England needed reform. Puritan author’s, Anne Bradstreet and Jonathan Edwards, conveyed their messages and beliefs in their writing . For these two authors, they were working around the same foundation, Puritanism, for the intended messages. Admittedly, there is a disconnection in belief between the two. Edward’s writings take Puritanism to the extreme whilst Bradstreet’s works show a more traditional view in the religion while staying true to it.

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

Cotton Mather is one of the best known Puritan writers for his work The Wonders of the Invisible World. Mather gives the outside world a glimpse into what the Salem Witch trials were like and how they conducted their way of figuring out who was a witch in their colony. The Wonders of the invisible world brought the audiences into the firsthand experience of a trial and made them experience it from the viewpoint of one of the citizens of that colony. Mather specifically focuses on the trial of Martha Carrier in his work. Mather discusses her trial and how she is being accuses by Benjamin Abbot of being a witch and giving his own testimony. In order to stay alive characters must go along with the horrible assumption that some people are witches even if they do not believe it just to stay alive. Events that others see as natural occurrences are being looked at as acts of Satan by the people in Mather’s work. neighbors are turning on each other because they seek something that the other has and can not find another way to get the piece of land or cattle that they desire.

In the 17th century church was the foundation of the people of New England. The main religion of the time was Puritanism which carried over when most of the colonist moved to Massachusetts. The main reason that the colonist moved was to find religious tolerance away from the strict Puritan lifestyle. Puritans believed that the smallest sin could result in a huge misfortune. They were also frowned upon for expressing their feelings and opinions, and were expected to have no individual differences. They believed in the devil just as much as they believed in God. The Puritan people constantly struggled between good and evil, which often led to giving into the temptation of Satan. Those who gave into the temptations and followed Satan were considered witches.

The 17th century Puritans were known to represent a religious group migrating from England to America in order to practice religious freedom. These groups were determined to “purify” churches of England from Catholic practices. Puritans are known for their religious, social, and political influences on early America. Edmund S. Morgan’s novel The Puritan Family highlights a part of history that many would tend to look over upon- that is, the complex structural life of Puritan Families in the 17th century.

Thesis: Reis argues that through reading about the colonial Puritan 's conception of sin and Satan, readers will expand their "cultural and historical understanding of how people act on their religious belief...and how those religiously informed actions both reflect and prescribe their own particular gender arrangements, often to the detriment of women (10)." In short, women were negatively affected by the Puritan belief system when it came to witchcraft because of the gendered ideals of the colonial era in America.

These Puritans men were committing sin against their wives and God admiring another woman, that wasn’t their wives. They believed that God expected them to live according to the scriptures. Religion can short-circuit your ability to think. You sometimes can't see things as they are because irrational beliefs get in the way" (Oliver). Perhaps, this could be bringing of evil spirits and Satan to the English colony of Massachusetts.

The world of Puritan New England, like the world of today, was filled with many evil influences. Many people were able to withstand temptation, but some fell victim to the dark side. Such offences against God, in thought, word, deed, desire or neglect, are what we define as sin (Gerber 14).

Back in the seventeenth century, religion was a major theme. The Puritans were a group of very religious people. They believed that god was their absolute ruler. They also believed that God controlled their afterlife. The religious group called the Puritans were very fixed on God. Their spirituality is expressed in their literature. Their writing explicated their religious values. These include: their importance of Church and the influence God has on the Puritans life. The Puritans wrote literature to show how their life revolved around God and to express their heavy belief in him.

Strong puritan beliefs are discussed in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s piece of 1835 “Young Goodman Brown.” An important question rises that ignites more questions on the role of God versus the devil in how we live our lives, the choices we make, and our uncertain salvation. Do we look to God or succumb to the temptation of the devil? Hawthorne writes, “’What if the devil himself should be at my very elbow’” (Hawthorne, 2011, para. 9). His uncertain curiosity leads him down a wicked path of which the devil continuously pursues him and he struggles with his own conflicting thoughts, identity, and Faith. Hawthorne historically reflects the Puritans in their relentless struggle to become perfect in the eyes of God. Under the Puritan doctrine it’s common for individuals to live a life of uncertainty, never knowing whether God is pleased. This dilemma is characterized by their daring desire to please themselves and still feel spiritual fulfillment. Goodman Brown expresses his fears as well as his hopes when Hawthorne states, “’Faith! Faith!’ cried the husband, ‘look up to Heaven, and resist the wicked one’” (Hawthorne, 2011, para. 69). In this declaration Goodman Brown advocates good while identifying evil as he renounces Satan. Puritan history dictates that only strong belief in God makes resisting Satan possible. It is daily repentance of sin which results in

there are various similitudes and varieties between the Puritans, their way of life and their writing, and that in their Southern partners. the two societies esteemed works of art to a couple of degree. Puritan writing transformed into composed obviously to reflect their straightforward lives, while Southern writing changed into luxurious and adornedwith vivid articulations, reflecting Southern presence. The Puritans, not at all like the Southerners, who lived slowpaced lives, attempted to praise God in their each activity. The similaries and varieties introduce themselves in manyapproaches.