The Importance Of The Puritan Society

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.

Today, people describe the Puritans with their biased point of view. It is not unfathomable why people do not like the Puritans. The Puritans’ society and today’s society are very different. Puritan society was very restrained; people could only believe in God and the Bible was the law. Unlike Puritan society, today’s society does not restrain religion. Even though Puritans had bad influences on today’s society, Puritans played a pivotal role in constructing the USA. If you look around more carefully, you will easily realize that some things that you took for granted were actually influenced by the Puritans, and they are very significant and necessary to today’s society. The Puritans’ influences on today’s United States are found in the areas of economy, government, education, church, and social mores.

Seventeenth century Puritans had several aspirations, successes, and failures when it came to creating a model society. They had many successes in their society, some examples are their education system, their advancements in equality for women, and the way they created a tight knit close society. Although they had many achievements, the Puritans also did fall short in many aspects of their society. They ultimately did fail at their perfect society, and that is a very important aspect since that was their main goal. They also were very strict about their policies regarding the church. Once the generations progressed, they had to create new rules to allow people basic religious rights such as baptism. They also fused church and state, which was necessary in a society such as this, but it ultimately hindered progression such as allowing non church members to vote. As the years progressed more and more non Puritans entered the Puritan society, this hindered society because eventually the small majority was making the most riveting decisions. Ultimately the Puritans had both failures and successes when attempting a model society, but the weight of the failures simply outweighed the successes.

When the Puritans came to America in the 1600s, they brought many aspects of their lives with them, including their beliefs in modesty, hard work, and religious devotion. Their strong values in religion were a constant part of their everyday life and were a big feature of their society. Even though they were urged to suppress their feelings and fully devote themselves to God, some Puritans had struggles with this, and used poetry to express their true beliefs. Poet Anne Bradstreet voiced her unconventional ideas through her poems while Edward Taylor used his poetry to stress his strong support of his religion and faith. Although Puritan poets Anne Bradstreet and Edward Taylor of the early American colonies belonged to the same belief system, they expressed divergent views of faith and dependence on God through their poetry.

Two kinds of British settlers decided to make the journey to the United States. The first of which will kill and steal land, and the second that would attempt to use the bible to deceive, these came to be known as Puritans.American Puritanism emerged from a desire for reform in the Church of England. Even though Puritan society was largely unsuccessful in meeting their expectations, several of their fundamental values are still demonstrated by Americans today. Many individuals today often argue that numerous elements of Puritanism thrive in the society and culture of the United States. Focusing on its impact on American values, Puritan inheritance profounds the influence on economic, cultural, social ideas and hard work of American’s

The Puritans believed that they were chosen by god to spread and inform people about their religion. They weren't considered members until they proved to the Puritans and, to believe in predestination and viewed success as salvation. This lead them to believe that hard work would lead them to good things in this life and the after. Now, all the literature of Anne Bradstreet, William Bradford, and Emily Dickinson were all reflects of the Puritans literature. The authors stayed true to their belief and writing. The Puritans literature reflects on their beliefs and how they view things. The Puritans are really religious so it relates on how they write their literature and view the world.

Which is more valuable: the needs of the many or the needs of the one? It is a question that has been explored all throughout human history. From the collectivist societies of the Easter Hemisphere to the individualistic cultures of the Western, everyone has his or her own opinion on the subject and it is doubtful that a universally accepted answer will ever be found. The United States of America tends to favor “the one.” The freedom to pursue one’s dreams and desires is one of the founding principles of the nation, as promised in the Declaration of Independence and guaranteed in the Constitution. However, American history reveals that oftentimes the “individuality” that is accepted is the “individuality” that is approved of by the

The writers’ religious views affected their writing in many different ways. Anne Bradstreet wrote about the Puritan views on redemption. She believes that God has punished her through many problems like a heartbreaking house fire. The Puritans, in general, believed that suffering

Puritans were English Protestants who were committed to “purifying” the Church of England. After being religiously persecuted in England, the Puritans fled to North America to start their new beginning. The Puritans maintained their Protestant beliefs with a patriarchal family. Their family roles differed from other colonists that settled in America. In my paper, I will describe the different roles that were established in the Puritan society. The Puritans society was based on an important organizational structure, the rearing of their children, the role of the women, and the dominance of men in their society. Puritans conformed to their social roles because it was deeply rooted to their religious

After the Protestant Reformation, a group practicing Puritanism left Great Britain to the Netherlands for the ability to practice their religion freely. However, the Puritans did not favor the idea of their children growing up outside of British influences despite having the privilege of freedom of religion. In 1620, the first group of Puritan settlers sailed to North America aboard the Mayflower. It wasn’t until 1629 when John Winthrop delivered his “city upon a hill” sermon that created a new perspective and goal for the growing Puritan society. Economic, political, and social difficulties were faced, but religion stayed a constant center for the Puritan settlements.

Beginning as an outgrowth of the Church of England in the sixteenth century (c. 1550), Puritanism, “strove to cleanse the new English church of its remaining vestiges of Roman Catholic ‘popery’"(Manos). This referred to the doctrines, practices, and ceremonies that were heavily associated with the Papacy at that time which they felt had strayed heavily from the true meaning of God’s Word. There was also a growing unrest and distaste with the administration of King Henry VIII’s newly established Anglican Church which was viewed as overtly corrupt due to its heavy handed and self-interested set of goals. As more and more people began to be drawn into this way of thinking, they were dubbed with the pejorative term “Puritan,” because of their all-encompassing and often irrational desire to purify the Church from the sins and corruptions they felt time and self-involved clergy members had wrought against it (Manos). The Puritan Movement was not simply a religion, but rather a total philosophical way of living. It was incredibly stringent; advocating for strict adherence to the Scriptures and the rules and regulations instituted by the community and promising the salvation of a select number of elite. Thus, this revolutionary offshoot of Protestantism cemented itself into the hearts of a small sect of individuals deeply unsatisfied with the Anglican Church.

Imagine being born in the 16th century where you have to act like someone you're not in order to fit in and having to be forced to believe in religions you're not comfortable with. When you think about it, it happens to most people every day like today some kids are forced to follow what their parents want not what they want and they grow up being someone their not. This causes you to be someone you're not and that could hurt you so bad mentally and physically. Having to believe something that doesn't seem right to you. But for some people it doesn't bother them having to believe certain religions because they are strong enough mentally and physically to get past it. That’s what happened to certain people in the Puritan time period like John proctor who crossed the ten commandments and had to get punished for it. People in that time period followed whatever everyone else was doing because it followed what god wanted for them. So in Anne Bradstreet's poems and Arthur Miller play, both used literary devices to portray their strength and flaws within the Puritan values.

When one looks at the Puritan society, a society dominated by the church, controlled indirectly by God, and where it was made a crime to not attend mass on the Sabbath, it is hard to imagine that our society today could have its roots traced back to Puritanism. Politically, our system of checks and balances, as well as our whole system of democracy can be traced back to the Puritans in the New England colonies. Economically, up until the 1930’s, our system of farming and communal trade could also be traced back to the Puritans who lived here. In our society today, religion does not play as big of a role as it did in the mid 1600’s, but we can still see their foundation in today’s society. The tenacity, and enthusiasm to do God’s work held

The Puritans were a group of religious reformers in the sixteenth and seventeenth century. They left England to settle in New England in the mid-1600s. Many authors have come from this specific group and their literature has been rightfully classified under the Puritanism movement. Puritan life can be analyzed and view through the various authors, and their respective writings, of the time. Anne Bradstreet was the first woman in the colonies to be published, which is made more remarkable because of the strict Puritan life she followed.

The name, American Society, represents a society that many believed was shaped by America itself. However, Puritanism shaped America’s ethical and political views, and the Great Awaken shaped the people’s belief on religious freedom in the nation. Therefore, these events did not only shape the time prior to the Civil War, but shaped America for times to come.