Treasure Hunting Letter

One reason for the Colonial Americans’ growth in faith is the fact the era was abundant with religious figures who strove to lead people to God and created guidelines for them to live by. The people of Colonial America were blessed to abide in an “enchanted world of wonders.” These wonders were no doubt brought on by the hand of God, and the recognition of this fact caused new religious leaders to rise up and help people focus on living Godly lives despite the secular distractions that they were presented with. One Puritan leader, John Winthrop, stated, “That which the most in their Churches maintain as a truth in profession only, we must bring into familiar and constant practice, as in this duty of love we must love brotherly without dissimulation, we must love one another with a pure heart fervently we must bear one another’s burdens…” Winthrop not only wanted each individual person to maintain a stronger focus on faith in daily life, he also wanted them to use their faith to unite together, and his Model of Christian Charity showed the people how to accomplish that. Many people tried to abide by these teachings and pass them onto their children before they made their own way in the changing, confusing world because many parents feared their children would “Fall un’wares in Fowler’s snare.”

In the trial of Anne Hutchinson, we meet a well intentioned yet lost people described and labelled as the Puritans of the Massachusetts Bay Company. These self governing Puritans, once a people who sought God to set them on their way, settled only to be found as a people who simply lost their way. This journey to lost began when first motivated by a desire for religious reform and separation from the liturgy, ceremonies and practices of the Church of England. Once they banned together, they set on their way and traveled in groups to the New World. With the Word of God as their ultimate authority and the desire for a personal relationship with God, these people landed in Boston in 1630 united to self govern the newly founded Massachussets Bay Colony. Unfortunatly, this self rule resulted in a government of intolerance, fear and a liturgy not much different from what was once found in the Church of England. A system designed to set apart outward morality, or sanctification, to strengthen the authority of the Church only worked to neglect the place of true piety purposed to strengthen the spiritual lives of the people it served.

In 1630, Puritan leader John Winthrop led the great migration to the New World. On board the ship Arbella, John Winthrop delivered a sermon titled "A Model of Christian Charity." His speech outlined the objectives he hoped to achieve in the New World. His ideals slightly influenced the Puritans judgments and philosophy however not as much as he had initially hoped for. It seems the judgments of the Suffolk County Court were not influenced by the Arbella sermon. Similarly, it doesn't appear that Winthrop's sermon influenced the testimony against Bridget Bishop either. However, the Suffolk County Court cases do differ from the case against Bridget Bishop. The paradox between the two illustrates both Puritan successes and failures.

Within the colony of Massachusetts, religion played an important role in shaping the community’s people and interests. The reason for the Puritans move to North America was to escape the convictions the Christians of England were placing on them (Divine, 89). Winthrop and his followers believed that in this new land they must create a place where they could come together as a people and build the perfect religious society (Divine, 90). In a speech about his vision for the land, John Winthrop said, “We must delight in each

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.

A religious group wanted to break away from England to practice and relish in their religion their own way. They were call the puritans and set sailed out to America for their religious reasons. With what little they had they believed strongly in God that he will help them out through everything they need. Religion being taken seriously as if it was a law was noticeable in two texts, William Bradford's Of Plymouth Plantation and Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, where religion over the years help the colonists and so forth help shape America’s identity.

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.

While slavery existed many years before the American Revolution, so did the ideal ideas of the roles of men and women in society. Men were traditionally the ones to go out and work the land and to provide for the family, while women traditionally worked around the house – cooking, cleaning, working with the children, washing, and performing other duties of the sort. These traditions were mostly brought about as a result of Adam’s and Eve’s actions in the Garden of Eden. The Bible says, in 1 Timothy 2:14-15, “Adam wasn’t deceived, but the woman, being deceived, has fallen into disobedience; but she will be saved through her child-bearing, if they continue in faith, love, and sanctification with sobriety.” It was the first woman’s actions that brought about the traditional role of women in society.

Benjamin Franklin and Elizabeth Ashbridge address the subject about the practice of religion in late colonial America in their narratives. Franklin has very unique view of religion, which was innovative for his time. Franklin questions his faith and the beliefs of not only his religion that he was raised in, but all religion and decided that he would rather study on Sunday than go to church. Though Franklin openly expressed doubt about religion, he does eventually invent his own religious routine and recognizes the existence of a deity. Franklin states in his narrative, “I never was without some religious Principles; I never doubted, for instance, the Existence of the Deity, that he made the World”. Franklin opens up to the reader that the ideas of religious practice were changing in Colonial America, religion was being viewed in a new perspective. This perspective gave way for new spiritual thinking that was beginning to take hold in late colonial America.

“The first colonists fled England seeking religious freedom. Few sailed into the unknown out of a sense of adventure. They sought a better life that would allow them freedom of expression without fear of government retribution, and the ability to worship God in the manner they sought appropriate for their family. In the early settlements, it was part of their everyday life to set aside days of thanksgiving, prayer, and fasting in response to significant events.

When Protestants left Europe to move forever in America, they believed they followed God’s will leaving the corrupted England for a Promise Land in order to establish the Nation of God. They believed they were chosen by God to establish a New Israel into the wilderness that America was. They came in America with specific ideas in mind and specific plans to follow in order to complete the holy mission they had received. The importance of the immigration of the English Protestants in America, as the reader understands reading William Bradford’s “History of Plymouth Plantation”, John Winthrop’s “A Model of Christian Charity” and Mary Rowlandson’s The Narrative of the Captivity and the Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson, lays on the system of

Lying in bed as I drift off to sleep, I lay and think about what a blessed life that I am living. Dark candle lit room, marshmallow fireside scent, with light creeping under the door as my roommates are still awake out in the living room of our modestly sized apartment. I listen to my fan and tune out their voices and I call to mind the stories my parents have told that have molded me and my brother into the men we have become. Thanks to them I am able to live the comfortable lifestyle that I have and am fortunate enough to attend college at a wonderful university that I otherwise would not be able to afford. I relay so many experiences in my head each night before bed almost as if they happened yesterday.

The 1630s marked a period of large migration to the New England region, particularly the Massachusetts Bay colony of people mostly of English background. By taking a look at and trying to understand who these people were, why they came to North America, and what they did when they arrived, T. H. Breen and Stephen Foster look at the Puritans analytically. They base their assertions on hard numbers and sources, speculating only about the few migrants who may have slipped through the records. By tracing the lives of this group, we gain insights into what the immigrants actually had to contend with once they left England and made their lives in America.

Further up the country in Boston came a Puritan John Winthrop, who was a wealthy religious man from Suffolk England coming into America. He decided to leave England as a result of King Charles I taking power and the fact that he was against the Puritan movement. In order to escape persecution from the wrath of King Charles I religious views which were in sharp contrast, most all of the religious and business leaders of Sir John’s kind

but – Can we, or would we, ever put our words and our thoughts to the test? Would we survive, just to keep our lives? Would we endure the weather for a promise? When the separatists faced persecution for their faith, rejection from church, work and, for some, family, they were considered treasonous and dangerous, and they faced imprisonment. They decided it was time to let go and lose everything for a glimpse of new hope. Desiring freedom, a new life, a new home, as well as, bringing and preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ to those who had never heard it before, in 1620, the separatists let go, losing everything, all for a glimpse of new hope. Through unforgiving weather and sickness and through the survival for their lives, many would sacrifice their lives, for the anticipative promise of a new foundation and independence. Shielded with God’s provision and guidance and fueled and directed by the leadership of the journey elders seeing the promise in light ahead, they persevered and forged ahead for a glimpse of light – a light at the end of long,