How Did Puritans Influence The Development Of America?

It is not appropriate to define the European people occupying North America as “American” prior to 1780. Since they had not actually discovered it, they should not be called Americans. They took land that was not theirs, and tried to take credit for finding it. When Europeans and other colonists arrived there were natives already living there, so unless the Europeans had truly discovered the Americas and had been the first to settle there, they cannot be defined as “Americans”. The Europeans began to see themselves as different than their ancestors when they settled in Virginia and Maryland in 1607 and their societies started to evolve. This newly evolved society was cause by the “Religious movement known as ‘Puritanism,’ which arose in England late in the sixteenth century” (Foner 64). Puritans did not refer to themselves as puritans but instead “‘godly’ or ‘true protestants’” (Foner 64). They started this movement because they felt that the protestant reformation was not doing enough and were simply not satisfied. It is commonly believed that Puritanism was “An important thread in the development of American civilization” (Int 25). Not only did Puritanism arise, but liberties previously given by the Magna Carta were altered. Like most emigrants that had come to America, “Puritans came in search of liberty, especially the right to worship and govern

Throughout the first half of the eighteenth century, since British officials were busy dealing with events in Europe, they left the colonies to “Govern themselves” (Foner 151). Colonists were already in the mindset to change the way government was run, they wanted to appoint their own officials that “Represented the will of the people” (Foner 151). They also wanted to make sure that the church was not involved considering the point of emigrating to America was for religious freedom, not to be run by