In many respects the American Character has been shaped by the moral, ethic, and religious convictions of the English Puritans. The Bible provided a model for Puritan writing, because the people holding the power in the government based there authority on religious tenets, their polictical views were sometimes uncompromising and harsh. The founding of a new society in North America was a business venture as well as a spiritual world were closely intertwined. Well into the sixteenth century many priest were barely literate and often very poor. The Roots of Purianismm are to be found in the beginning of the English Reformation. Employment by more than one parish was common, and the resulting itinerancy of priests, along with their immunity to
Malleable Puritan thought laid the foundation for arguably the greatest civilization in history, The United States of America. Authors Perry Miller and Edmund Morgan chronicle Puritan history and describe how the Puritans left the Old World and began to transform the New World, and themselves, based off of experiences in their respective writings. Miller and Morgan use the word “experience” very differently when describing our Puritan forefathers, but they draw upon similar conclusions. Puritan thought was constantly transforming through physical, intellectual, and spiritual experiences.
In the year of 1630, a group of people known as the Puritans arrived to America and settled in the Massachusetts Bay Colony in Boston. The Puritans were similar to the Pilgrims in which they were Protestants from England who thought that their reforms of their church were “too Catholic” and needed to be changed further. The Puritans being unhappy with their reforms was the primary reason for leaving England and settling in America, while the Pilgrims stayed behind and were determined to change their reforms. When they came to America, they decided to keep some of their strict rules. For example, church was mandatory and if someone missed a day,
America’s Early Identity America’s early identity was shaped by Europeans, Native American’s and their culture, and God. According to the Scarlet Letter the puritans use the Bible’s commandments and beliefs to shape their society. For example, “The settlers continued to follow their christian values and held each member of their society to the christian standard”. This is saying that each of them were following each of their rules.
The New England colonies grew in the 1600’s with many of their ways derived from the Puritans. Socially, the importance of education which continues to this day was from the Puritans. The other side of this the treatment of the American Indians changed enormously. Politically, small town democracy was from the Puritans, but religion is removed from politics. Economically, agriculture economy is kept with the thought of wanting wealth is accepted.
In early America, the Puritan religion was a driving point in building our culture. The Puritans were extremely neat and strict; so much that they were not very focused on the importance of their religion. Johnathan Edwards, the author of the sermon, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God,” believed that New Englanders were too concerned with other worldly matters. When he noticed the separation of his religion, he wrote and delivered his most famous speech. It was a dark and powerful sermon, delivered to multiple churches in New England.
About a century later, during the 1630’s, the Puritans decided that the best way to reform was to emigrate away from the Church of England. Author David Hall claims “excitement ran high that a new kind of society was being created, a community without “the unclean conversation of the wicked” as Thomas Weld reported to his former parishioners in England.” They called this society “New England” and the puritans were one of the many religious movements able to escape to it, but their historical timing was in no way unique. The Puritans eventually realized that they’re next step was developing their society, shaping its system to fit their beliefs.
Although they did not become an official religion until 1606, Puritanism can be traced all the way back to the Protestant reform in 1517, and the separation of the Church
The Puritan’s goal of coming to the New World was not to create a new life, but to create the ideal model of living for the “corrupt” inhabitants of England. This was coined “The Errand”, the Puritans desire to establish a City Upon a Hill that others could look up to and imitate in order to receive God’s grace. The Puritans failed at building their City Upon a Hill (creating a perfect religious, economic, and political community), however the long-term effects of their efforts have influenced American moral politics throughout its history. The Puritans forever had the attitude of a community that had successfully established a City Upon a Hill. The Puritan lifestyle was heavily influenced not only by religion, but also inside of that, morality.
The ideas constructed by the Puritans were not simply a principal starting point for American culture because they were the first in the country, but because they offered distinct ways of thinking that are still deep-seated in our culture today. Although many of the ideas of Puritans have evolved or vanished over time, it is important to give credit to the Puritan writers and thinkers such as John Winthrop and John Cotton who offered ideas that were new at the time and that stayed with the American consciousness—culturally, socially, and politically. “John Winthrop's legacy can be seen primarily in the fields of government, commerce, and religion. It was religion that would most impact John's life; his religion would ultimately impact the
After the Puritan Religion was formed and split off from the Church of England, they could not fully escape all the “unholy” practices of the Church of England. This led to many different families leaving England to go to America. “The fact that the Puritans had left England to escape religious persecution did not mean that they believed in religious tolerance. Their society was a theocracy that governed every aspect of their lives” (Baracskay). The idea of a theocracy is extremely dangerous because it creates a system without balance.
They wanted to create pure, moral Christian society based on moral living. By hard working, integration of religion in politics, and social development of certain lifestyle practices, Puritans had a large influence on the development of the New England colonies from 1630s through the 1660s. Puritans believed in hard work as the pathway of success since they thought they were favored by God to succeed (Doc I). They tried to shun idleness and believed that being lazy is not profitable (Doc C).
Chapter 3 Outline: • 3.1 The Protestant Reformation Produces Puritanism • 3.2 The Pilgrims End Their Pilgrimage at Plymouth • 3.3 The Bay Colony Bible Commonwealth • 3.4 Building the Bay Colony • 3.5 Trouble in the Bible Commonwealth • 3.6 The Rhode Island “Sewer” • 3.7 New England Spreads Out • 3.8 Puritans Versus Indians • 3.9 Seeds of Colonial Unity and Independence • 3.10 Andros Promotes the First American Revolution • 3.11 Old Netherlanders at New Netherlanders • 3.12 Friction with English and Swedish Neighbors • 3.13 Dutch Residues in New York • 3.14 Penn’s Holy Experiment in Pennsylvania • 3.15 Quaker Pennsylvania and Its Neighbors • 3.16 The Middle Way in the Middle Colonies 3.1 The Protestant Reformation Produces Puritanism
William Byrd and Jonathan Edwards were two of the most influential Colonial American writers. Colonial America was a time of finding religious “refuge”. Enlightenment is emphasizing reason and individuals rather than tradition. Two major religious views came from Anglicans and Puritans. A puritan is a single minded visionary who is convinced of the rights to their own beliefs.
Puritanism puts strong emphasis on hard work and constant self examination. It preached a vengeful
Essentially, Puritans are expected to follow a strict set of religious and moral guidelines from which their actions and morality are derived. According to Hall’s A Reforming People, these moral expectations first introduced by the pilgrims were the driving force behind the power that the Puritan ministry had over society: “Ministers and laypeople looked first to congregations as the place where love, mutuality, and righteousness would flourish, and second to civil society. …Alongside love, mutuality, and righteousness they placed another set of values summed up in the word “equity.” Employed in a broad array of contexts, the concept of equity conveyed the colonists’ hopes for justice and fairness in their social world.”