Early Colonial American society during the 17th and 18th centuries is characteristically bound by strong religious beliefs of Christianity. The New England inhabitants from Britain, who have established their respective colonies in the Americas, have brought with them their cultural histories; thus, this culture had been further developed in the new country to strengthen its new identity and culture as the American society. In colonial America, two religions dominated its cultural history: Puritans on one hand, and the Quakers, on the other. Puritanism was borne from the creation of a religion that seeks to fuse and at the same time,
They came here as pilgrims looking to escape the corruption of the English Anglican church. They wanted a fresh start with their families to pursue their faith the way they wanted to. The Puritan pilgrims of Plymouth were framers themselves, so they had no intention of using slaves. They were more self-sufficient and wanted to establish churches and schools at the center of their communities. The Puritans originally had good relations with Native Americans, but this friendship would soon fade as the pilgrim population grew too quickly and they felt the need to expand.
They wanted a chance to practice their religion without interference and to make a better life out of themselves. The settlers of new england were puritans who left england during the great migration. The journey of the New World began with the puritans, who did not agree with the church of england so they decided to develop the massachusetts bay colony. This colony consisted of Unity and religion.
Besides English settlers there were numerous other representatives of the European countries settling in the new land. And as the Puritans came to practice their own believes so did other nationalities, as explained in the study material. In my own interpretation America represents change and the believe system as well as the way religion was previously practiced was now changing. This change was greatly influenced by the intellectual movement called Enlightenment, which started in Europe and this influence had bearing on the Great Awakening. Besides Puritans now there were Catholics in Maryland, Quakers in Pennsylvania and the Episcopal Church in the southern states.
In July of 1620 a ship carrying hundreds of puritan pilgrims set sail from England to where these fugitives believed was their Promised Land, The Americas; Another voyage similarly left Africa in approximately 1756 heading to the lands of America but for a very different purpose. Although, this ship was carrying likewise hundreds of people, or what was considered property at the time, overseas it brought these peoples to a land and life very opposite of what the Puritans were seeking. Puritans and Slaves may be very different people in general, but their reasons for their voyages, the conditions of their ships, and the characteristics a passenger would need to survive these arduous journeys oversea are easily compared and contrasted. In the 1600’s religious persecution faced anyone who did not identify with the Church of England, a christian church implemented throughout the
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,
Their purpose coming to America was to flee, and “purify,” the Anglican Church and develop a colony that would be a model to the world. The Puritan colonies were based on Calvinist doctrine, which was the belief that no actions taken during a person’s life would affect their salvation. There became a difference from the Pilgrims and the Puritans, the Pilgrims were against the Anglican Church and Puritans weren’t. The Pilgrims wanted total separation from the church which is why they fled from England. Separatists were a group of Puritans that advised the removal from the Church of England and wanted the freedom to worship by
They believed that Church should follow their beliefs which were often very strict and left no room for leeway. Many Puritans came to the Americas to form communities where they were free to practice
Some of the settlers in the early 1600's included groups of unaccomplished and unskilled Englishmen lurred by the promise of free land.(53) Tempted by adventure and possibility of a better future the troubled Irish and English came to America as endentured slaves.(56) Travelers from Spain were mostly priest and soldiers. They mainly settled in Florida and New Mexico with the intention of gaining gold and converting the Natives to catholicism.(81) Pennsilvania started with Quakers from England and Holland but its sucess atracted Scotts-Irish and German settlers looking for land.
Puritan Beliefs and the Resistance from the Native Americans Here I will discuss some of the Puritan beliefs revealed that led to tensions, conflicts, and concerns among the colonists and the Native Americans. The Puritans assumed when the smallpox epidemic hit it was God’s sign for them to take over the land. They also used it to justify taking over everything and robbing sacred Indian graves.
Freedom to Prosecute Religion Colonial America is often thought of as a safe haven from religious persecution. Future colonists had been persecuted for not accepting their countries ' religious doctrine and were willing to travel long distances in search of religious freedom. Religious freedom would still be far from grasp as Puritans would continue their homelands traditions of persecution for many more years. Puritans, unlike the Pilgrims (who sought to completely separate from the Church of England), wanted to purify the Church.
More than 80% of Americans have Puritan ancestors who emigrated to Colonial America on the Mayflower, and other ships, in the 1630’s (“Puritanism”). Puritanism had an early start due to strong main beliefs that, when challenged, caused major conflict like the Salem Witch Trials. Puritanism had an extremely rocky beginning, starting with a separation from the Roman Catholic Church. Starting in 1606, a group of villagers in Scrooby, England left the church of England and formed a congregation called the Separatist Church, and the members were called The puritans (“Pilgrims”).
History tells us that the Puritans were different than the Pilgrims because they wanted to continue to exist with the Church of England but make it better in the New World. (Settling 2014) The Puritans must have felt some type of loyalty to their native religion because they didn’t put their religion totally aside. It is noted that the Puritans did not want the rituals and other beliefs that involved being a member of their native Church of England.
Religion was a flourishing entity among society and politics both in Colonial America and Great Britain. It gave way to righteousness for a certain cause at that time or a way to assure leadership was valid among citizens of that particular country most commonly amid the Monarch rule over Great Britain and and later Parliament. Religion had a great power of influence over the people and the way they thought about the future of their country, in particular, Colonial America and the justification of the American Revolution against England. Regarding documents from key revolutionary figures and Sermons both hailing and denouncing the Revolution, and the ideas Americans had as religion being a rationale of their pursuits, only then can religion
Pilgrims and Puritan are similar But yet so different. The Pilgrims thought they were elected by god for salvation and only wanted to associate themselves with people
