Top-Rated Free Essay
Preview

Puritans Aspirations to Create a Model Society

Satisfactory Essays
315 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Puritans Aspirations to Create a Model Society
In the seventeenth century when the New England Puritans came to the American colonies their goal was to create a model society. The reason that they came to the colonies was in pursuit of religious acceptance and to escape persecution for the beliefs they held to be true. Their aspiration was to create a totally peaceful environment that existed solely to honor God and fulfill his will. They aspired to do this through every aspect of their lives by giving full honor to god for every triumph and glorifying him in every daily activity that they were involved in.

The Puritans believed that they had the right idea about a society was supposed to exist. They believed that the way of life they practiced was the only way to be fully compliant to the will of God. In their way of life there was no secular influence. Puritans did not have any worldly influences. The only thing they looked to for guidance on how to go through daily life were the bible and the will of God. They wanted their society to be an example to other people of the world. They thought that through this they would be able to convert everyone to their Puritan beliefs and form a completely Puritan society. They felt that my creating a society who’s only goal was to honor God, God would bestow blessings upon the society and it would thrive.

Puritans did not want their church to be controlled by the state. They wanted total religious freedom and the right to be able to practice their religion in the ways in which they deemed appropriate. To accomplish this goal, Puritan doctrine made it illegal for any Puritan minister or official in the church to hold a public office in the government outside of the church.

http://essaymania.com/170721/puritans-aspirations-to-create-a-model-society

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    AP History Assignment 2

    • 472 Words
    • 2 Pages

    1) Puritans did not want to separate from the Church of England. They wanted to "purify" it of practices they considered too Catholic. The Puritans believed that the holy Church did not abide by the biblical commands strong enough, and so they didn’t like that virtuous morals.…

    • 472 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    The Puritans believed that God had commanded the reform of both church and society. They condemned drunkenness, gambling, theatergoing, and Sabbath-breaking and denounced popular practices rooted in pagan custom, like the celebration of Christmas. They deplored the "corruptions" of Roman Catholicism that still pervaded the Church of England - churches and ceremonies they thought too elaborate, clergymen who were poorly educated.…

    • 2081 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    Unhappy with the Church of England, the Puritans traveled all the way to the New World to create a society based solely on their religion. Their goals in this endeavor were to establish settlements in which they were governed by Puritanical religious scriptures and in which no other religion was practiced. As opposed to having laws and a proper Constitution as the United States now has, their law was to be strictly based upon the guidance of God. In their eyes, this would provide a safe place to practice their religion exactly as they wished and it would allow them to integrate their spirituality into the very backbone of the society. Though this seemed like the perfect type of society, it was flawed in several ways. The Puritans’ plan of…

    • 1330 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Puritans believed everyone was to become a living “saint”. These “saints” basically ran their communities. Only the “saints” were allowed to vote, hold office, or really have any say in anything. To become a “saint” you had to admit all your sins to the community, which was very difficult and embarrassing. This caused many men to disagree with the process and didn’t care if they couldn’t vote or hold office. They believed that they could still…

    • 250 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Puritans were passionate reformers seeking to bring the Church of England to a state of purity in comparison with Christianity at the time of Christ and decided to form their own religious colonies in America. They considered religion to be a complex and highly intellectual affair. Thus, leaders were highly trained scholars with authoritarian positions that developed a “built-in hierarchism” (http://xroads.virginia.edu/%7eCAP/PURITAN/purhist.html#pil, 3). Roger Williams and Anne Hutchinson believed and preached “Individualisme”…

    • 870 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    England in the 1620s was filled with tension between the Puritans and King James I and his son Charles I. Their primary goal for their country was to revive Roman Catholicism and rid of any religions that would not conform; so, they mainly targeted Puritans. This intolerance motivated the Puritans to pursue their economic interests (which later turned into religious interests) and establish a place for themselves in the New England colonies in 1630. What they originally intended was to create a colony in which they could practice their religion freely. They did not think of accepting others. Eventually, their society became just as strict as English society: their political, social, and economic advancements were structured and very much parochial.…

    • 1126 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Puritanism was found by English Protestant leaders with the purpose of providing original unification of spiritual life, church and social life. Due to the fact that puritans in Britain were prohibited to attend the church, they had to move to New England and maintain their power over the continent. After establishment of their colony, the local authorities began to implement laws regulating human behavior in terms of drunkenness, swearing and gambling. This way, they hoped that the colony would build a new and reliable role model. In view of many scholars, although Puritan ambition to create the ideal model of society, based upon the establishment of a covenant with God, was initially rather promising, they did not firmly follow what they…

    • 801 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    AP History DBQ

    • 402 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The Puritans believed that they were favored by God to succeed in life. The Puritans worked very hard to develop a stable economy in New England. However, economy was second to that of religious concerns. Most of the Puritans that settled in New England were wealthy, and made a mercantile upper class. Since they believed that wealth was a sign of being in God’s favor, the Puritan merchants worked hard to secure a spot in the Boston trading area. As stated, New England was founded as “a plantation of religion” (Doc J).…

    • 402 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Puritans believed that religion is the main idea of life and they did not believe in religious tolerance.…

    • 679 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    They thought that economic and political things and religious disagreements were causing a decline in English society. John Winthrop, traveling with some Puritans, said that they should make a society in which the high end, wealthier people and the needier depended on each other and all could benefit from helping each other out in life. The government and religion had a close relationship during this time. The Puritans thought that the government would make sure that none of the merchants were making extra money. They planned to make the forte of the community more open to opinions and selflessness. All of the people had to go to church and pay a tithe, however the people were not considered all that great unless they lived a good life. Puritans believed that communication was important because they needed to be able to understand the bible. The beginning of public education came around when an act was passed making it that the city had to have a teacher for a town of sixty or more houses, and to have a language and grammar school in towns with over one hundred households. The Puritans were more inclusive than England ever was. All the men did not have to own land to vote. So that meant they got many more votes. The break by Puritans from English ways, and Puritans being in New England, created some new ideas and influences that remain in our society…

    • 596 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Their importance of religion, combined with the unjust of the church, is what created the injustice in their community. The Puritans viewed themselves as a very prominent theocracy. A theocracy, is a form of government in which god is the divine ruler. The Puritan’s life…

    • 604 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The puritans wanted to make their own religion (Collier, James Lincoln, and Christopher Collier. Chapter1. Pilgrims and Puritans. Tarrytown: Benchmark, 1998. 15. Print. The Drama of American History). The kings were persecuting the puritans. The puritans wanted to change the rules for the way the church that the king has for every one they were the smartest so the king always depended on them. Then one day the puritans wanted to change the rules for the king and so the king did not want them to change his rules of the church. The king did not want the puritans telling him what to do so he just persecuted them. The puritans got tired of being persecuted so they decided to go…

    • 597 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Salem Witch Trials

    • 1692 Words
    • 7 Pages

    They believed that the Holy Bible was the law, wanting to purify culture. Arbella Conventant in 1630 once stated in a sermon speaking to the puritan society, “For we must consider that we shall be as a city upon a hill, the eyes of all people upon us. “…

    • 1692 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    They believed that the church and state should be spate not together. Many puritans moved to the new world for religious freedom, because they did not believe in some of the ways of the church and thought that the bible should be interpreted in their own way and not how the church interprets it. Rodger Williams, arrived in Massachusetts in 1631 he believed in everything the puritans believed in, that the church and state be separated and that everyone should interoperate the bible in how they want and shouldn’t be told what to think about it. He also thought that law obeying citizens should be able to practice whatever religion they want to. Except he didn’t believe in the idea that go chose to save people before they were born.…

    • 916 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    However, for the Puritans, the term ‘religious freedom’ implied to their right to practice their religion without anyone opposing them. This ideology made them kind of an extremist in today’s standards as religious tolerance was totally absent. The Puritans believed in predestination, and self-examination which was a pretty ridiculous belief system as it brainwashed people to think that their fate was already written by God and there was nothing much they could do about it. Also, all the published literature writings glorified God to influence the behavior of the citizens. Religion didn’t just dominate the Puritan literature, but the politics as well, as the society was led by religious leaders known as the Elects. These people identified themselves as the ‘God’s chosen ones’ and dealt with all the religious, political and social issues. On top of that, the Puritan’s patriarchal society didn’t do much for women, as they weren’t supposed to seek opportunities for education and instead stay at home and support their husbands. So, it comes as no surprise that these strong religious beliefs and its influence on politics triggered the infamous ‘Salem Witch Trials’, which goes down in history as one of…

    • 973 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays

Related Topics