In colonial Massachusetts, the Puritan religion touched every aspect of line in the community. The lifestyle was strict and anything that went outside the moral code was considered a sin and the sinner would be punished. Residents were also expected to attend lengthy sermons twice a week and to avoid any activities viewed as sinful. This included…
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…
"Puritanism required that man refrain from sin, but told him he would sin anyhow. Puritanism required that he reform the world in the image of God's holy kingdom but taught him that the evil of the world was incurable and inevitable. Puritanism required that he work to the best of his ability at whatever task was set before him and partake of the good things that god had filled the world with but told him he must enjoy his work and his pleasures only, as it were, absent-mindedly, with attention fixed on God."(Edmund S. Morgan, page 8)…
During the time when the colonies began to form there were many religious groups present, but perhaps one of the most prevalent of these groups were the Puritans. Puritanism had been around since the reign of Queen Elizabeth, but in the colonies they had the chance to get away from the different restrictions they had faced prior to this time. What made Puritans unique even in the colonies was the fact that they believed everyone had to make his or her own profession of faith, and they held that any official who was a part of a Puritan colony had to be not only a church member, but also be seen in good standing among the rest of the people. Their reasoning for this was a town could not be Godly if those running it were not, and this makes sense…
They had strong beliefs and the society was controlled by Puritan law. The law was very strict. People believed that a little sin such as falling asleep during a church recital deserved a punishment. Women and men were expected to dress and act a certain way. According to Discovery Education, “individual differences were frowned upon” meaning people had to keep their thoughts and opinions to themselves. The Puritans believed in the devil as much as they believed in god. As mentioned in the previous paragraph, women were more “susceptible” to sin because Satan went to those who were weaker and whoever followed him was then considered a witch. Practicing witchcraft was one of the biggest sins to make and it was punishable by death. As reported by many scholars society’s way of thinking was influenced by their religion which then lead to what is known as “the darkest time in American History”.…
According to Merriam-Webster’s dictionary, a Puritan is a member of a Protestant group in England and New England in the 16th and 17th centuries that opposed many customs of the Church of England. These Puritans broke off from the Church of England and started a new church after the Church of England disagreed to the Puritans’ requests. The Puritans held multiple beliefs and were very serious about religion. Puritans believed the community had a responsibility to punish sinners harshly for the good of the individual. These beliefs are highly debated by some individuals on rather the Puritans were right or wrong.…
In the community, Puritans didn't have much of wealth differences. Therefore, they had no social hierarchy. All of the Puritans also had good work ethic. They all were strong and hardworking people. They were people that believed they were the chosen ones of God. They believed that man had no control over his destiny, that they as one individual, decided that for themselves, meaning that they didn’t believe in predestination. Predestination, being one of the factors they disagreed with with England. Puritans were all close in what their values were. You were shunned for almost anything that went against God’s word. A major thing that happened was when supernatural things started happening. This caused a big uproar in Puritan society. People claimed to be witches, and they started believing that the Devil himself was among them. Once again, the New England Puritans were primarily based on the word of God. In conclusion, if you did anything against God’s word, you would be looked down upon by the…
Imagine having to leave your home because you cannot practice your religion freely. This was reality for the Puritans in England before they took a long journey to an unknown land in Salem, Massachusetts. There, they struggled to settle into a strict, religious lifestyle. They followed their Bible and went to Church. They also had harsh punishments for treason as well as other forms of crime. The Puritans were people with a strong belief system that led to irrational fears and a confined lifestyle.…
“The Puritan Dilemma: The Story of John Winthrop” This book talks about the life of one of the most influential puritans John Winthrop. “The Puritan Dilemma was written by Edmund Morgan. Edmund Morgan was a History professor at Yale University from 1955 to 1986. Edmund Morgan wrote many other popular books such as “Birth of a republic, American slavery, American Freedom” and “Inventing The people, the rise of popular sovereignty in England.” This puritan dilemma was written for the intent of future history students reading and learning about John Winthrop and his influence on modern culture and religion.…
The Puritans were people that worked only for what they needed. They had a society that revolved around church, family and the community. Puritans started with a limited democracy that eventually became open to many and had a large impact on representation in government today in America. New England also stressed the importance of literacy and schooling which led to people reading a spreading the Bibles message, the main purpose the Puritans sailed to the new…
The Puritan life was a very plain, straightforward life; their religion was a very harsh and strict religion. The Puritans’ life was mostly based on discipline and religion. Back in the 1690s, “A thousand Puritan settlers arrived in New England in 1630 after leaving England. In the next fifteen years the Puritan community in the New World would have almost 20,00 members” (“Overview: The Crucible” 1).…
Did you know that the Puritans believed that human nature was completely ludicrous and that following the ways of God could save their people from the devil? Well the Puritans lived a strict way of life, in which they followed the ways the bible teaches. However, The Puritans should not have the ability to humiliate and harshly punish those who have sinned. Puritans felt that when one had strayed away from doing God`s work, that they had to take action in harshly punishing and often humiliating the sinner in front of townspeople.…
The Puritans were religious exiles that left their home of England and settled in the New England states of Massachusetts, Connecticut, Maine, and New Hampshire. This would later be known as the “Mass Bay Colony”. From 1630 – 1643 over 9,000 people migrated from England. The Puritans believed they would “purify and reform” their own religion by creating a “righteous Utopia” which would break ties from Catholicism and the rule of the Kings of England. They were led by John Winthrop who was also a lawyer. The Puritans believed if they honored God with their strict and severe “work ethic” they would succeed and be chosen by God. This became known as the “Protestant Work Ethic”. Their belief was that hard work is a Christian duty and it…
Puritans are often portrayed as stiff and rigorous in their religious pursuits and are often described as fanatics, punishing those showing any bit of jubilation that would detract from their worship of the Almighty. Observing Puritanical behavior and ethics more closely, however, would suggest that they were not in fact always overbearing and grim zealots living in constant fear of an omnipresent monolithic God-figure, but instead had a complex and sometimes inconsistent relationship with sin and religion. Puritans thought of themselves as a chosen people, akin to the ancient Israelites of the Old Testament, and as such strove to make themselves a “city on a hill,” as John Winthrop put it. However, this did not mean that they were without…
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. “…