The Importance Of Social Life In The Puritans

When the Puritans set sail for the Americas they were looking to reform the Church of England from within and to reform ideas of the government. The Puritans major goal in leaving from England was to create a Christian utopia that thrived economically, politically and socially. Economically the Puritans believed that it was sinful to have excess, therefore they worked within their means and looked down upon materialism. Politically the Puritans had small towns that had a limited democracy and held regular town hall meetings. The biggest part of the Puritans lives revolved around the church and the community which made for the majority of their Social life.
Economically the Puritans lived within their means because they believed that it was sinful otherwise. This aspect of Puritans lives changed over time due to the fact that they wanted to make a profit. The majority of the New England colonies
adapted and grew accustomed to having and maintaining agricultural areas and small farming communities. Over time the New England area started to make profit from the textile industry. Puritans adapted from living within their means to making to making a profit, people started to own their own land and the New England area started to adopt Capitalism. Politically the Puritans had a limited democracy which was centered on the community. Everything produced in the colony went to the welfare of the colony which is a mild form of socialism. The only people that were allowed to vote were land owning, “saved”, men which made the political system that was held a limited democracy. Eventually, young people started to move because they weren’t allowed to be involved in the decision making process. This led to the development of a full democracy. Town Hall meetings were, and still are a large part of the community in the New England area. Socially the Puritans centered everything on the church and were very family first.
The community was the largest part of social life in New England. The church and town hall were located in the middle of the colony. Nearly everyone’s job within the colony was agricultural, fishing or ship building. The jobs in the colony tended to stay the same until the textile industry came around. The New England area was mostly for the religiously persecuted. The New England area was also a Homogeneous society, mostly English Christians. Schooling was also a large part of the social life in New England 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
world.