The Decline of Puritanism

In the lecture “The Decline and Fall and Persistence of Puritanism”, Gerald L. Wilson discusses how puritanism is believed to have fallen but, at times is currently alive in American culture. Fragments of the Puritan way of life, rise to power, descent, and values that remain today are discussed throughout the reading.
The Puritan way of life revolved around religion. The population within the movement were trying to receive Gods salvation and tried to live up to what they believed to be Gods instruction. Although most had a pessimistic attitude toward the ability to live in way that was acceptable to God, Puritans believed that they were to live in the world and not seclude themselves behind the closed doors of a monastery. Through hard work, correct living, and a good moral compass, the early community believed they would receive Gods glory and prosperity would be granted to them.
Diligently working in a variety of jobs, ranging from merchants to city leaders, the townspeople could enjoy their free time with lotteries, approved dancing, and an assortment of other fun activities that did not consume copious amounts of time from the work force. Women were not looked at as evil, impure creatures. Instead, there were realized as a necessity, not only to life, but a man’s happiness as well. Marriages were common and considered virtuous throughout the colonies. Through all of this, the people did not trust England’s hierarchy of church ruling and believed that churches should be ran from within; starting at the bottom. Colonies were ran with a separation of church and state, but the state was guided by the rules of the church. Sunday was considered the Sabbath, all work and play, to include cooking was not to be done As the population of colonies increased, so did the number of towns. In order to support the economy and encourage growing families, land was given to families and not individuals. The amount of land giving was large enough to build a home and plow