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A Comparison Of American Purritanism And The Age Of Reason

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Martin Luther King Jr. once stated, “Every man lives in two realms: the internal and external. The internal is that realm of spiritual ends expressed in art, literature, morals, and religion. The external is that complex of devices, techniques, mechanisms, and instrumentalities by means of which we live.” MLK describes the concept that mankind has two different outlooks on life, including the idea that men perceive life morally and scientifically. It is rare for people to harmonize the two different views on life. Although this is something that Benjamin Franklin subconsciously achieved. Moreover, Franklin blends the idea of American puritanism and the Age of Reason together benefiting to the factor of how successful America is today. In 1620 about a thousand men and women settled in Boston seeking religious independence. They wanted to liberally practice Puritanism which is a religious belief where they attempt to be morally perfect and avoid any self-indulgence. “Three beliefs [which] pervaded puritan writing and deeply influenced later American culture” where being able to completely have their …show more content…

This was taking place during the the 17th century which was also the same time when puritanism was still popular. The two beliefs were contradicting but, Benjamin Franklin found a way to combine them together. The age of reason provided the scientific outlook on life. During this time period there became a flaw because men thought they could perfect their way of living rationally in a scientific way. It was either white or black in all scenarios of life, “overlooked the subtle shades of grey in between.” Although there were some factors in which the quality of existence was able to improve due to the “freedom to experiment and to question existing laws and institutions”

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Religion was very important to the Puritans in the 1600s. John Winthrop a member of the Puritans gentry, wrote to his wife the ‘I am verily persuaded God will bring some heavy affliction upon this land.” A year later he went and lead a group of a group of puritans to New England. By the 1630s another twenty thousand Puritans would come to America. When John became governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, he told immigrants that will have to guide people toward this holy ideal or they were not welcomed.

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The author, Edmund S. Morgan thesis is that the Puritans were not simply a strong religious group of fanatics who prohibited all earthly pleasures, but were actually influenced by human desires and weaknesses. The author uses many main points to support his thesis, one main point is that sexual intercourse was a human necessity and marriage was the only supply for it, but for some puritans marriage did not matter. A few more main points are that, sex could not interfere with religion, on days of fast sexual intercourse was not permitted but some did anyways. Many laws were passed to prohibit adultery Another point is that it was necessary for a servant to go outside his master’s house in order to satisfy his sexual urges. Also marriage was

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Many historians contend that the Puritans founded America by establishing biblical principles as the basis of political life. Puritan covenants were the major theoretical

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Identify the basic Puritan beliefs illustrated in these quotations. The basic Puritan beliefs as described in “the 12 good rules of Puritan behavior” are worship God, don’t infringe on the government rules, don’t hurt anyone, don’t argue, don’t have any vices, do not grieve, don’t keep secrets, don’t hold bad opinions, don’t make comparisons, don’t have friends who break these rules, don’t gouge during meals, and do not gamble. They also believe that all men are superior to women and children, and the repent for all your sins. 2.

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They wanted to create pure, moral Christian society based on moral living. By hard working, integration of religion in politics, and social development of certain lifestyle practices, Puritans had a large influence on the development of the New England colonies from 1630s through the 1660s. Puritans believed in hard work as the pathway of success since they thought they were favored by God to succeed (Doc I). They tried to shun idleness and believed that being lazy is not profitable (Doc C).

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It demonstrated that a wide variety of beliefs could in fact be found among the Puritans and that achieving religious uniformity in Puritan New England might come at a very high price.” Anne’s bold defiance in the Antinomian Controversy led to changes in the way many people thought about religious

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Puritanism took place during a time of tradition and conformity where no new ideas were brought forth and no one challenged the way

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18-9). Franklin always admired teachings of Jesus but fell short in belief of Christ’s divinity. As he aged he acknowledged a supreme and high being and aided in pushing along the new religious movement in American culture. John Adams aligns similarly to Ben Franklin, both raised in church to follow Puritan guidelines and faith, Adams believed that God had created the Universe and the study of nature would better help us understand and please God’s wishes; this is closely aligned with the great enlightened thinker John Locke (p. 34). Scientific thought influenced men alike including George Washington, nonetheless Washington held somewhat to the hand of God, using it for justification and placed importance of faith stating “religion and morality are essential pillars of civil society” (p. 59).

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Delaney Martin Professor Pike ENG 23155 November 19, 2016 Module 4 Journal The writings of Benjamin Franklin versus the Puritans are like night and day, in not only content, but also writing style. The biggest difference between Franklin and the Puritans, in my opinion, is how they viewed God. To the Puritans, God was all-powerful and autonomous. They also believed that human beings were born corrupted sinners and God had only chosen a select few for salvation, but no one knew if he or she was going to be saved or damned to eternal Hell.

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Under all the Puritan rules lay a desire that God’s love would flourish and spread. The noble Puritan dream might work in a perfect world, but even the unsettled, free America was not perfect. Striving for this dream, however, produced much good. The Puritan settlements emerged as the most educated and economically successful English colonies. Those who were true Puritans enjoyed a life in harmony with their beliefs.

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The Puritan’s goal of coming to the New World was not to create a new life, but to create the ideal model of living for the “corrupt” inhabitants of England. This was coined “The Errand”, the Puritans desire to establish a City Upon a Hill that others could look up to and imitate in order to receive God’s grace. The Puritans failed at building their City Upon a Hill (creating a perfect religious, economic, and political community), however the long-term effects of their efforts have influenced American moral politics throughout its history. The Puritans forever had the attitude of a community that had successfully established a City Upon a Hill. The Puritan lifestyle was heavily influenced not only by religion, but also inside of that, morality.

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The ideas constructed by the Puritans were not simply a principal starting point for American culture because they were the first in the country, but because they offered distinct ways of thinking that are still deep-seated in our culture today. Although many of the ideas of Puritans have evolved or vanished over time, it is important to give credit to the Puritan writers and thinkers such as John Winthrop and John Cotton who offered ideas that were new at the time and that stayed with the American consciousness—culturally, socially, and politically. “John Winthrop's legacy can be seen primarily in the fields of government, commerce, and religion. It was religion that would most impact John's life; his religion would ultimately impact the

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The Age of Reason The Age of Reason and modern day America changed our society completely. The people back then wanted to be free and have change to the United States. The thoughts back then used similar principles that we use today in our society. The principle of life back then are respect our is compassion are both similar.

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Martin Luther King Jr. points out many of his generational problems in "The World House" that have rolled over to our generation and one in particular has caught my attention, "we have allowed the internal to become lost in the external" (pg. 276). This has become more than true because of how embedded it is in the reality I grew up in and how values have drastically changed in the past century. What also occurs to me is that in my particular generations work is being set up to stop this type of thought processes for the next generation and yet we are still being put on hold because of the lack of openness to another type of thinking. Thinking in terms of how people shouldn't determine their value on their possessions but their intelligence

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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”).

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