How Did Religion Influence Puritan American Culture

In the same way the Delaware Indians demonstrated their astonishing commitment to their town, they once again demonstrate their passion towards their religion; the Delaware Indians sang hymns till they died-praising their God with their last breath.

In the vast growing world, there are an abundant amount of different cultures, but one thing that unites all the unique people with different backgrounds is religion. For instance, the pilgrims that traveled to the newfound land all had a common religion: Christianity. Similarly, the Native Americans that were indigenous to the Americas also believed in their own gods. It becomes quite evident how civilization always had a belief in gods, or other deities. With such a large topic, one must ask

With much emphasis on religion, one can easily think to that of the Puritan Era.

The Puritans were well known to be extremely pious people, as demonstrated by this idea “The State was founded on religion, and religion was its life. The entire political, social, and industrial fabric was built on religion” (Elson). The Puritan’s daily lives, from casual conversations to their government or businesses were all built on one thing: religion. Consequently, one can only imagine how devout and religious the Puritans were, but with such a tedious lifestyle, it is certain that some people can not live up the the standards. As described in the quote found in “Puritan Laws and Character” by Elson, “A man, for example, was fined, imprisoned, or whipped for non-attendance at church services. He was dealt with still more harshly if he spoke against religion or denied the divine origin of any book of the Bible.” Thus the consequences of breaking the pious lifestyle were obviously very severe. It becomes evident that during the Puritan Era it was

Jumping forward to the Revolutionary time period, the religious ideas still held strong. Across the States Native Americans fought for their independence and freedom with uncanny courage much like the African Americans fighting in the Civil Right Movements. This fighting caused multiple conflicts between the imperialist Americans and the Native Americans that was demonstrated at Gnadenhutten. “ In 1782 a force of American militia marched into the town of Gnadenhutten. It was a community of Delaware Indians who had converted to the Moravian faith. They were Christians and they were pacifists. But all that mattered to the militia was the fact that they were Delawares. The Americans divided them into three groups—men, women, and children. Then, with the Indians kneeling before them singing hymns, they took up butchers’ mallets and bludgeoned to death 96 people” (Calloway). Furthermore this demonstrates the ability of religion to unite the people. The Delaware Indians of that area all lived in the town of Gnadenhutten and all stood their ground when the American militia came. In the same way the