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How Did The Puritans Influence American Culture

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The Puritans came to the new world in the early 1600’s to build a wold where there religion could be purified from many of the corrupt ways of the Church of England. The Massachusetts Bay colony gave new hope for those fighting for a new way of life. Puritanism was responsible for shaping much of America. Ideas of Puritan culture is not only important because they were the first ones to travel to the country, but because they offered ideas that are still established in American culture. Our works habits reflect a Protestant work ethic. John Calvin argued work was a calling from God. They also believed in predestination and viewed success as a way of salvation. If you work hard, you will receive rewards in life and after life. The Puritan lifestyle left a huge impact on the American psyche. Americans express one of our founding fathers work ethic still today. Americans take less vacations than most other industrial countries. We are largely defined by our work and the success we achieve. …show more content…

The Puritans eventually broke away from the Church of England and there willingness to separate from the church became part of the American character. Americans felt that they could break up from corrupt systems and the Puritan philosophy played a large part in the fight for American Independence. It is no coincidence the struggled for independence started in Massachusetts. God’s role is a Puritans life is vividly expressed in Mary Rowlandson’s, a “Narrative of Captivity Restoration.” Rowlandson, the daughter of a Massachusetts Bay landowner and wife of a minister, describes her life as a captive of the Indians. She was a Puritan and her religious beliefs are woven throughout her story. Throughout her writings, she references the scriptures. She writes of Psalm 37.5 - “Commit thy way unto the LORD; Trust also in Him, and He will bring it to

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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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Liberty was the key issue for the Puritans. It was liberty, or the lack of, that pushed men to find safe haven, and it was freedom that enticed them to create a new society that never put state and the church hand in hand. By having a taste of liberty, they were introduced to ideas of equality and democracy which became an important part of the community they built and to the future nation that they will create. The foundation of Puritan principles such as piety, democracy and republican freedom, spread its influence over all the colonies, enlightening the “whole American world”.

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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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The Puritans in the 1600s had a very important influence in the development of the New England colonies through the 1660s their ideas, values; political, economic and social development would have a lasting effect on the region. The values of the Puritans were greatly rooted in the idea that man was evil and that God alone would save us. By creating this town upon the hill God will reward them for their efforts for trying to reform the Anglican Church. Politically the Puritans were a semi-theocracy that would only allow those who were part of the church to vote. Economically they brought a lasting effect based on their hard work ethic.

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The Puritans of colonial times were rapidly increasing and experiencing a time of great success in the implementation of a large scale Puritan community, but their achievement did not happen overnight. With religious zeal the Puritans sought to create an ideal society in the New World where the their way of life was law and they could become a model christian community for the world. In order for the Puritans to achieve their goals they needed a united and, therefore, strictly controlled community, and they found that community in New England. In New England they organized a unified and strictly controlled political, economic, and social structure dominated by religion in order to achieve the Puritan dream.

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The Puritans came to America in the 1600s, led by John Winthrop. They were escaping the suppressing rule of Charles I, along with religious persecution. They came here in search of freedom and liberties. Along with them a distinctive culture was brought to this nation, and impacted it forever.

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The New England Puritans left England to seek freedom from religious persecution. They pursued this with The Massachusetts Bay Company during The Great Migration. They set up their colony on the basis of religious freedom, but they still answered to The Church Of England. They gained a sense of independence with the new world. The Puritans were able to create a type of church that coincided with government, keeping the two closely related.

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Shelley also stated, “The Great Awakening proved crucial in this new order. It convinced hosts of Christians that voluntarism could work” (2013, p. 359). The Great Awakening is the beginning of what our society today calls separation between state and church. The formation of “American Puritanism originated from a movement for reform in the Church of England, which had a profound influenced on social, political, ethical, and theological ideas of Americans. The forming of American individualism and democratic thoughts were, obviously, influenced by Puritanism in New England.

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In 1630, the Puritans set sail for America to avoid persecution from church leadership and the king of England. Arriving in America, the Puritans established the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Life was hard for the Puritans, but in this unforgiving place they were free to worship as they chose. The Bible was central to their worship.

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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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In America during the Enlightenment, the people who were known as the Puritans, or those people who did not like the Reformation of the Church of England, had both a large impact in society during their time, and in who we are in America today. The Enlightenment supported the basic philosophies and other ideas embraced by the Puritans. The Puritans had a very good reason to leave England due to corruption of the church, and religious persecution. Each of these things affected the Puritans mainly in the 16th and 17th century. Puritans were a group of Protestants in the 16th and 17th century who did not like the Reformation of the Church of England was progressing.

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From then on, Puritans’ unique culture spread to the New England and they remained one of the dominant cultures until 19th century. Their lives had essential influence on the economic growth, religion culture and education of new colonies and early American culture. By 1629, fearing the punishment by God to the church of English, a group of rich Puritans got together and established Massachusetts Bay Company. And then they transported more Puritans through this joint stock company to their new colony——Massachusetts Bay Colony. Later on, the money that Massachusetts Bay Company gained became capital to create new lives in New English and as simulation of economics to all colonies.

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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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Puritans also showed their pursuit of liberty in their religion doctrine which emphasized the relationship between individuals and God. Moreover, Puritans’ contribution in these aspects created profound influence on the meaning of United States. Puritans set a special

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In the mid-1600s, the New England Puritans had a vision: they were to create the perfect Christian church and settlement, one that was made according to their interpretation of the original church Jesus had visualized. They were a very religious group and wanted to build a place of refuge for themselves. Unlike the colonist of the Chesapeake Bay colonies, they did not immigrate to make a fortune. The main reason the Puritans traveled to America was because they wanted to build a “City Upon a Hill”, since they were persecuted in England for their beliefs. From the 1630s to the 1660s, the Puritan’s beliefs greatly influenced the political, economical, and social development of the New England colonies.

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