Puritan Life In Early America Essay

Puritans living in early America Life in the early 1600’s is a big contrast to the way we live in American in present day times. Back then America was just starting out as there were no official towns yet because not many Europeans lived here. All of that changed in the year 1607 when the first English settlement was built. Years later more came to America for different reasons; some came to have better opportunities and make a decent living but another big reason was to escape religious persecution. This was the beginning of Puritan life in America. The Puritans were strict Calvinists, followers of the reformer John Calvin. John Calvin taught that God was all-powerful and focused on God’s sovereignty, supreme power or authority. Puritans also believed that because of Adam and Eve’s sin of disobedience, most of humanity would be damned for all eternity. They also gathered that God had chosen a few people, "the elect," for salvation. Some knew they were saved if they testified their personal experience of God in the form of autobiographical conversion narratives. However most did not know if they were saved or not, so Puritans lived in a constant state of spiritual anxiety. While the puritans coming to America may not seem as a big deal to some, it was in fact a horrible situation. The

Many Puritans sought to convert Native Americans to Christianity and their way of life. This eventually led to the destruction of the Natives culture. They also brought disease which cause the population of Natives to decrease because they had no immunity to European diseases. The puritan’s way of farming and letting their stock run free changed the ecosystem disrupting the food supply for Native Americans. The puritans impact of the Natives were negative, it caused hunger, death and the loss of