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The Impact of Puritans on the American policy
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First, in A Model of Christian Charity, John Winthrop wrote that Massachusetts had to be a perfect colony. He said, “We will be as a city upon a hill. The eyes of all people are upon us…”.(Doc. A). This meant that Massachusetts had to exemplify the perfect religious colony of Puritanism that will look up to at set a perfect example.
In search of religious freedom a group of devout Christians sailed across the ocean only to come across a new land, radically different from the one they left behind. From the initial journey, to the formation of the colonies, and finally their complicated relationship with “non-believers” Puritans strongly held religious convictions has played a key role in all of this. The Puritans were a group of reformed Protestants seeking to reform the English Church. After the fall of the Roman Catholic Church, a new church was established “The English Anglican Church”. While most Puritans sought to reform the church others wanted nothing to do with it these Puritans would eventually be known as Separatists.
Thesis: Francis J. Bremer advocates the need to understand the New England colonists’ struggling attempts to define the perimeter fence - not just their positions - in order to help us define the limits of acceptable behavior and beliefs today. Main Points of Evidence: I. The Puritans had different opinions on how they lived their life. A. John Winthrop believed that they were unworthy of God’s love and imperfect.
The idea of the United States having Puritan origins is still alive today. In Sarah Vowell’s, The Wordy Shipmates, the topic of how a nation affiliates itself with Puritan perspectives is introduced. She encourages one to look beyond the surface information of the first English settlers’ motives in the 1600s, and to investigate what Puritan views truly are. She mentions the Governor of Massachusetts Bay Colony, John Winthrop, expressing his freedom to enforce his religious views on to a whole colony of people. The superiors of this religious group decided in the colonies what was appropriate for the society they are creating.
The Puritans of the Massachusetts Bay colony had originally planned for a government that was to be ruled by God 's laws, however over time the colony would become democratically ruled. Rather than living under a democratic society, John Winthrop, along with other stockholding members, preferred to have the Puritan settlement be run by “godly rule” (9) . The original intention of the Massachusetts Bay colony was to set a model of an uncorrupted church and godly society (12) which would in turn help those in England see God 's will and be saved by it (13) . The Puritans, however did believe in the separation of church and state, but this did not mean a separation of the state from God. Despite the idea of separation, the government still
Following a period of religious decline in the early 1700s, the strong emotions that accompanied a revival left Puritans with a longing to “share [their] joy and tell [their] experience to others.” The “individual freedom and fraternal union went hand in hand.” The act of communicating with fellow Puritans compelled the realization of common beliefs between one another. These new conversations allowed personal religion interpretations to form without the worry of being considered a dishonorable Puritan. Additionally, the nature of individual conversions that accompanied the First Great Awakening signified the focus of Puritanism shifting away from “purifying” the Anglican Church and towards establishing a personal relationship with God.
John Winthrop, the first governor of the Puritans, wanted to create “a city upon a hill”. The Puritans had many aspirations including building a church state, a colony of educated settlers, and promoting their religion. Some of the aspirations were achieved while others were unfulfilled. The Puritans were extremist
The pursuit of religious freedom is not a contemporary idea. For centuries many have valiantly fought against oppression and persecution in order to worship freely without restraint and judgement. Some of the earliest immigrants who migrated to this country did so with the hopes of being able to worship in a manner than aligned most closely with their religious beliefs. Many of the principles that founded this nation are based on the premise of religious freedom and toleration. Undoubtedly one of the most influential and prominent religious factions to land on these shores in pursuit of this right, were the Puritans.
In early America, the Puritan religion was a driving point in building our culture. The Puritans were extremely neat and strict; so much that they were not very focused on the importance of their religion. Johnathan Edwards, the author of the sermon, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God,” believed that New Englanders were too concerned with other worldly matters. When he noticed the separation of his religion, he wrote and delivered his most famous speech. It was a dark and powerful sermon, delivered to multiple churches in New England.
Unlike the Virginians, the Separatists of Plymouth were able to learn the significance of diplomacy with the Native Americans. Their success derived from cooperation with the natives, providing a basis for the Thanksgiving story. The Puritans of Massachusetts Bay held pride in their Christianity. In 1630, colonial leader of the Massachusetts Bay colony, John Winthrop had developed what he called “A Model of Christian Charity.” In this model, he refers to his colony as a “Company”, telling the colonists that they are obliged to be members of Christ and conduct themselves accordingly.
History tells us that the Puritans were different than the Pilgrims because they wanted to continue to exist with the Church of England but make it better in the New World. (Settling 2014) The Puritans must have felt some type of loyalty to their native religion because they didn’t put their religion totally aside. It is noted that the Puritans did not want the rituals and other beliefs that involved being a member of their native Church of England.
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.
Chapter 3 Outline: • 3.1 The Protestant Reformation Produces Puritanism • 3.2 The Pilgrims End Their Pilgrimage at Plymouth • 3.3 The Bay Colony Bible Commonwealth • 3.4 Building the Bay Colony • 3.5 Trouble in the Bible Commonwealth • 3.6 The Rhode Island “Sewer” • 3.7 New England Spreads Out • 3.8 Puritans Versus Indians • 3.9 Seeds of Colonial Unity and Independence • 3.10 Andros Promotes the First American Revolution • 3.11 Old Netherlanders at New Netherlanders • 3.12 Friction with English and Swedish Neighbors • 3.13 Dutch Residues in New York • 3.14 Penn’s Holy Experiment in Pennsylvania • 3.15 Quaker Pennsylvania and Its Neighbors • 3.16 The Middle Way in the Middle Colonies 3.1 The Protestant Reformation Produces Puritanism
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
Essentially, Puritans are expected to follow a strict set of religious and moral guidelines from which their actions and morality are derived. According to Hall’s A Reforming People, these moral expectations first introduced by the pilgrims were the driving force behind the power that the Puritan ministry had over society: “Ministers and laypeople looked first to congregations as the place where love, mutuality, and righteousness would flourish, and second to civil society. …Alongside love, mutuality, and righteousness they placed another set of values summed up in the word “equity.” Employed in a broad array of contexts, the concept of equity conveyed the colonists’ hopes for justice and fairness in their social world.”
