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Puritans In The 17th Century

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Puritans in the early 17th century were really just a bunch of religious assholes who brought death to many Native Americans. When King Henry VIII passed the act of supremacy, appointing himself as the official head of the Church of England, the Puritans in the 17th century left England and set off to the New World on the Mayflower, to pursue their own religion, Puritanism. When the Puritans arrived in the New World during what 's known as the Great Migration (1620-1643), they settled the Massachusetts Bay Colony which later became New England.
Puritanism beliefs consisted of reading the bible and praying. They sought to have a pure and simple church, and believed they could pray in the New World to 'save ' those back in England. Puritans, consisting of mainly the middle-class and aristocrats, also yearned to experience the 'New Birth ', meaning they get spiritually reborn. In a Puritan family, there was an average of 6 children, where males dominated the household. Both male and female were considered spiritually equal, and females were protected in all domestic disputes. Puritanism also believed that homelessness and …show more content…

Known as predestination, the Puritans believed that everything that will happen has already been decided by God or fate and cannot be changed. Essentially by this belief, the Pequot War was destined to happen, and that God approved of it. With Natives attacking the colonists in an attempt to push them out - The Pequot War broke out. The war happened because the colonists continued to expand into Native American land and they were demanding the Pequot tribe to pay tribute. They also demanded the Indians give their children for labor, which makes no sense. In a way, looking back at their actions, I feel like the Puritans used their religion to sort of justify their actions, hence being religious assholes. If believing that God 'planned ' for hundreds to die in a war you started, then you could technically get away with anything having that

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The puritans came to New England so they could experience and practice christianity in a new form.[background] Puritans believed every word in the bible was the word of god. That said, the bible mentions Devils and witches. They believed a witch was a person who was controlled by the devil. For example, The devil can make a young girl cry in church. One way the court accepted evidence the suspect in question was a witch was when a woman confused the words when saying the lord's prayer.[background] Because of these actions more people were being accused of being a witch.

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In the year of 1630, a group of people known as the Puritans arrived to America and settled in the Massachusetts Bay Colony in Boston. The Puritans were similar to the Pilgrims in which they were Protestants from England who thought that their reforms of their church were “too Catholic” and needed to be changed further. The Puritans being unhappy with their reforms was the primary reason for leaving England and settling in America, while the Pilgrims stayed behind and were determined to change their reforms. When they came to America, they decided to keep some of their strict rules. For example, church was mandatory and if someone missed a day,

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They came to New England to practice Christianity in a new way.” (Background Essay) Puritans believed in predestination, this means that God had already determined who is going to heaven and who is going to hell. They believed if they worked hard enough and did enough good they would be able to go to heaven. Puritans were scrupulous and

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What Caused the Salem Witch Trials of 1692 In Salem, Massachusetts there were Witch Trials held during the summer months of 1692. Throughout the seventeenth century in New England, witchcraft was said to be a crime punishable by death. Puritans came to New England in the early 1600’s to practice their Christianity in the purest form possible. They believed every word in the bible and that the words of God were to be followed down to the last sentence there was. Havoc started occurring around the town and 19 women along with men were hanged for witchcraft.

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Religion influenced the government of the Puritans. They believed that they each had their own boundaries or power given by the Lord (Doc H). Puritans wanted the church and government to intertwine and aid one another, creating a stronger bond. In addition, the Puritan’s emphasis on religious conformity and the attainment of land for their model society led them to engage in wars with neighboring Indian tribes. For instance, William Bradford fought with Pequot tribe in the Pequot War, believing that God is the source of their victory and therefore praise him (Doc D).

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The Puritans in Massachusetts were very intolerant of other religious beliefs, regardless of the fact that they had been persecuted in England for what they believed. Puritans insisted that regular church attendance was mandatory in order to receive voting privileges. This meant that in order to have a say in anything you had to be a devout Puritan. They often argued about discrepancies within their own religion, such as whether or not sainthood was passed down from generation to generation. Puritans even went as far as to exile other Puritans the did not conform to the standard version of Puritanism.

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The Puritans were one branch of people who chose that the Church of England was beyond them. Most of the Puritans settled in New England. They also moved and created separated colonies, the numbers had risen from 17,800 in 1640 to 106,000 in 1700. The spiritual beliefs that they had were very strong.

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Puritans brought along their own religious practices which were still protected. This sort of situation gives opportunity for influence or in a philosophical way a possible infection in their way of life. The Puritans strict rules and lifestyle, fear of an angry God that communicated through divine providences or events that occurred, and their failure to abide to the high expectations that they burdened themselves,

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The Puritan colonists were bound by laws of morality with judgments with sentences that were the base of fear. The laws were centered on the basics of not going to church daily to practicing witchcraft, adultery, even not having regular sex to procreate. There were many laws of the time with cause and effect that harmed many people. Through the seventeenth century, laws were connected to morality, reflected in the ways Puritans used religious beliefs in the process of rendering judgment and assigning punishments to keep colonists from leaving their colony and gaining freedoms of their own. Puritan Religion ~

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Puritans always seemed to have a reason to justify and action no matter how radical. They didn’t just justify killing people they also justified taking things like land that was not theirs by use of bible passages. The Pequot Indians shared their land with the Puritans. Sharing however, was not something the Puritans seemed to be good at. They wanted the Indians out of the picture and wanted the land for themselves.

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The Puritans though that brotherhood, community, and religion to be the most important social standings in their colonies, yet were violent towards non-Puritans. The New England colonies were very religiously active compared to other colonies like Virginia, were religion was an afterthought. Because of the Tobacco craze in Virginia, it was only until the mid-1700’s when religion actually became a part of the colony. In general the Puritans were extremely intolerant of other beliefs that were not theirs, and history shows that they could become quite violent towards non-believers. Anyone who was an outsider or deemed non-Puritan would be banished or executed; in Puritan society, the fear of outsiders was ingrained into the mind of Puritan followers,

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Fruitful Puritans “The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer…in whom I will take refuge” (Psalm 18:2). For the Puritans, a group of English Protestants, this quote was the epitome of faith. They were a religious group who wanted to purify the Anglican Church and came to America in what is called the Great Migration. In this mass hegira during the 16th and 17th century many fled to escape religious persecution in England. The Puritans had great ardor and religious zeal for God whom they loved beyond all riches.

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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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Puritans are a people with a very strong belief in both God and the power of God. When people see power, they interpret it in different ways. Some know of power through anger and impulse, while others see power through the goodness the powerful one shows. Although Anne Bradstreet and Jonathan Edwards are both puritan poets, their writings convey mainly different, though sometimes similar, views on God because they have different perceptions of His will and the use of His power. Anne Bradstreet listens to and accepts anything that God wishes, and that is shown through her poem Upon the Burning of my House.

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Religion is a cultural universal that affects society in so many different ways. The various teachings can give explanations of things seemingly unexplainable, it can act as a way of social control, but either way religion is an integral part of American society now and it was maybe even more so in early America. In early 17th century, the Puritans came to America in a great migration to escape religious persecution and in the hopes of creating “a city upon a hill.” They established their society in New England and Puritanism dominated the area. In Puritan colonies, there was very little distinction between law and religious decrees, and this is just one of the examples of how Puritanism was the foundation of New England culture.

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