The effect of Puritanism on colonial writing is apparent in the works of many writers from the era. Some of the prominent Puritan writers were Jonathan Edwards, William Bradford, Richard Baxter, Stephen Charnock, Cotton Mather, Anne Bradstreet and many more. The Puritans strict belief system had a wide range of effects on the colonies and even contributed to a dark time in American history. The 1692 Salem witch trials are well-documented events that reflect how the Puritan doctrine influenced social life. In fact some scholars believe that Cotton Mather, a prominent Puritan author, contributed to the conduct of the witch trials.
Puritans saw life as an unremitting moral struggle witch made colonial writings strenuous and serious. Puritan literature attempted to represent life truly; moreover Puritan literature was just as realistic as modern naturalism, albeit in the service of a different perception of reality. Plain literary value of this society, as expressed by William Bradford, who wrote the two-volume "Of Plymouth
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Franklin expropriated the Puritan work ethic to serve his secular humanism which embraced the ethic morality of Puritanism and modernize it in the process, making it possible for subsequent generations of the American readers to inherit the ethical legacy of Puritanism without having to embrace its spiritual tenets. Puritan minister Johnathan Edwards delivered his sermon "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" to convince people to forsake their sinful ways and attain salvation through penance. A leading intellectual figure in colonial America, Edward played a key role in the religious revivals that brought about the Great