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When King Charles I nullified the Puritans further by the dissolution of Parliament, all the tentative notions they had thought up regarding escaping to the Americas were validated. Earlier, the Puritans “were drawn into uneasy complicity in a regime they considered no more than half right” (page 17). In other words, as discussed previously, the Puritans felt as though the beliefs of the government they lived under did not align with their own. Naturally, as God’s servants the Puritans were unable to escape England until they were positive that it was what God himself would want. The Puritans tried to rationalize this theory by deciding whether they could be the salvation of the Anglican Church, “If, as all Protestants maintained, the Roman Church was incurable in the sixteenth century, perhaps the Anglican Church would prove so in the seventeenth.
The first Puritan separatists who arrived in the New England colonies fled to Holland in 1608 in order escape the religious abuse in England. Believing in a pure Christian church with no trace of Catholic worship, Puritans developed a strict religion. “Church attendance was mandatory”, and for those keeping from the God’s work they felt they were
Through all the hardships optimism and hope were two of the most important characteristics a passenger would have to retain through both journeys; both slave and pilgrims had to believe that wherever the end up will be better than the ship they were on. A simple slip in these would quickly lead to the downfall of the traveler. Faith was another important quality and the Puritans had it strong and proud. Even in the hardest of times these people believed their lives were in the hands of God and if he wanted them to live then they would live; however, this idea of faith in God was much harder for the slaves to hold. How could a God who supposedly loves each person allow for such a cruel fate to fall upon someone?
Puritans Utopianism, revolutionary republicanism, and the mid 1800s’ economic growth all influenced westward expansion. Puritans related to westward expansion because their idea of having a perfect city a “city on a hill”, gave the United States the idea to expand and make the rest of America great. Republicanism focused mainly on what was best for the white men. Republican and federalist wanted to move westward however, republicanisms did not care about whose land they took if it benefited whites. Finally, the economic growth influenced westward expansion because people had more money and were feeling more confident.
In William Bradford’s Of Plymouth Plantation, the pilgrims undergo a couple of setbacks on their journey across the ocean. Their journey began with the Mayflower setting sail from Plymouth hoping to get to the other side of the Atlantic. Hopes of reaching land safely were set short; but the crew decided to plead to god for help with their voyage. In looking at Of Plymouth Plantation’s, we will consider the sailing crew and their continual pleading to god to find how god’s providence is always amongst them throughout their voyages around the sea. In the beginning of the pilgrims’ voyage their old ship begins to break down, so they start to call god for help.
The Puritans believed that the Law of God reiterated within the bible, provided the plan for living a virtuous life. God worked daily in the lives of those practicing the Godly views bringing prosperity upon their families and the needy surrounding them. Puritans emphasized wealth was acquired through hard work and devout spirituality to receive God’s blessings. Though God carried no want of power to condemn the wicked man, He chose those worthy of salvation and the non-believers were predestined to Hell. Jonathan Edward’s intimidating descriptions of Hell would lead Puritans to find spiritual meaning in incidences that happened and correlate it with signs and/or symbols of God’s workings.
Puritanism, a version of Calvinism, addresses the sinfulness of man and claims that God has predetermined those who will be saved and those who won’t; despite their sins. In the poem “Here Follow Some Verses Upon the Burning of Our House, July 10, 1666,” Anne Bradstreet recounts a tragic accident that occurred and how she used it to glorify God. Jonathan Edwards conducted sermon titled, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” in Connecticut, 1741. In this text he goes in depth into the sinful nature of man, and a just and angry God who doesn’t hesitate. Both passages address the life Puritans should live.
The Puritans were brave individuals who set out to alter the way their religion should be. Expanding to America was the way to escape the ills of the Catholic Church. Puritans felt that expanding was their right, and it was the only way to uphold God's word. The Roman Catholic Church was headed towards a path of destruction, and this was not what God wanted for his people. In Matthew 5:14, we find one of the major basis of the Puritan belief system.
What you believed depended largely on where you lived. As mentioned, the Puritans controlled a large area of New England and were predominantly Protestant. The middle colonies which included New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware, attracted people of all religious groups consisting of Catholics, Lutherans, Amish, Jews, Presbyterians, and Cutch Mennonites among others. The middle colonies accepted all religions and tolerance was practiced by all as you were guaranteed freedom of religion.
In US History, many have realized that the architectural styles of important buildings can easily describe the priorities, beliefs, and behavior over the course of time frame. That we are presently concentrating on the type of attitudes as well as priorities that the English occupants brought once they arrived in America. When the English colonists first arrived in America, they had a variety of attitudes and priorities, which could be seen in their own architectural design. The English settlers that settled in England region were mostly Puritans who arrived in America this is because they have objected things with English way of life.
The puritans were a faithful and religious type of people. They always believed that things that happen to them happen for a reason by God. Studying several author’s works from a single time period enables readers to have a better understanding of their way of life. Even though Anne Bradstreet and Jonathan Edwards (sermon) were both puritans, their distinctive writings and persuasive tactics differ greatly.
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.
We began our interview with an introduction to the Puritans. They were members of a religious group that migrated to America in hopes of reforming the church—to purify it from its Catholic practices—however, their reform didn’t last long because of the new way they lived. In the newly formed colony, citizens lived on farm and far away from each other. This made it hard to go to the church and in turn the numbers of the church declined. Instead they relied on each other and held services in their home or a with a close by neighbor.
The Puritans do not take full credit for the people they have helped and saved and instead giving it all to God. The Puritans land at Cape Cod but are not pleased so they continue southward. After some rough waters, Bradford writes, “Being this arrived in a good harbor, and brought safe to land, they fell upon their knees and blessed the God of Heaven who had brought them over the vast and furious ocean, and delivered them from all the perils and miseries thereof, again to set their feet on the firm and stable earth, their proper element” (Bradford 80).The Puritans are constantly looking out for others, but it is not for personal gain. Bradford says that they survived and helped others for God and that he is the one who should be thanked. The Puritans show heroism by not asking for a reward and not boasting their accomplishments.
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.
