The New England colonies that settled in North America were predominantly composed of the Puritans, which originated in the rectification of protestant in England. Furthermore, they were the first of the English colony to bestow legal authorization to slavery, recognizing human captivity was acceptable in 1641. Hence, the 1641 bylaw is not purposely aimed for a certain tribe or ethnic group. During that period, there were also white men that were prisoner of war that were sold in some parts in the Caribbean. On the other hand, the Chesapeake colonies (including Virginia and Maryland), who made its mark during the 17th century composed of 70 to 85 percent white settlers were actually “Indentures”, meaning, that they are indebted to whomever
Religion was very important to the Puritans in the 1600s. John Winthrop a member of the Puritans gentry, wrote to his wife the ‘I am verily persuaded God will bring some heavy affliction upon this land.” A year later he went and lead a group of a group of puritans to New England. By the 1630s another twenty thousand Puritans would come to America. When John became governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, he told immigrants that will have to guide people toward this holy ideal or they were not welcomed.
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
Religion played that of a great role in the colonial regions. This is so, as colonies, mostly in New England, the colonial settlers were actually driven by religious intolerance in England. As stated in “Puritan New England: Kahn Academy”, “During the 1620s and 1630s, the conflict escalated to the point where the state church prohibited Puritan ministers from preaching. In the Church’s view, Puritans represented a national security threat because their demands for cultural, social, and religious reforms undermined the king’s authority. Unwilling to conform to the Church of England, many Puritans found refuge in the New World.”
The Puritans of colonial times were rapidly increasing and experiencing a time of great success in the implementation of a large scale Puritan community, but their achievement did not happen overnight. With religious zeal the Puritans sought to create an ideal society in the New World where the their way of life was law and they could become a model christian community for the world. In order for the Puritans to achieve their goals they needed a united and, therefore, strictly controlled community, and they found that community in New England. In New England they organized a unified and strictly controlled political, economic, and social structure dominated by religion in order to achieve the Puritan dream.
The New England had very little fertile land, with extreme weather and rocks frozen to the dirt making agriculture hard. In time, they would create a diverse agricultural system to create food for its inhabitants which included fishing as the citizens became top notch shipwrights. So, it turned to industrial endeavours due to the high number of raw resources in the region. The higher population, due to the fertile nature of the inhabitants, could easily support the growing industry of New England. Due to its isolated location with possible enemies surrounding them, the Puritan beliefs tied the families of New England together and united them.
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.
While slavery was a major part of colonial life in the Southern colonies, it was not as prevalent in New England, but that is not to say that it did not exist in New England. Slavery was not as necessary in the New England Colonies as it was in the South, but some in New England did own slaves. The stories of these slaves are few and far between due to the fact that it was not seen as such a major component of the history of New England as it was in the other colonies. The Puritans of New England arrived with a burden that they placed upon themselves to create the perfect colony, that other would have to emulate, has the city upon the hill. This created a stressful situation for the Puritans because they were under the conception that if they
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.
Puritans are typically the first thought that comes to mind when thinking of America’s earliest settlers. Although, the Puritans are known for coming to the New World for strictly religious reasons, there were other draws to the New World, not only to practice religion. In the Book, the Norton Anthology – American Literature, Beginnings to 1820, provides evidence through reading short stories, poems, and letters, which proves early American settlers has also came to the New World for secular reasons as well. Not that those came to the New World were not religious, there were other draws that influenced to them to take the risky voyage. In early America the religious and secular, non-religious, issues were intertwined, but conflict when
While the Puritans acted in inhumane ways, the Puritans ' actions towards others reflected their beliefs because of the Puritans ' reasoning to the idea of slavery, the Puritans ' engagement of war, and the Puritans ' brutal acts towards the Indians. The Puritans believed that as long as their actions were supported by the English understanding of religion and morality and were within the bounds of law, these actions were justified. The treatment of people in the 1600s may not have been seen as something peaceful, but during the time it supported the Puritan belief. First, the Puritans ' actions towards others reflected their beliefs because of the Puritans ' reasoning to the idea of slavery. As it has been noted by historians, specifically
Hannah Butts Miss Beiler English 12 11 October 2017 The Puritans Do you think that God has chosen a few people, “the elect” for salvation, and the rest of humanity will be condemned to eternal damnation? This is a core belief held by the Puritans. In this paper, I will talk about who the Puritans are, why they came to America, what their colonies were like, and what their core beliefs and values were.
Upon researching the Puritans I found many interesting things such as their origins, their colonies, their religion and their way of life. Through extensive research I found that their origin goes back deeper than I thought it did. The process through which Puritanism developed had been initiated in the 1530s when King Henry VIII repudiated papal authority and transformed the Church of Rome into a state Church of England. But the Church of England retained much of the liturgy and ritual of Roman Catholicism and seemed, to many dissenters, to be insufficiently reformed. The Church of England wasn't good enough so some people broke away from that church in hopes to reform it and make a better and purer church.
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”).
The form of enforcement that our nation has taken in churches would startle and likely frighten the older societies, who used religion everyday in their lives. A proper example of the defiance to modern day authority would be the almost constant revolutions that are revealing themselves around the world. These wars are the challenging of the authority they are deem as incompetent for the people’s needs. A modern view of this topic would prove for an everyday impression from this idea. The Puritans rarely had change as no one knew how to adapt to these new changes.
