Puritan ideas and values greatly influenced the political, social, and economic developement of the New England Colonies in many ways between 1630 and the 1660s. Puritans came to the Americas, like many other people, in order to create a "perfect and ideal christian society". This mind set became the building blocks for the colonies. It became so rooted into the foundation of New England, it affected the colonies economically, socially, and politically.
John Higgins stated in Document J from the provided Ap Us History Test that "this is a plantation of religion, not a plantation of trade." This statement shows that, in the puritan's eyes, it was frowned upon to care more about the economic prosperity of the colony than the word of God and worship of him. Higgins also stated that worldly gain was not the design of the people of New England, but religion was. These two statements greatly show the fact that Puritans relied on their faithfulness to God to prosper as a community. Puritans focused primarily on acquiring their very basic needs for living, and even then, gave whatever extra they had to the less fortunate puritans of their colony. Along with affecting colonies economically, the puritans very much also affected their social norms due to their mind set.
Puritans were very strong believers that the Man was the head of the house, while the wife was to always acknowledge all power and authority toward their husbands.They also believed that the children were to obey the parents, no questions asked. Schools were built solely for the reason that they were always "dreading to leave an illiterate Ministry to the Churches", as states in A statement about education in New Englans, 1643, Document E. Puritans believed that the Bible was the true law of God, and that it gave guidelines stating how one should live. If one was caught not attending church, they were taken to trial and almost guaranteed to be found guilty. This could be shown in the trial of the Bay Colony Vs. Goold, Osburne, and George in 1666. The fact that a religious problem was taken to trial shows just how deeply religion was rooted into politics as well as the social and econimic aspect of the puritan lifestyle.
Puritans believed in giving man limited power. To ensure this, colonies held anual town meetings to settle legal disputes and decide on the next town leader. Town meetings consisted only of male participants twenty-one years or older who owned land. Although there were many restrictions, this was the first form of a democracy that was seen in the Americas.
The puritan lifestyle was very strict, and very much the same day in and day out. They were the foundation of America, and were even the foundation of two of the most prestigious universities in modern day America. Thanks to them, we had a foundation for one of the most important documents in US History, the United States Constitiution, which explains our democracy.
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