Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Puritanism in Early Colonial Times

It is estimated that, between the years 1629 and 1640, about 80,000 Puritans fled from England because of religious persecution. In this short amount of time, the base for America was set, as hundreds of small communities were set up, and along with these, a code for living whose structure came purely and solely from the Holy scripture: the Bible. Puritan influence was first and foremost the main factor for the political, economic and social development of the New England colonies from 1630 t0 1660s.

In the New England colonies, goverment units were directly reciprocal to the Puritan religion. Mainly, man was not to be given more power than he can control. This idea, proved countless times to be correct throughout the years, was aptly presented and brought forth by John Cotton in "Limitation of Government" 1655. Wisely, he stated "Let all the world learn to give mortal men no greater power than they are content they shall use—for use it they will". Puritans also held other views in regards to government. Government officials, were also to be avid participants in their church. Citizens of Puritan communities also established the pillars of democracy little by little. They held town meetings, called town halls, often to discuss matters of concern to the town. Voting rights were only granted to white men of power, and white men who owned land. No slaves, blacks, women or poor were granted this privilege.

Hierarchy, as in every civilized town, existed in the New England colonies. The diving lines were much less pronounced than in other cities, for example, European ones. As Puritan law described, luxury was not necessary and very much frowned upon. Therefore, the upper classes owned more land and never lacked food, but the difference between them and the classes below was minimal. The upper classes, as expected, consisted of the clergy and the government officials, and the lower classes, of farmers. As of currency, the Puritans had very little care for. "Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God." Matthew 19:24. This passage from the Bible, as all other passages therein, was believed in its entirety.

The lifestyle led by the Puritans was very simple and easy to follow. Man was never, and I must show an emphasis on such word, never to be lazy and unproductive. Robert Keayne, in his last will and testament, 1653, expresses the importance of this principle. "... testify to the world on my behalfe that I have not lived an idle, lazie or dronish life nor spent my time wantonly, fruitlessly or in company keeping..." Puritans frowned upon leisure, enjoyment and any other activity that denied profit to the overall well-being of the colony or the praise of the Lord. Learning was highly values, because lack of it would signify an inept magistrate and ministry for the generations to follow. Families were very structured. The father was the head of the home, took care of the hunting and farming, and took all of the decisions. The mother, always behind her husband, was responsible for the cleaning, cooking and raising of children. The children were always to listen to their parents or would otherwise be very severely punished.

The Puritan culture, which has long since been modified, recreated and in some cases utterly forgotten shaped the early beginnings for the country which we live. Their strong belief in religion and in the Lord in heaven was unfaltering and always led them in a positive direction. It has been a long time since these peoples governed any portion of our nation, but in from 1630 to the 1660s their influence was fundamental to the creation of communities in the New England colonies.

2 comments:

  1. Viva Samantha! This is a very clear and strong essay response for the question I gave you. I like how you used the various documents so effectively in your response (.e.g., Cotton Mather, Kreayne) in order to strengthen the impact of your essay. You should probably add an additional sentence to Paragraph 3 where you speak about the camel crossing the eye of the needle - a somewhat more precise explanation for that quote (and how it summarizes the initial Puritan opposition to economics) would make that paragraph more effective.

    Probably the only major thing that I would add to this excellent work is a final explanation in the conclusion that ties in everything (thesis) together. When you are timed on this later in the year it will be difficult for you to do that when you are working in a limited amount of time, but practicing a strong ending will help you later - this (like the beginning) is where readers will look at most). Bravo!

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  2. Thank you Mr. Parra. I will make sure to write a stronger conclusion next time. Promise! :)

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