Puritanism
By: Alex Turner
Richardson’s 6th Period
The Roots of Puritanism
• Started in England
• A Church Reform straying away from
Catholicism
• Caused for splits in the Church
• Some Puritans stayed in England
• The other Puritans went to North
America(Pilgrims)
European Puritanism
• Reformists started to rapidly emerge in the
church
• This sudden increase in reformists caused for
controversy in the Church
• This controversy caused a Civil War to break
out in England
• Separation of the Church and some quieter
Puritans stayed in England
Society
• The Puritan Society started as Church Reform
• Became a big overpopulating form of Society
especially in the colonies formed in the “New
Land”(North America)
• Mostly God/self governed society based on
the rules of Religion and Church Morals.
Religion
• Presbyterian based
Religion that derived
from Calvinism and
the Catholic Church
• Believed in Bible but
not Catholic
traditions
• Broken from English
Church
Politics
• Mostly related to the
rules of both
God(Morals) and the
Bible
• 10 commandments
• Magistrates and Clergy
• Self Governing
• Broken Commandment
equals hanging
Important Figures
• There are many popular figures of this time
period but John Winthrop is the main one.
• He brought over one of the first Pilgrims into
America, and settled in Massachusetts Bay,
creating a thriving Puritan Colony there.
• Helped build the Puritan Society in the new
colonies
• Was Governor of Massachusetts
Darker Times
• Puritan Society had a lot of harder times while it was alive and
thriving
• The First being the straggling of the England Church causing
them to die for their reformist beliefs.
• Plaques and sickness broke loose in the colonies as well as
cold temperature almost caused for them to be wiped out in
the “New Lands”
• Lastly they were constantly being controlled by Britain even in
the colonies to the point where they were no longer self
controlling.
The Church
• As John Winthrop
wrote in his book, A
House on a Hill. The
Church really did
stand for the
core(the house) of
the Puritan Society.
Salem Witch Trials
•
•
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A period of time in Puritan American
Colonies where people were constantly
being accused of being witches, or
magic bearing creatures. This was
frowned upon in the church, and they
were automatically labeled as devil’s,
devil worshippers, and etc.
The victims, also known as the
“Witches” were often accused of being
a witch by facts that would go no
further then someone just saying so.
This proved that the court system of
the time was absolutely no good and
needed to be change. Of course they
didn’t realize they were at fault until
much later.
Literary Pieces
• The Bible is about the only
piece of Literature that can
fit in this category.
• Puritan Societies followed
this very closely when
making any form of
decisions, may it be
something small or big.
• Also Sermon’s were a great
example for writing in this
time period/society.
Contradictions
• The Church had very many contradictions, but the
biggest and the simplest to see is the bluntly stated
hypocrisy amongst itself.
• The Bible would say not Judge, and then people would
judge.
• The Bible would say don’t hurt others, and they would
hurt others.
• In this time period it was very common to be
constantly judged and watched to see if you were
doing something wrong, and the funny part about it is,
the person watching you is mostly in the fault at times.
Art
• This period of time
didn’t allow for much
artistic points of view
to be expressed
• The Society frowned
upon new ideas, and
seemed to want you
to act as everyone
else.
“The Plain Style”
• The main style of writing for Puritan Society
• It mainly involves sermon like speeches.
• These speeches contain personal views on
religion
• It also contains direct quotes from the Bible.
• It is still used today in current day Sermons
Leisure Time
• During this time of life in the American Puritan
Colonies, there would be a lot of get together
with the townsfolk, to dance, and be blissful.
• But drinking and misuse of drugs were strictly
against the churches beliefs, so therefore
people wouldn’t usually partake in such
things.
The Average Day
• During the time in the Early days of the
American Colonies, people would mostly be
farming throughout the week.
• On weekends especially Sunday they began
having their down time due to Church being
practically a mandatory activity.
Illnesses and Tragedies
• During the early days of the American
Puritans, diseases were being thrown back
and forth amongst natives and of the
European settlers.
• This caused for many deaths on both sides.
• Native Americans got the worst of the
diseases, because they have not been exposed
to foreign people before.
Enlightenment
• A reform that began expanding the minds of
Puritan Society.
• It formed around the 18th century
• Is one of the reasons why Puritan Society
started dying out
• Helped lead into broader areas for the arts.
How Puritanism has influenced
American Society
• Puritanism gave America its core foundation,
to both society and religion.
• Puritanism was the first step to branching
away from the same old same old England
Government/Society/Religion
• Without having this big change happen we
would not be able to have such an open,
diverse and accepting country as we have
today.
Work Cited
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Britannica “Puritanism.” Encyclopedia Britannica. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
Encyclopedia Britannica, 2011. Web. 04 February 2011.
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February 2011. http://mb-soft.com/believe/txc/puritani.htm
Burton, Edwin. “Puritans.” The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 12. New York: Robert Appleton Company,
1911.4 Feb. 2011. http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12581a.htm
Campbell, Donna M. “Puritanism in New England” Literary Movements. Dept. of English, Washington
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John Winthrop’s City on a Hill,1630,From Vincent Ferraro’s website, www.mtholyoke.edu, September
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Wheelwright, John T ., comp. The Mayflower Pilgrims: Being a Condensation in the Original Wording
and Spelling of the Story written by Gov. William Bradford. Boston: McGrath-Sherrill Press, 1930. 4
February 2011 http://xroads.virginia.edu/~cap/puritan/purmain.html