PURITANS &
QUAKERS
By Alex Rumble, Luke Hannah, Andrew
Chisholm and Laura Cavanagh
PURITANS
The Puritans were a group of people who grew discontent in the Church of
England and worked towards religious, moral and societal reforms.
They believed that the Bible was God's true law, and that it provided a plan
for living.
Puritans were also one branch of rebels who decided that the Church of
England was beyond improvement. They came to America in the 1630’s to
escape persecution.
Therefore, Salem’s main religion was Puritan.
QUAKERS
They are described by some people as fanatical puritans. When the Quakers
showed up in Boston in the 1650s they were persecuted.
Quakers are considered by many scholars to be extremists of radical puritans, this
is thought because they carried many Puritan beliefs to an extreme level.
Quakers, like Puritans, had their origins in the hotbed of European religious
dissent. In addition to the many Quakers who suffered abroad, there were some
who felt called to go further afield. The Quaker faith soon came to American
shore.
They believed in a quality for women, unlike the puritans.
They don’t believe in or participate in wars.
It was not compulsory for them to attend regular church services.
They operated their societies as theocracy’s.
WHY IS IT IMPORTANT?
The puritans were English protestants who wished to return and
purify the church of England of what they considered to be
unacceptable residues of Roman Catholicism.
The Quakers, on the other hand, are important as they tried to
restore what is considered as true Christian faith.
BOTH
…
Both were religious groups that did not wish to conform to the Church of England.
The Puritans were Calvinist in their theology and believed in a harsh, judgemental
God. Instead they wanted to establish their own community where they were dominant
instead of the Church of England. They read the Bible in a very narrow way. Quakers
on the other hand see God as a Spirit who lives in the heart of every human being and
offers them direct and personal guidance. Personal experience with God is taken to be
more authoritative than the Bible. Quakers sought to live in peace with everyone,
including the Native Americans, and practiced religious toleration within their
communities.
There were disagreements between the religions. This is evident when Puritans had
initially renamed the opposition to ‘Quakers’ from their initial name called
‘FRIENDS’.
Furthermore, we can see their dislike for one another as Puritans would bore holes
into the Quakers tongues as a way to silence the Quakers.
RELATION TO ‘THE
CRUCIBLE’
The play retains the authenticity of the ideals that Puritans followed, as
evident though Reverend Parris. As Arthur Miller uses Parris to say sentences
such as “there is obedience or the church will burn like hell is burning”, we
can see that Puritans had a powerful belief that a Christian must follow their
regulations so that they will withstand the wrath of God.
Consequently, Quakers, who existed in the same era at Salem, are displayed
through John Proctor. His response to the aforementioned quote
demonstrates the Quakers dissatisfaction with Puritan ideals and asks “can you
speak one minute without we land in Hell again? I am sick of Hell!”
Furthermore, Parris’s dislike of Proctor and Quakers in general when he says
“we are not Quakers here yet, Mr Proctor. And you may tell that to your
followers”.