PURITANS
…and their contributions to
American Literature
Who are the Puritans?
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Colonists/settlers from Europe
who came to America in the 1600s
for religious freedom
Religious reformers that did not
withdraw from the Church of
England who intended to reform
the Church from within
How are they different
from Pilgrims?

Pilgrims were also religious
reformers, however, they withdrew
from the Church of England and
became known as “Separatists”
What was the Puritans’
Purpose?
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Hoped to establish the
Massachusetts Bay Colony as a
“city upon a hill,” a model
community guided in all aspects
by the Bible
Their form of government was a
theocracy, a state under the
immediate guidance of God
What were the Puritans’
Central Beliefs?
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Human beings exist for the glory of God
The Bible is the sole expression of God’s
will
Man is basically evil
Predestination: God has already decided
who will achieve salvation and who will
not
Continual hard work and discipline
Education (for religious purposes)
How does predestination
work?
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No one knows if they are “chosen”
so, all devout Puritans searched
their souls with great rigor and
frequency for signs of grace
The “elect” that will be saved
mustn’t take election for granted,
thus everyone must live as if they
know they were elected
Puritan Ideals Today
Hard work (“Puritan Ethic”)
 Frugality
 Self-improvement
 Self-Reliance
 Education
…are all values inherited from the
Puritans as basic American virtues

How did the Puritans contribute
to American literature?
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Wrote theological studies, hymns,
histories, biographies and
autobiographies with the purpose
of spiritual insight and instruction
Fiction and Drama = Sin
Puritans did write poetry as a
vehicle for spiritual enlightenment
Puritan Writing

Sole purpose = moral instruction

The writing style of the Puritans
reflected the plain style of their lives –
spare, simple, straightforward =
Puritan Plain Style  characterized by
short words, direct statements, and
references to ordinary, everyday objects
Trivial Pursuit
Knowledge:

The Puritans founded Harvard College
in 1636 to ensure a well-educated
ministry
The New England Primer

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a text studied by
Puritan children
when they first
went to school
Is this a primary or
secondary source?
Based on your
reading…
 How widespread
was reading
meant to be?
 What is the image
of God and
religion presented
by the primer?
“The
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Trial
of Martha Carrier”
By Cotton Mather, a very influential Puritan minister
who wrote over 400 works – including a history of the
Salem witch trials of 1692
Is this a primary or secondary source?
Based on your reading…
 What are the charges against Martha
Carrier?
 What is the evidence against her?
 What is the Puritan sense of justice?
Homework…

Read “Sinners in the Hands of an
Angry God” by Jonathan Edwards (HM
pg. 124 – 129)
– Find and record four quotations from the
sermon that best exemplifies the Puritan
philosophy and how it translated into how
they lived. (*Use the provided handout)