"Surely there is in all children...a
stubbornness, and stoutness of mind arising
from natural pride, which must, in the first
place, be broken and beaten down."
-John Robinson
A Guide To Puritan Life
Who were the Puritans?
• Settlers of Plymouth 1620 and Mass Bay
Colony in Boston area
• Wished to “purify” the Church of England
– Felt it too closely resembled the RomanCatholic Church
– Wanted to eliminate all church rituals and
integrate religion into their daily lives in a simple
and intense way
• Believed in theocracy
Puritan Doctrine
1. Belief that the Bible is the sole
source of God’s law
–
Lead the Puritans to simplify religion,
removing all worldly trappings, so that
individuals could have their own
“covenants” with God
Puritan Doctrine
2. Belief in Original Sin
• Human beings are inherently evil
• People must struggle to overcome
their sinful natures
Puritan Doctrine
3. Belief in Predestination
–
–
–
God decided long ago who would
achieve salvation and who would not.
Grace, which leads to salvation, comes
to a select few as a free gift from God…
… NOT as the result of human effort.
Puritan Doctrine
• Why were the Puritans so concerned with
morality and good works if humans had no
real control over their fates?
• Puritans believed those with God’s grace
(the “Elect”) would be obvious by their
shining goodness and by their deep concern
for others.
– Dedicated Puritans strove to establish
themselves as part of the Elect in the eyes of the
community through their good works.
Puritan Society
•
The woman’s role: cook, clean, teach, care for the home
•
The man’s role: farm, hunt, provide for the family, act as political
and religious leaders, represent the family in the public eye, protect
the home and community
•
Critical of materialism
•
Intolerant of differing points of view
•
Afraid of the “unknown” (the wilderness, Native Americans,
darkness)
•
Believed the devil was behind every evil deed.
– Words of hellfire and brimstone flowed from the mouths of eloquent
ministers as they warned of the persuasiveness of the devil's power.
•
To keep children safe from the devil’s clutches, children were
quizzed on the Bible at school (by teachers) and at home (by their
mothers).
Puritan Society
Puritan Society
The Dutiful
Child’s Promises
Verses / Again
Good Children Must
Learn These Four Lines
By Heart
Discipline
“Joseph threw a knop of Brass and hit his
Sister Betty on the forhead so as to make it
bleed and swell; upon which, and for his
playing at Prayer-time, and eating when
[giving] Return Thanks, I whipd him pretty
smartly.”
~Samuel Sewall,
Diary, November 6, 1692
Use two sheets of copy paper for
this assignment. One will be for
the letter and the illustration,
the other one for the couplet.
A
Picture
Your couplet goes here