Comparative Analysis of the Beliefs and Attitudes Between Puritans and Quakers in Colonial American 17th and 18th Centuries
Early Colonial American society during the 17th and 18th centuries ischaracteristically bound by strong religious beliefs of Christianity. TheNew England inhabitants from Britain, who have established their respectivecolonies in the Americas, have brought with them their cultural histories;thus, this culture had been further developed in the new country tostrengthen its new identity and culture as the American society. In colonial America, two religions dominated its cultural history:Puritans on one hand, and the Quakers, on the other. Puritanism was bornefrom the creation of a religion that seeks to fuse and at the same time,reform, the Catholic and Protestant teachings and principles. When it wascreated, it was given a chance to further develop and eventually became oneof the dominant religions of the British colonies in America. Puritanismis known for its conservatism and strict adherence to the teachings of theBible; since the religion aims to make Christian life, Christians of thisreligion are regarded as "purists" and intolerant to any deviations ordifferences of people from the established religious norms. The Quakers, meanwhile, are actually categorized under the broad
Quakerism as a way of life differs greatly in the accounts ofElizabeth Ashbridge and John Woolman. A comparative analysis of the religious beliefs and attitudes ofthese two sets of religions is given at the end of the paper, which bringsinto lucidity the dynamics of religious culture of colonial Americanbetween the 17th and 18th centuries. Indeed, this attitude is subsisted to by JonathanEdwards, whose strong and somewhat radical approach to practicingPuritanism created sensational views of the religion itself among non-Puritans. " Thispassage from her journal illustrates the character of Puritans, whoconsider any deviation from their religious norms of being conservativetowards other people as intolerable. In the memoirs of Sarah Kemble Knight, evidence of rigid Puritanbeliefs is apparent in her journal entitled, "The Journal of Madam Knight. In his correspondences, he alsoexpressed disapproval of other people's practice of accumulating materialwealth in life, saying, ". In his "Account of Peter Harvey,"Woolman depicts the Quaker ideals of simple, harmonious, and egalitarianliving: ". Woolman's personal account of Quakerism in his life resounds that ofAshbridge's recollection of her life. There isnothing between you and hell but the air.
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