The Puritans
When problems with England began to develop the puritans looked of a place where they could create a pure version of Christianity. The puritans moved to the Netherlands where they tried to live but were overcome by the Dutch culture. The Puritans had their own beliefs, world view, and practices which separated them from everyone else. The pilgrims crossed the Atlantic to worship as they chose, and to establish a community based upon their religious principles. As other early groups like Scottish Calvinists and French Huguenots settled elsewhere in the colonies, their similar Puritan beliefs became the foundation for early American social beliefs.The puritans had a bad ordeal with King Charles, the tyrant who had long persecuted the English puritans. Oliver Cromwell,
However, only about 20 percent of new Englanders were practicing Christians in the mid-1600. The puritans or "roundheads" as they were called ultimately won the war and Charles was beheaded for plotting treason against the people of England. To be a member of the local government, you had to be a member of the church; only church members could vote or hold office. Charles's crime was that he had conspired to hire and army of catholic mercenaries from Ireland to fight against his own people. Believing in predestination, puritans could look at poverty as revealing a flaw in the poor person's character: a sign that he or she was out of favor with god. The world, god's creation, reflected this belief and the presence of a permanent underclass fit into this world view. The meeting houses were both the religious and political centers of the community. In 1643, the population of Massachusetts Bay was 14,000 to 16,000 probably as the rest of the colonies combined. These puritans believed in an ordered universe with god being supreme. New England life centered on the meeting houses in each of the colony's town. This exclusiveness of the political system would gradually be overcome and by the end of the 17th century, the political leadership would be separate from eh religious leader. a leading puritan statesman bent on reform and the establishment of a democratic parliamentary system and finally led a civil war against the king and his cavaliers. The non-religious portion of the community objected to the power of the puritans and eventually took away their power. Puritan's had their own view of the world and they felt it was cruel and corrupt place where there was no chance for them to prosper.
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Acceptance Essays
