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Religions impact on colonial america
Religions impact on colonial america
Us history chapter 3 colonial life
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In the 1600s, the New England colonies were quickly developing because of the Puritans. Many great ideas and ethics were brought to the New World from England in a short amount of time. There was always a sense of order in their society, which was spread throughout the colonies. The importance of unity, education, and money greatly shaped the systematic life of Puritans. John Winthrop, the governor of the Massachusetts Bay colony, gives a speech while coming to New England in which he says, “Wee must be willing to abridge ourselves of our superfluities, for the supply of others’ necessities” (Doc. A). Unity was a key role in the Puritan life and without it, they would've fallen apart; Winthrop is telling everyone that they have to support each other in any situation in order to survive in the New World. Nathaniel Ward adds to the idea of unity that if people are “willing to tolerate any religion… besides [their] own,… the fiddle will be out of tune” (Doc. G). Simply put, Ward is trying to say that if people don't follow the same religion, …show more content…
Robert Keayne said, “I have not lived an idle, lazie or dronish life… but have rather studyed and endeavored to redeeme my tyme…” (Doc. I). Keayne believed in hard work and knew that nothing in life would come easy; this taught him the value of money and showed him that being lazy is not the answer to anything. He felt that money is the most important aspect in life and nothing else would compare to it. In contrast, John Higginson said that “…New England is originally a plantation of Religion, not a Plantation of Trade…” (Doc. J). Higginson is attempting to say that above all else, religion is the most vital part of New England. It isn't about earning money or trading, its about one’s relationships with God and the dedication towards one’s religion. When one doesn't have money, he will look for peace and comfort in his religion. Without religion, a person ceases to
The puritans traveled from England on the Arabella in January of 1630 to escape to a place where they could instill their own religious and political values into their society; Stephen Foster writes about the puritans in the narrative entitled Puritanism and Democracy: A mixed Legacy. Stephen grants the puritans with creating a society based off of religious freedom and reformation of the English church. Their social constructs consisted of hierarchies and accepted inequality. The puritans are credited with laying the foundation to the democratic system of America along with early aspects of political and social constructs found in current day America.
While the Protestant Revolution raged in Europe, Catholics and other radicals were fleeing to the New World to find religious freedom and to escape prosecution. Because of this, the northern colonies became more family and religiously orientated as the families of the pilgrims settled there. From the Ship’s List of Emigrants Bound for New England we see that six families on board made up sixty nine of the ships passengers (B). Not only did families tend to move to New England, but whole congregations made the journey to find a place where they could set up “a city upon a hill”, and become an example to all who follow to live by as John Winthrop put it to his Puritan followers (A). Contrastingly, the Chesapeake colonies only had profit in their mind, which pushed them to become agriculturally advanced. Since Virginia, one of the Chesapeake colonies, was first settled with the intention of becoming an economic power house, it was mainly inhabited by working-class, single men. The average age of a man leaving for the Americas was only twenty two and a half years old according to the Ship’s List of Emigrants bound for Virginia (C). The harsh conditions of the colony did not appeal to those who wished to settle with a family. Added on to that was the fact that the average lifespan in the Chesapeake colonies was a full ten years or more shorter than that in other more desirable living quarters to the north.
While residing in England, the Puritans and faithful Catholics faced prosecution, which led to their immigration to the New World. Most left England to avoid further harassment. Many groups and parishes applied for charters to America and, led by faithful ministers, the Pilgrims and Puritans made the long voyage to North America. Their religion became a unique element in the New England colonies by 1700. Before landing, the groups settled on agreements, signing laws and compacts to ensure a community effort towards survival when they came to shore, settling in New England. Their strong sense of community and faith in God led them to develop a hardworking society by year 1700, which Documents A and D express through the explanation of how the Pilgrims and Puritans plan to develop...
The Puritan Influence in New England The ideas and values held by the Puritans such as the separation of church and government, no toleration for other religions, the belief in high education, and a hard work ethic, influenced the political, social, and economical development of the New England Colonies from 1630 through the 1660s in many ways. These Puritan ideas and values affected the outcome of the New England colonies in several ways such as the creation of new colonies, the development of towns, the way children were raised, the right to vote, and the right to go to war. These Puritan ideas and values lead to the success of the New England colonies.
To the people of Boston, this treatment to the different was normal; religion was a huge part of their daily life, a reason for living, an idea that seeped into different facets of behavior: hard work, rigid morals, and education, all of which helped them to build a stable society upon which to expand and to try to please the Lord; and anyone who threatened that deserved to be punished. The people of Boston liked to believe that they had a special connection with God unlike anyone else, and prided themselves on it. God was the ultimate answer in times of struggle as well as times of prosperity; to the people of Boston, God mattered more than anything else.
The Puritans came to the New World in hopes of establishing their religion as the only accepted faith. In my opinion, they became exactly like those that they fled from in England. Their closed minded views kept them from spreading the word of God and closed themselves off from saving others. Their persecution and intolerance of other religions bound their hands and communities.
The Puritans were Protestants who did not agree with the Anglican Church. In order to live as they want, the Puritans arrive at Massachusetts in 1630. People who want to seek land leave Massachusetts and establish colonies like Connecticut. In addition, the king of England had given two friends a large piece of land in the north of Massachusetts. John Mason took what later became the colony of New Hampshire, and Ferdinando Gorges took the area that later became the state of Maine.
...ve Indians. From the copious use of examples in Winthrop's work, and the concise detail in Rowlandson's narrative, one can imbibe such Puritans values as the mercy of God, place in society, and community. Together, these three elements create a foundation for Puritan thought and lifestyle in the New World. Though A Model of Christian Charity is rather prescriptive in its discussion of these values, Rowlandson's captivity narrative can certainly be categorized as descriptive; this pious young woman serves as a living example of Winthrop's "laws," in that she lives the life of a true Puritan. Therefore, both 17th century works are extremely interrelated; in order to create Winthrop's model community, one must have faith and closely follow Puritan ideals, as Rowlandson has effectively done in her A Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson.
In colonial times various American colonists started to realize some serious problems with their home country, England. Conflicts arose whenever the King would restrict multitudes of the colonists’ liberties, and also surfaced when the colonies began to see problems with English enemies that were not their own (Dudley 57). Colonists seeing those issues had started to aspire for their own independence and began developing ideas to leaving England all together. The American colonies would flourish without their association with England and for the future generations of the colonists to prosper, breaking away from England was key.
Since most of the first American colonies were founded by Puritans, their lives revolved around God. Puritans sought to glorify God in everything they did by doing things such as living simply or
“Those who think or act independently are seen as a threat to the community and they must be eliminated.” The Puritans believe that they are on the planet to please God. They must devote their lives to God and not act put as an independent person. They must follow God's Law and must be in church. The man of each house is a part of the village where they choose how to run their families. The woman of the house must do chores and are not aloud to act as an individual. Everyone must attend church or will be punished through humiliation. The Puritans ran their village or township with their government and religious beliefs combined. Which was the complete opposite of the Rationalists.
The name “Puritans” (they were sometimes called “precisionists”) was assigned by the enemies of the movement).They escaped from Europe and sought religious freedom,therefore,the new world that “no one settled before”(Lord, Lewis, and Sarah Burke.)became the best option. Puritans moved to the new world in order to escape from religion prosecution. One thing about Puritan settlement groups,according to History.com,is that Puritan settlers usually move to America with their entire family.They brought their children and spouses with them to the new world.While other groups are filled with young and middle aged men.On the other hand,Puritans were extremely religious.In the early Colonies, Church was mandatory for everyone who lived in the colony.And since they believed that they were doing God’s work,they were extremely intolerance towards people with different belief. People with different belief were hanged in Boston in some case. In early times of the colonies, Puritans are extremely harsh and strict on their rules because they believed that earthly punishment is nothing comparable to God’s punishment. There was no compromise when it is about sins. However,Unlike what people think, Puritans did have fun. They had celebrations and festivals. Children can play games under parent’s permission. Puritans also valued education, they had schools in every community supported by taxes from each community. People were educated in order to read the scripture. Therefore, Puritans were generally well literate .Although women are educated, in the early Puritan society, women and children had no political power at all when it comes to Church decisions. It indicated that Puritans were discriminating against women and believed women should just stay out of men’s business. That is also the reason why Anne Bradstreet was not a role model for the women in the early Puritan settlements. Puritans in the early
Winthrop has reached American exceptionalism in many ways. His phrase, “We shall be as a city upon a hill” is a quote many of us use today. To be a “city upon a hill” means it’s something everyone can view. Hence, meaning Winthrop felt his religious society should be standard for all societies. While his manipulative leadership should not be the standard, his views of wealth, love, and sacrifice should be mirrored throughout society. His society functioned caringly and without turmoil. This is more that can be said about our society
16. Hutson, James H., and Thomas Jefferson. "Thomas Jefferson's letter to the Danbury baptists: A controversy rejoined." The William and Mary Quarterly (1999): 775-790.
Some Puritans of this time did not like the sound of their ever nearing future and believed it was not in god’s will for these things to happen. Therefore they grouped together in order to make a new, pure model society in the area of New England in America. The Puritans simply did not agree to what was happening to their religion in their homeland so they set off for a fresh start.