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The impact of religion on american society between 1800-1877
The Influence of Religion on Colonial America
The Influence of Religion on Colonial America
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In Chapter 11 of William Bradford’s Of Plymouth Plantation, he recounts “The Starving Time”, a two to three month period where half the pilgrims died from being “in the depth of winter” and becoming infected with “the scurvy and other diseases after this long voyage”( ). Bradford notes that though many of the passengers had been companions while they were healthy began to “ to desert one another”, saying they “ would not hazard their lives” and “would do little or nothing for them”( ). Given that in the passage, the people who had grown to become friends then instinctively abandoned their companions while they were dying shows the Puritan’s theological pessimism, their belief that human nature inherently leans towards bad, even malicious …show more content…
Bradford emphasizes the “wind so fierce and the seas so high” and how the Puritans, after sailing themselves and managing the journey, “fell upon their knees and blessed the God of Heaven” for “bringing them over the…furious ocean” and for “delivering them from…peril and miseries” ( ). The fact that the Puritans thank God for rescuing and delivering them danger rather than taking credit for saving their own lives highlights the Puritan belief of divine intervention, the belief that God controls everyone’s actions and who lives or …show more content…
But Rowland can’t “help but notice the wonderful mercy of God” and “what comfort” she gains from her bible which the “Lord helped her to go on reading” wherein the Lord “would gather [the Puritans] together and…curse [their enemies]” ( ). This passage emphasizes how much Mary, and presumably other Puritans, believed God was controlled their actions and showcases their belief in biblical literalism, which means that the Bible is the true written word of God, reassuring and inspiring
Anne Hutchinson's efforts, according to some viewpoints, may have been a failure, but they revealed in unmistakable manner the emotional starvation of Puritan womanhood. Women, saddened by their hardships, depressed by their religion, denied an open love for beauty...flocked with eagerness to hear this feminine radical...a very little listening seems to have convinced them that this woman understood the female heart far better than did John Cotton of any other male pastor of the settlements. (C. Holliday, pps. 45-46.)
The seventeenth century was marked with a wide revolution for exploration, to a new world filled with land and opportunity. In William Bradford’s Of Plymouth Plantation, we are given a window into the exclusive lives of the pilgrims and their experiences along their journey to and through Massachusetts. We are able to read the account that “epitomizes the spirit of determination and self-sacrifice that seems to us characteristic of our first ‘Pilgrims.’” Bradford’s narrative plainly, yet elegantly describes the success, failures, triumph and unity in the early beginnings of the new founded puritan community.
Hardship is what unites us as a group of people who are working together for a common goal and sticks together and helps each other with hard work through rough times. Hardship unites us in difficult times and stressful situations. In the historical log, “Of Plymouth Plantation” written by William Bradford, he explains the hardship that explores dealt with there first few years of their settlement. It goes in depth as the struggle between diseases, nature, loss of food, and the bitter cold. More than half of the pilgrims died and only a few people could help the sick. It was not until the natives decided to set a peace treaty and help the
In the late 1600’s, literature is dissimilar from today’s, such as focusing on being sent into the fiery pits of hell only because one hasn’t converted to Puritanism. There are also different types of writing to display the righteousness and positives of being a converted and loyal to the Puritan culture. Anne Bradstreet and Jonathan Edwards are two popular Puritan authors who project different messages and portray a varying energy through a slim number of their pieces. The poems, “To My Dear and Loving Husband” or “Upon the Burning of Our House” by Anne Bradstreet or “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” by Jonathan Edwards are fit examples of the Puritan age and what Puritans belive to be religiously
...like the Puritans. Her plentiful use of scripture not only reinforces the Puritan belief in the mind of the reader, but also in Rowlandson’s own mind. If she can connect each feeling she had that was not correct in traditional Puritan thinking to a verse in the bible, she can be at peace with what she felt. She could believe that she wasn’t wrong in her feelings of gratitude and perhaps even respect for the Indian culture.
He instructs them “to doe Justly, to love mercy, to walke humbly with [their] God” to avoid the typical misfortunes that occur with new settlements, such as the disaster of Jamestown (paragraph 1). These instructions depict the Puritan lifestyle as open performances of kindness and encouragement of others to perform these same acts. Here, Winthrop emphasizes the values of community and brotherhood. In Winthrop’s eyes, everyone is a living example of God and His goodness, and everyone must show God’s compassion through every action, lest they “shame the faces of many of gods worthy servants, and… their prayers be turned into Cursses upon us” (paragraph 2). In this speech, the internal goals of America can be found, such as kindness, meekness, and brotherly affection. Winthrop instructs the new colonists to “entertaine each other in brotherly Affeccion,” which is similar to the American concept of a nation formed from brotherhood (paragraph 1). Americans at least had the intent of living by the true morals of Christianity, like altruism and almsgiving, but somewhere along in its development, these morals became easier said than
Religion was the foundation of the early Colonial American Puritan writings. Many of the early settlements were comprised of men and women who fled Europe in the face of persecution to come to a new land and worship according to their own will. Their beliefs were stalwartly rooted in the fact that God should be involved with all facets of their lives and constantly worshiped. These Puritans writings focused on their religious foundations related to their exodus from Europe and religions role in their life on the new continent. Their literature helped to proselytize the message of God and focused on hard work and strict adherence to religious principles, thus avoiding eternal damnation. These main themes are evident in the writings of Jonathan Edwards, Cotton Mathers, and John Winthrop. This paper will explore the writings of these three men and how their religious views shaped their literary works, styles, and their historical and political views.
The church and Christian beliefs had a very large impact on the Puritan religion and lifestyle. According to discovery education, “Church was the cornerstone of the mainly Puritan society of the 17th century.”( Douglas 4). Puritan laws were intensively rigid and people in society were expected to follow a moral strict code. And because of Puritans and their strict moral codes, any act that was considered to go against this code was considered a sin and deserved to be punished. In Puritan theology, God h...
In the Puritan communities, religion was not just a belief, but a way of life. Puritans were god fearing. They spent a great deal of time reading the bible and going to church. Puritans believed they were the “chosen ones” and that God was responsible for all favorable activity. Mary Rowlandson demonstrates that she was a great Puritan, and that God had specifically chosen her. She praises God for any good fortune received or deed accepted by her from the Indians. During her fourteenth remove, it began to rain, and the Indians co...
The Puritans in London think of themselves as righteous and worthy before God because of their “pure” ways of living. They view other humans that are not in their order vile, unclean, and incapable of God’s true love, even though one message of Christianity states that everyone is God’s children. One instance of this disdain and superiority is when a Puritan makes the statement to the Dog-Woman, “‘Cleanliness is next to Godliness,’” obviously noting her lack of wealth and access to hygienic products; to this she replies, “‘God looks on the heart, not a poor woman’s dress’… but there was no stopping his little sermon, which he gave with his eyes rolled back as piously as a rabbit’s” (Winterson 15). The Dog-Woman reveals to the audience that she is a sinner in her mind, but she still believes that everyone has a chance of being saved by God if they truly wish it. This particular event emphasizing cleanliness and purity, as well as a statement from the Dog-Woman that Preacher Scroggs “makes love to [his wife] through a hole in the sheet… ‘for fear of lust’” (Winterson 22), strongly contradicts the actions that take place in the brothel. For the importance of faithfulness and abstinence from lust, Preacher Scroggs and Neighbor Firebrace commit acts of homosexuality with each other. For the emphasis on cleanliness, they are creative with each other’s bodily fluids in their sexual acts. For the prominence of being faithful to God and having familial love with their fellow men, they burn down the Dog-Woman’s house in the name of Jesus and Oliver Cromwell. In an act of justice for herself and for the death of the king, the Dog-Women sets forth her own means of execution for Preacher Scroggs and Neighbor Firebrace, interrupting their affair and applying her own method of normalizing
...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.
Mary Rowlandson was a Puritan. Puritans are very strict and believe in almost the same values that major monotheistic religions believe in; such as, the devil, they give God credit for everything, and look to God for answers and help. This pretty much speaks for every single voice Rowlandson brings forward in her memoir. Constantly and with much admiration she quotes the Bible and this shows the intensity of the situation she was dealing with and her steady trust in God. “The next day was the Sabbath, I then….His presence forever” (remove #2), as one might assume, Rowlandson very faithfully makes herself the culprit despite losing most of her family. The innocence and the thoughtfulness that comes out of this particular statement says every single thing about her, the fact that she is serious about her being, and the depth of her religious self. Religion immensely affected the experience she and her family had because as she continuously justifies the situation she is in, the Bible shapes her story. “I know O Lord that….hast afflicted me” (remove #11) and “Shall there be evil in a City and the Lord hath not done it?” (Remove #15). From what I understand Rowlandson is sure that she is where s...
In Of Plymouth Plantation, a work quoted in Mayflower, William Bradford attributes the death of a “proud and very profane” sailor aboard the Mayflower to “the just hand of God” (pp. 30–31). What does this almost jubilant response to another person’s suffering suggest about the nature of Bradford’s religious beliefs? How did this attitude continue to reveal itself in the other experiences of the Pilgrims and the Puritans?
The paradox of Shepard’s passage is one that the early Puritans not only firmly believed but also lived day in and day out. As a central tenet of their existence, this paradox led Puritans to experience a constant internal struggle between two aspects of the Puritan self: the sinful, wicked side and the redeemed, saved side. Significantly, the struggle became a common motif in many Puritan works, including Anne Bradstreet’s “The Flesh and the Spirit.” In this poem, Bradstreet describes not only the dual self that was the result of Puritan theology but also the psychological significance of the Puritan paradox. “The Flesh and the Spirit” demonstrates that the road to attainment of grace, and thus to salvation, lies not in resolving the conflict between the two aspe...
The Sovereignty and Goodness of God is a primary source document written in the 17th century, by a well-respected, Puritan woman. This book, written in cahoots with Cotton and Increase Mather, puritan ministers, tells the story of her capture by Indians during King Phillip’s War (1675-1676). For three months, Mary Rowlandson, daughter of a rich landowner, mother of three children, wife of a minister, and a pillar of her community lived among “savage” Indians. This document is important for several reasons. First, it gives us insight into the attitudes, extremes, personalities and “norms” of the Puritan people we learn about in terms of their beliefs, and John Calvin’s “house on a hill”. Beyond that, despite the inevitable exaggerations, this book gives us insight into Indian communities, and how they were run and operated during this time.