The Colonial Period writing in American Literature really showed the values of the time. Whether it was being a Puritan or a Rationalist, many stood forward to share their strong actions, thoughts, and goals. America was just beginning and a great divide stood between Rationalism and Puritanism. Puritans followed God and surrounded their day with work, prayer, and overall restriction of any activity that is for entertainment purposes. The Rationalists questioned human behavior and constantly searched for answers, they listened to their curiosities, but also tried to be their best self. Both sides have their advantages and disadvantages, or goods and bads, but together they stood in strength. People stood strong on their side of the Puritan/Rationalist scale. Anne Bradstreet reflected her Puritan beliefs in “Burning of our House,” which accounted on her house burning to the ground and the emotions it gave her. As she watched everything burn, she stated, “Yet by His gift is made thine own; There‘s wealth enough, I need no more, Farewell, my pelf, farewell, my store. The world no longer let me love, …show more content…
Another time that Puritanism is shown is in Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God by Jonathan Edwards. Edwards explains what happens in Gods hands, he give a strong image to God’s power over everyone. The slightest error or bad action can send you falling into the fire filled pit/hell. Edwards describes, “The God that holds you over the pit of hell, much as one holds a spider, or some loathsome insect, over the fire, abhors you, and is dreadfully provoked” This strong fear of God, and fear instilled actions and beliefs, was very prevalent among
Miller Edwards,Hawthorne and korning each show how religion was a sin in puritan cultures and affected many people’s lives that punishment will come when you have disgraced your religion that good is against the devil there is a strict form of puritan. Puritans were dedicated to work to save themselves from the sins in the world. Guilt was a great force in the puritans belief. The people in the story are Puritans a religion often depicted because of its rules and severe punishments to those who sin. The puritans left england to avoid religious persecution they established a society in America founded upon religion intolerance, Up surprising result the church dominates the Puritan culture.
In America, the period of Romanticism brought up many depictions of society that held their place in America many decades ago. This society was made up of Puritans who held a strong belief system and was even their form of governing. Romantic authors like Washington Irving, who wrote “The Devil and Tom Walker”, and Nathaniel Hawthorne, who wrote The Scarlet Letter included Puritans in their stories to convey a message. In both works, the authors focus on Puritans in their stories to convey an image of who Puritans were and what they did, though not in a positive light through the use of the devil and the setting of a forest. This is because of how Romanticism generally satirized Puritans and tried to portray them as completely contradictory
They believed they had the right to worship and govern themselves in whatever manner they pleased. Puritan freedom did not include religious tolerance or individualism. John Winthrop 's speech highlighted the concept of what Puritan freedom was. He believed in a civil society where through God 's path stability would be found. Socially, it can be summarized to two ideas, natural liberty vs. moral liberty. Natural liberty was said to be corrupt because it meant doing what you pleased, whereas moral liberty meant only doing what was right. One actions were reflected based upon their position in society. The higher up one was ranked social the more "moral" their actions were and vice versa for actions defined as
The Virginians were better off than the Puritans were, because they had tobacco for a cash crop, they had a longer growing season, and they could trade and sell to England easier than the Puritans could. The Virginians were also more loosely structured than the Puritans, and were allowed to be individual people instead of one large mass. Smith and Bradford’s ways of leading their colonies were similar, yet so very different. Smith’s main concern was to make money and be famous. Bradford’s concept was to start a new life, and preach his own, new religion.
Although Anne Bradstreet appeared to be the ideal Puritanical housewife, she faced many hardships throughout her lifetime. She faced death often, either due to disease or childbirth. These hardships led Bradstreet
Throughout the history of mankind, numerous events such as the Crusades, have occurred in the name of religion and religious freedom. Sadly, motivation for the early settlers coming to America wasn’t strictly about finding religious freedom. It was actually deeply rooted in the desire for economic growth and new trade opportunities. The New world presented itself as an opportunity for many to gain higher social economic status and growth in their business ventures. A number of known historical facts, including: hunger for new trade, poverty of many English inhabitants, and the rivalry between Spain and England, contributed and fostered the foundation and settling of the American Colonies.
The puritans were very religious. They wanted to show everyone what happens if you are good and believe in god and the heavens. If you do bad things you would be punished or be killed. If you do good things you can be hand chosen to go to heaven.
Anne Bradstreet, whom most critics consider America’s first “authentic poet”, was born and raised as a Puritan. Bradstreet married her husband Simon at the tender age of eighteen. She wrote her poems while rearing eight children and performing other domestic duties. In her poem “Upon The Burning Of Our House, July 10th, 1666”, Bradstreet tells of three valuable lessons she learned from the fire that destroyed her home.
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.
Anne Bradstreet starts off her letter with a short poem that presents insight as to what to expect in “To My Dear Children” when she says “here you may find/ what was in your living mother’s mind” (Bradstreet 161). This is the first sign she gives that her letter contains not just a mere retelling of adolescent events, but an introspection of her own life. She writes this at a very turbulent point in history for a devout Puritan. She lived during the migration of Puritans to America to escape the persecution of the Catholic Church and also through the fragmentation of the Puritans into different sects when people began to question the Puritan faith.
Puritanical elements have established itself in the United States from the start of its creation. Puritanical elements which are shown in The Scarlet Letter and The Crucible are shown in contemporary America. Such Puritanical elements consist of: men such like politicians becoming hypocrites; how when one has sex, they have committed a sin; and the secular power of the Christian Church in American politics. In modern America, religion has become a major party of modern society. It influences American politics, policies, and the way we perceive people.
To understand how the Puritans viewed religion, one needs to look at how they understood their Christian God. The Puritans knew God though the bible and what their ministers preached. They did not believe that God would speak directly to mortals. The Puritan Minister Robert Cushman once stated, “Whereas God of the old [Testament] did call and summon our fathers by predictions, dreams, visions, and certain illuminations…. Now there is no such calling to be expected for any matter whatsoever.” In the Puritan’s time, if God was to speak directly with a mortal, it was thought to be the devil in disguise. One Puritan woman, Anne Hutchinson, was believed to have predictions from God. This infuriated the Puritans because they did not believe in the idea of God giving her visions and thoughts. They believed that Satan was the one giving her these visions and thoughts. Consequently, the Puritans then banished her into the wilderness outside of Massachusetts Bay. This shows that the Puritans treated anyone who did not totally agree with them as an outcast to their society.
to those who follow it. In The Puritan Dilemma, by Edmund S. Morgan, the author writes about
The Puritans didn't have all the luxuries we have today. They were told many things by preachers such as Jonathon Edwards, who lit a candle of fear in their minds. If I was alive to hear Edwards preach, I'd certainly have to question myself. He preached that God holds us in his hands and he can make or break us. If God decides it so, he will let us go and we will fall from his hands to nothing but Hell. Certainly no one wants to go to Hell. So, the Puritans tried to better their lives, and go by rules or "resolutions." They believed if they followed these resolutions, even though their fate was predetermined by God, they could live a life of good and maybe prove they are meant to go to Heaven.
God is presented as being all-powerful and all-knowing. He’s aware of all the shortcomings and misdeeds of humanity for every individual person. The existence of God and the afterlife are two questions that merely rely on the matter of faith and belief. Jonathan Edwards and Anne Bradstreet both have relatively similar religious beliefs; however, their individual view point on God could not be further aside from one another. Jonathan Edwards preaches a literal fear of an arbitrary, unpredictable and vengeful God (Baird). Anne Bradstreet, on the other hand, believed with human error in a loving, trustworthy God.(Baird) It is almost unimaginable that these two authors’ views are traced back to puritanism due to their vast differences.