Puritans Influence Essay

Throughout the 16th century, the Protestant Reformation largely occurred across Europe. A portion of those who believed Catholicism was corrupt went on to create the Church of England (Anglican Church). This halted the majority of British exploration and settlement until later in that century. Many people then began defying the Anglican Church for Puritans believed it needed to be purified of the excess of Catholic traditions it held, while Separatists wanted to separate from the Church of England because they thought it was beyond hope. This caused the majority of the European continent to delay its exploration and settlement with the exception of Spain. This lead to many colonies, included the infamous, yet unsuccessful Roanoke Island Colony

For example, the Puritans’ believed that education should be stressed and that all children would be required to attend schooling. This caused the creation of the Massachusetts Education Law of 1642, which required all children to read and write, despite their social status or religious state. This shows how the Puritans’ influence significantly caused the social development of the New England because the Puritans’ priority of teach children to read and write caused legislative action to occur in order to ensure the education beliefs and requirements were fulfilled. Secondly, Puritans prioritized education by placing schools in the middle of their towns. In order to show how Puritans’ towns were set up and focused on the education, the map shows schools in the center (Doc B). This caused education to be seen as a necessity and importance in their society. Robert Keayne, a member of the Puritan church, described his life as fulfilled due to the time he spent studying and focusing on the education that was bettering him (Doc I). This shows that Puritans’ influence significantly caused the social development of the New England colonies because the schooling was prioritized and centered in the town. Additionally, the Puritans’ society and belief in education as a moral importance caused the formation of Harvard University, which

The Puritans’ influence minimally caused the economic development in the New England colonies because it only created large hubs that contributed to the commercial aspect of the mixed economy. However, the Puritans’ influence significantly caused the political development in the New England colonies because Puritan beliefs caused the government to be heavily reliant upon religion in decision-making and in return support the religious groups. The Puritans’ influence also significantly caused social development in the New England colonies in that education was always first priority, which caused new creations and requirements regarding schooling. The Puritans were similar to those of the utopian society New Harmony. Both the Puritans and the Harmonists split from a church because they felt it was not competent; Puritans left the Anglican Church and Harmonists left the Lutheran Church. The Puritans and Harmonists were both protestant religious group. Similar to the Puritans, Harmonists advocated for celibacy, but rather eternal celibacy (instead of a refrain from celibacy after marriage). Also, the Puritans and Harmonists both believed in millennialism - the belief that after the second coming of Christ, there would be 1,000 years under His rule until the final judgement