Comparing the Eras: Puritan vs Present

Comparing the Eras: Puritan vs Present

In the Bible I follow it is said that Jesus is Mother Mary’s adored son, “Flesh of my flesh and Blood of my blood,” and in fact any child is a being created by the bond between the parents, flesh of their flesh and blood of their blood. Whether a child was born during the Puritan era, or born as of yesterday, the birth of the child would remain unchanged, but what is not evident is whether there is any similarity in the upbringing of a child between the two different eras. When studying the Puritan era and the life of a Puritan child, and comparing it to the way I was raised, and the way I raise my children, I began to wonder which of the two eras would be the most favorable. During the seventeenth century the female children were expected to do house work such as washing everything manually whereas in today’s world we have the luxury of using dishwashers and washing machines to ease our daily lives, and most importantly most children are not expected to do such chores. Many children now-a-days may have loving and affectionate relationships with their parents, and many children may even think of their parents as their friend, and still have respect towards their parents whereas the children of the Puritan era were taught to respect their parents by fearing them. In “The Puritan Family: Religion and Domestic Relations in Seventeenth-Century New England,” Edmund S. Morgan writes, “According to Cobbet, filial reverence consisted of a holy respect and fear both of a parent’s person and of his words; a reverent child….” Present day, the average child is allowed to be a child—play, have fun, run around—and most importantly is given a future of opportunities while the children...

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...ised. Puritan parents placed their children in a different home to learn better manners, and some children today are placed in military schools. The difference is that it was normal for Puritan parents to place their child in another person’s home while some parents now-a-days use military schools as a way to punish their child. The courts in the Puritan days would punish the children which may be similar to today’s courts punishing the juveniles who commit a crime, but the difference is that in the Puritan days the courts would interfere when a child was disobedient towards a parent whereas the courts now become involved mostly when a child actually commits a crime outside of the home, and it is a parent’s job to discipline the child at home. I am content with only experiencing the Puritan days through books because I do not agree with the Puritans way of life.