Puritan Religious Movement Thesis Statement

Purpose of Paper: How the Puritan religious movement had a profound impact on America’s founding

Audience: Students

Thesis Statement: This research paper is about how the Puritan religious movement helped to have an impact on the discovery of America

A) Introduction

1) Puritanism originated from a movement for reform in the Church of England. It focused on the impact upon American values, the present paper first discusses the origin and the tenets of Puritanism.

2) The forming of American individualism and democratic thoughts were influenced by Puritanism in New England.

3) It shaped American people’s national character of hard-working and thrift, and made them bear a strong sense of mission. Moreover, Puritanism rendered Americans

Puritanism remained the dominant religious force in that area throughout the 17th and 18th centuries. During the whole colonial period Puritanism had direct impact on both religious thought and cultural patterns in America.

3) a) By 1640 some 35 churches had been established in New England. The Puritans there maintained the Calvinist distinction between the elect and the damned in their theory of the church, in which membership consisted only of the regenerate minority who publicly confessed their experience of conversion. Ministers had great political influence, and civil authorities exercised a large measure of control over church affairs.

b) In 1662 it was made easier for the unregenerate majority to become church members in Massachusetts by the adoption of the Half-Way Covenant. Clerical power was lessened by the expansion of New England and the opening of frontier settlements filled with colonists who were resourceful, secular, and engaged in a struggle to adapt to a difficult environment. In 1692 in Massachusetts a new charter expressed the change from a theocratic to a political, secular state; suffrage was stripped of religious

The early Puritanism played a key role in the establishment of American democratic regime. 3)

a) Mayflower Compact of 1620 led to the birth of early American democracy. The compact was signed on 11 November 1620 on board the Mayflower. It attempted to establish a temporary government until a more official one could be drawn up in England that would give them the right to self-govern themselves in New England.

b) Furthermore, the autonomic principle that the puritan churches followed contributed a lot to the establishment of American democracy. As we mentioned above, American Puritans could form churches with their owner will, in which they chose priest by themselves and they managed by themselves. There was no rigid hierarchy in church. Such church pattern helped form later American democracy.

c) American Puritans linked material wealth with God’s favor. They believed that hard work was the way to please God. Created more wealth through one’s work and thrift could guarantee the God’s elect. The doctrine of predestination kept all Puritans constantly working to do good in this life in order to be chosen for the next eternal life. God had already chosen who would be in heaven or hell, but Christians had no way of knowing which group they were