The Puritans

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    • The Puritans emphasized that they did not wish to destroy the Church of England, nor did they want to separate from it. Their sole aim was to restore it to its original purity. A radical minority within the Puritan movement, the Separatists , wanted to remove itself from the tainted English church and worship in its own independent congregations.

    The death of Elizabeth I in brought profound changes to England.

    Colonial North America

    The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to "purify" the Church of England from its "Catholic" practices, maintaining that. Puritans were members of a religious reform movement known as Puritanism that arose within the Church of England in the late sixteenth.

    These trends were deeply disturbing to the Puritans, many of whom began to entertain thoughts of escaping their increasingly repressive environment. In spite of the fact they had left England, the Puritans who sailed to Massachusetts Bay in maintained they were not separatists, but wanted to purify the Church of England by establishing "a city upon a hill" as an example of how godly people should live. Puritan political influence had largely disappeared in Massachusetts by the end of the 17th century, but attitudes associated with it remained.

    The Puritans, heirs to the Calvinist tradition, had emphasized that suffering was necessary to redeem oneself from original sin and that hard work not only produces wealth, but strong moral character the "Puritan Ethic".

    History of Puritanism

    Those who did not devote themselves to hard work were in mortal danger of falling into evil ways. This stern devotion to seriousness and "getting ahead" became hallmarks of the Yankee character. Although Puritanism as a theological movement had died out by the twentieth century, the term "puritanism" remained as a metaphor. Mencken wrote on the subject of Puritanism as a Literary Force in Descendants of Puritans, the founders of the Connecticut Western Reserve believed in a classless society.

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    They envisioned a culture in which the word A Delusion of Satan: This acclaimed history illuminates the horrifying episode of Salem with visceral clarity, from those who fanned the crisis to satisfy personal vendett Award-wining historian Edmund Morgan relates the hardships and triumphs of the Puritan movement through this vivid account of its most influential lea The Puritan ideal of realizing the Holy Commonwealth by the establishment of a covenanted community was carried to the American colony of Virginia by Thomas Dale, but the greatest opportunity came in New England.

    The New England Puritans fashioned the civil commonwealth according to the framework of the church. Only the elect could vote and rule. When this raised problems for second-generation residents, they adopted the Half-Way Covenant , which permitted baptized , moral, and orthodox persons to share the privileges of church membership.

    Who Were The Puritans?

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    Jamestown Founded in 1607

    Learn More in these related Britannica articles: The Puritans of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, like the Pilgrims, sailed to America principally to free themselves from religious restraints. In the 18th century Puritan leaders continued the struggle against slavery as an institution. Croix in the Virgin Islands, used his influence on the king of Denmark for the human…. Rejecting democracy and toleration as unscriptural, the Puritans put their trust in a theocracy of the elect that brooked no divergence from Puritan orthodoxy.

    So close was the relation between state and church that an offense against the one was…. The Puritan contribution was thus considerable, though often hindered by the traditional forces of the Anglican church and the old nobility.

    Puritan New England: Massachusetts Bay (article) | Khan Academy

    More About Puritanism 44 references found in Britannica articles Assorted References major treatment: The rise of Puritanism In Protestantism: Prehistory early Middle Ages to In children's literature: Changes in attitude toward dance English literature In English literature: Early life View More. Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students.

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    The New England Colonists The Pilgrims and Puritans

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    Plotted in secret, launched in the dark, John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry was a pivotal moment in U. In England, the Standards were contested by Independents up to Puritans were members of a religious reform movement known as Puritanism that arose within the Church of England in the late sixteenth century. They rejected confirmation as unnecessary. The hanging of Dyer on Boston Common marked the beginning of the end of the Puritan theocracy. But if we regard Puritanism as a way of seeing the world, as an excruciating but exquisite program of self-scrutiny by which the stirrings of grace might be acknowledged and the divinely sanctioned energies of the soul put to use—in both benevolent and violently destructive ways—then we must account it the dominant spiritual regimen of early America. Puritans were opposed to Sunday sport or recreation because these distracted from religious observance of the Sabbath.