How did the Puritans organize their settlements? Puritans typically lived in compact villages clustered around a community meeting house where they met to worship and discuss local issues. These town meetings provided important experience in self-government.
Why did Puritans migrate to the New England colonies?
Under siege from Church and crown, certain groups of Puritans migrated to Northern English colonies in the New World in the 1620s and 1630s, laying the foundation for the religious, intellectual, and social order of New England.
Who were the Puritans?
Puritans were members of a religious reform movement known as Puritanism that arose within the Church of England in the late sixteenth century.
How did the Puritans change the Catholic Church?
Although the epithet first emerged in the 1560s, the movement began in the 1530s, when King Henry VIII repudiated papal authority and transformed the Church of Rome into a state Church of England. To Puritans, the Church of England retained too much of the liturgy and ritual of Roman Catholicism.
Why did the Puritans settle in Salem?
On the basis of this patent, Roger Conant led a group of fishermen from the area later called Gloucester to found Salem in 1626, being replaced as governor by John Endecott in 1628 or 1629. Other Puritans were convinced that New England could provide a religious refuge, and the enterprise was reorganized as the Massachusetts Bay Company.
Who are the Puritans what settlement did they create and why?
The second wave of English Puritans established the Massachusetts Bay Colony, the New Haven Colony, and Rhode Island. These Puritans, unlike the Separatists, hoped to serve as a "city upon a hill" that would bring about the reform of Protestantism throughout the English Empire.
Where did the Puritans establish their settlement?
Puritans facing religious persecution in England set out for the New World, where they established a colony at Plymouth.
What did the Puritans call their settlement?
the Plymouth ColonyIn 1620, a group of Separatists known as the Pilgrims settled in New England and established the Plymouth Colony.
How were Puritans divided?
On these questions, Puritans divided between supporters of episcopal polity, presbyterian polity and congregational polity. The episcopalians (known as the prelatical party) were conservatives who supported retaining bishops if those leaders supported reform and agreed to share power with local churches.
What year did the Puritans arrive at their settlement?
The Great Puritan Migration in the 1620s: In September of 1620, the separatists traveled to the New World on a rented cargo ship called the Mayflower and landed off the coast of Massachusetts in November, where they established Plymouth Colony, the first colony in New England.
How did the Puritans run their government?
The Puritans established a theocratic government with the franchise limited to church members.
What was the Puritans social structure?
The most important was the religious hierarchy, with the minister at the top and the church elders below him, followed by the church members; at the bottom were the non-church members. By law everyone had to pay taxes to support the minister, attend church regularly, and conform to Puritan practices and precepts.
Why did the Puritans challenge the religious settlement?
The Religious Settlement did not enforce the Puritan view of church layout, decorations or the dress of preachers. The main areas that puritans disagreed with were the allowance of crucifixes and vestments. The crucifix shows Jesus dying on the cross. For many it is an important religious symbol.
How were the Puritans different from the first European settlers in America?
Puritan Society Unlike many of the early colonists to America, the Puritans migrated over as groups of families instead of mainly just young men. These families were not only wealthier than other colonial settlers, they were also more intelligent and educated.
What were the Puritans not allowed to do?
They banned fancy clothing, living with Indians and smoking in public. Missing Sunday services would land you in the stocks. Celebrating Christmas would cost you five shillings.
What were the three groups within the Puritan faith?
Following hard upon the arrival in New England, dissident groups within the Puritan sect began to proliferate–Quakers, Antinomians, Baptists–fierce believers who carried the essential Puritan idea of the aloneness of each believer with an inscrutable God so far that even the ministry became an obstruction to faith.
What was the Puritan lifestyle like?
The Puritans were an industrious people, and virtually everything within the house was made by hand - including clothes. The men and boys took charge of farming, fixing things around the house, and caring for livestock. The women made soap, cooked, gardened, and took care of the house.
Why did the Puritans settle in North America?
They came to explore, to make money, to spread and practice their religion freely, and to live on land of their own. The Pilgrims and Puritans came to America to practice religious freedom. In the 1500s England broke away from the Roman Catholic Church and created a new church called the Church of England.
Why did the Puritans set up colonies in America?
Puritan Early Years Both groups had problems with the Church of England; however, the Pilgrims wanted to separate from the Church, and the Puritans wanted to purify the Church. The Pilgrims came to America in 1620 and settled Plymouth Colony.
Where were the Puritans in the 13 colonies?
The Puritans played a major role in colonizing much of the United States including the New England colonies of Massachusetts Bay, Rhode Island, and Connecticut.
Why did Puritans move to New England?
Because the king of England was head of both church and state, the Puritans' opposition to religious authority meant they also defied the civil authority of the state. In 1630, the Puritans set sail for America.
Where did the Puritans come from?
In the early 17th century, thousands of English Puritans colonized North America, mainly in New England. Puritans were generally members of the Church of England who believed that the Church of England was insufficiently reformed, retaining too much of its Roman Catholic doctrinal roots, and who therefore opposed royal ecclesiastical policy ...
Why were Puritans important to the United States?
The Puritans in the United States were great believers in education. They wanted their children to be able to read the Bible themselves, and interpret it themselves, rather than have to have a clergyman tell them what it says and means. This then leads to thinking for themselves, which is the basis of democracy.
What was the Puritan movement?
Puritanism was a Protestant movement that emerged in 16th-century England with the goal of transforming it into a godly society by reforming or purifying the Church of England of all remaining Roman Catholic teachings and practices. During the reign of Elizabeth I, Puritans were for the most part tolerated within the established church. Like Puritans, most English Protestants at the time were Calvinist in their theology, and many bishops and Privy Council members were sympathetic to Puritan objectives. The major point of controversy between Puritans and church authorities was over liturgical ceremonies Puritans thought too Catholic, such as wearing clerical vestments, kneeling to receive Holy Communion, and making the sign of the cross during baptism.
How many Puritans migrated to New England?
Emigration was officially restricted to conforming churchmen in December 1634 by his Privy Council. From 1629 through 1643, approximately 21,000 Puritans immigrated to New England. The Great Migration of Puritans to New England was primarily an exodus of families.
Why did the Puritans leave the Church of England?
During the reign of James I, some Puritans were no longer willing to wait for further church reforms and separated from the Church of England. Since the law required everyone to attend parish services, these Separatists were vulnerable to criminal prosecution and some such as Henry Barrow and John Greenwood were executed. To escape persecution and worship freely, some Separatists migrated to the Netherlands. Nevertheless, most Puritans remained within the Church of England.
How long did the Puritans rule the New World?
Puritan dominance in the New World lasted for at least a century. That century can be broken down into three parts: the generation of John Cotton and Richard Mather, 1630–62 from the founding to the Restoration, years of virtual independence and nearly autonomous development; the generation of Increase Mather, 1662–89 from the Restoration and the Halfway Covenant to the Glorious Revolution, years of struggle with the British crown; and the generation of Cotton Mather, 1689–1728 from the overthrow of Edmund Andros (in which Cotton Mather played a part) and the new charter, mediated by Increase Mather, to the death of Cotton Mather.
What colony did the Pilgrims establish?
The Pilgrims were a Separatist group, and they established the Plymouth Colony in 1620. Non-separating Puritans played leading roles in establishing the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1629, the Saybrook Colony in 1635, the Connecticut Colony in 1636, and the New Haven Colony in 1638.
What did Puritan communities do?
Puritan communities strove for a close relationship between civil and religious authorities. Puritan ministers and magistrates enforced a strict code of moral conduct.
What did the Puritans want?
The Puritans were Protestants who wanted to reform or "purify" the Church of England. They renounced elaborate rituals and argued that a hierarchy of religious leaders was unnecessary.
Why did the Puritans ban Hutchinson?
The Puritans banished Hutchinson because of her unorthodox religious views. She challenged the subordinate role of women in Puritan society and boldly challenged the clergy's sole ability to interpret the Bible, insisting that "The power of the Holy Spirit dwelleth perfectly in every believer."
What did the Puritans see as the most treacherous people?
As the Puritans grew in number and strength they expanded their settlements and began to see the native peoples as a "savage people, who are cruel, barbarous, and most treacherous." Given this new hostile attitude, conflict soon erupted in 1636 when the New Englanders destroyed a Pequot village slaughtering almost 400 people.
Why did the Puritans want to teach?
Puritans valued education as a means to read and understand the Bible. They required each community of 50 or more families to provide a teacher of reading and writing. They founded Harvard College to ensure an adequate supply of trained ministers.
Why did the Puritans leave England?
The Puritans left England to escape political repression, religious restrictions, and an economic recession.
Where did Puritans live?
Puritans typically lived in compact villages clustered around a community meeting house where they met to worship and discuss local issues. These town meetings provided important experience in self-government.
What did the Puritans do to the American people?
Their beliefs had a most significant influence on the subsequent development of America. A large portion of later pioneers and westward settlers were descendants of these early Puritans. Their values and princip les, though sometimes secularized and removed from their religious foundations, continued to mold American thought and practices in the next centuries .
What was the Puritan influence in the 1630s?
They were followed by thousands of Puritans in the 1630s, and these Puritans left their mark on their new land, becoming the most dynamic Christian force in the American colonies. Back in England, the Puritans had been people of means and political influence, but King Charles would not tolerate their attempts to reform the Church of England.
How long were the Puritans sermons?
Sermons were central to the intellectual life of the Puritans, and they rarely were less than an hour in length. Times of prayer could also be as long. Hymns were not allowed in the earliest Puritan worship; only psalms or paraphrases of other Scriptures were sung.
What was the Puritan family?
The family was the most basic institution in Puritan society and was organized like a miniature church. Established by God before all other institutions and before man's fall, the family was considered the foundation of all civil, social, and ecclesiastical life.
What was Puritan education?
Puritan Education. The instruction and training of children were considered heavy responsibilities, and parents prayed that children would become a source of glory to their Lord. Within five years after its founding, Massachusetts established schools for children.
What was the loophole in the Massachusetts Bay Company?
A Fortuitous Loophole. When King Charles granted a colonial charter to the Massachusetts Bay Company, the document failed to specify that the governor and officers of the company had to remain in England.
What could New England become?
"New England" could become a light Old England could follow out of the darkness of corruption. "Puritans" had been a name of ridicule first used during the reign of Queen Elizabeth. These were Christians who wanted the Church ...
The Church of England
- Through the reigns of the Protestant King Edward VI (1547-1553), who introduced the first vernacular prayer book, and the Catholic Mary I (1553-1558), who sent some dissenting clergymen to their deaths and others into exile, the Puritan movement–whether tolerated or sup…
Puritans in New England
- In the early decades of the 17th century, some groups of worshipers began to separate themselves from the main body of their local parish church where preaching was inadequate and to engage an energetic “lecturer,” typically a young man with a fresh Cambridge degree, who was a lively speaker and steeped in reform theology. Some congregations went further, declared the…
Differences Between Pilgrims and Puritans
- The main difference between the Pilgrims and the Puritans is that the Puritans did not consider themselves separatists. They called themselves “nonseparating congregationalists,” by which they meant that they had not repudiated the Church of England as a false church. But in practice they acted–from the point of view of Episcopalians and even Presbyterians at home–exactly as the s…
Who Were The Puritans?
- The Puritan migration was overwhelmingly a migration of families (unlike other migrations to early America, which were composed largely of young unattached men). The literacy rate was high, and the intensity of devotional life, as recorded in the many surviving diaries, sermon notes, poems and letters, was seldom to be matched in American life. The Puritans’ ecclesiastical order was a…
Puritanism in American Life
- Puritanism gave Americans a sense of history as a progressive drama under the direction of God, in which they played a role akin to, if not prophetically aligned with, that of the Old Testament Jews as a new chosen people. Perhaps most important, as Max Weber profoundly understood, was the strength of Puritanism as a way of coping with the contradictory requirements of Christia…
Overview
In the early 17th century, thousands of English Puritans colonized North America, mainly in New England. Puritans were generally members of the Church of England who believed that the Church of England was insufficiently reformed, retaining too much of its Roman Catholic doctrinal roots, and who therefore opposed royal ecclesiastical policy under Elizabeth I of England, James I of En…
Background (1533–1630)
Puritanism was a Protestant movement that emerged in 16th-century England with the goal of transforming it into a godly society by reforming or purifying the Church of England of all remaining Roman Catholic teachings and practices. During the reign of Elizabeth I, Puritans were for the most part tolerated within the established church. Like Puritans, most English Protestants at the time were Calvinist in their theology, and many bishops and Privy Council members were sympathetic t…
Migration to America (1620–1640)
In 1620, a group of Separatists known as the Pilgrims settled in New England and established the Plymouth Colony. The Pilgrims originated as a dissenting congregation in Scrooby led by Richard Clyfton, John Robinson and William Brewster. This congregation was subject to persecution with members being imprisoned or having property seized. Fearing greater persecution, the group l…
Life in the New World
Puritan dominance in the New World lasted for at least a century. That century can be broken down into three parts: the generation of John Cotton and Richard Mather, 1630–62 from the founding to the Restoration, years of virtual independence and nearly autonomous development; the generation of Increase Mather, 1662–89 from the Restoration and the Halfway Covenant to the Glorio…
Controversies
Roger Williams, a Separating Puritan minister, arrived in Boston in 1631. He was immediately invited to become the teacher at the Boston church, but he refused the invitation on the grounds that the congregation had not separated from the Church of England. He then was invited to become the teacher of the church at Salem but was blocked by Boston political leaders, who objected to hi…
Decline of power and influence
The decline of the Puritans and the Congregational churches was brought about first through practices such as the Half-Way Covenant and second through the rise of dissenting Baptists, Quakers, Anglicans and Presbyterians in the late 17th and early 18th centuries.
There is no consensus on when the Puritan era ended, though it is agreed that it was over by 1740. By this time, the Puritan tradition was splintering into different strands of pietists, rationalist…
See also
• Pine tree shilling
Notes
1. ^ Bremer 2009, pp. 2–3.
2. ^ Bremer 2009, pp. 7, 10.
3. ^ Bremer 2009, p. 12.
4. ^ Bremer 2009, p. 15.