Puritan Values in America Today Essay

In New England, the Puritans had a strong belief in frugality, believing money spent on entertainment or anything unprofitable was wasted. This directly affected the economy because of the large population of Puritans in New England; they were constantly working and rarely rested. Their work ethic influenced other groups in the area because they had to keep up with the business that the Puritans were doing. In Document I, Robert Keayne writes “…many spare hours to spend unprofitably away or to refreshe myself with recreations…but have rather stuyded and endeavored to redeeme my time as a thing most deare and precious to me…” This excerpt shows how a Puritan would do business. The Puritans made very humble livings in the early days of America. They typically made livings by being farmers and ministers. Others were merchants and sold goods. The merchants were the wealthier of the puritan people. Many of the women in Puritan society helped to make a living in society by creating clothing and food to sell to other villagers.

The puritans came to america in hopes of finding a religious haven. They were trying to separate from the thought to be corrupt Church of England. Although the Puritans agreed with some of the that views the Church of England had, most were to liberal for the them and they needed to start a more conservative church. What better place to start then a blank slate, the New World. Developing a new colony was a challenge for the Puritans, but they persevered in their endeavors. They came with a goal based on religion and their new colony was created on solely that. Religion affected the political, economic, and social development of the New England colonies.

In the early history of American settlement, religion was a crucial component in the lives of the colonists and settlers. The major religion at the time was a form of Protestantism known as Puritanism. Puritans were members of the Church of England who wanted to purify the church and have it follow the specific ideology that the Puritans felt was closest to God (Class Lecture, Pardo). The Puritans were known for their intense practice of Christianity and their lack of tolerance for those who were not Puritans. The practices of the church and their ideology were strictly practiced by their members and dominated their ways of thinking and their actions.

Puritan religion and beliefs differ a great deal from the average American life. The Puritan colonies settled in New England and in it they established a ¨close-knit community governed by absolute religious faith and strict discipline¨. The Puritans way of life was based on their belief in GOD and the church. To them, God´s law was held supreme. The Bible and its message were above man's law and was the key to their salvation.

Puritanism is generally viewed as a religious movement that believed in rigorous rules-keeping and complete devotion to God, or as H.L Mencken famously joked: “Puritanism is the haunting fear that someone, somewhere, may be happy”. Whilst this may be partially true, due to their lack of leisure and recreation development, it was also an important movement that begged for a necessary religious and political reform; opposing to the divine rights of kings. Nowadays there is also a preconceived notion that puritans were repressive and anti-democratic, which is in fact not true. The foundation of the American constitutional government originated in the 17th century with the Puritans.

The Puritans lived based around their devotion to God. They came to America with the intention of escaping religious prosecution in

One of the main reasons that the Puritans sailed to America to was to escape religious persecution. They were actually being physically beaten because of their religious beliefs. America began with a government based on religious beliefs. It developed into a government, which condemned those who did not believe in the Puritan beliefs. For

Puritans lived a life that was centered around God and their culture. Being Puritan means that you solely believe in God and your loyalty has to be beyond considerably great. Some issues about being solely Puritan is that they rely on their religion on everything and they don’t suspect it could be anything else. It is advantageous to individuals, communities, and nations that value the views of Puritans because they have a larger family to support them and they are less likely to be accused of committing any crimes.

Puritan Laws and MoralsRules and morals are irritating. Some can seem unnecessary or frivolous, such as “don’t leave the toaster out” even though someone else is about to use it. However, stricter laws and morals exist, especially in history. The Puritan group was a religious group in England that left for America, seeking religious freedom (Wilson 913). They hoped to practice their religion freely without constant governmental and public disapproval. The difference between this group and the legendary pilgrims, however, was the strict rules and morals the Puritan group followed. The Puritans practiced several laws and believed in various morals that today’s society would consider harsh. The Puritans had several impossible laws. For example,

The Puritans have provided a celebrated contribution to American history and have had a great impact on the world. They have left remarkable thoughts that modern Americans will reflect on but, their ideas have not influenced modern American’s mindsight and current

The Puritans arrived in the New World in the hopes of “purifying” the Church of England. They practiced certain principles that they believed in and that centered around the idea of God. The main purpose of their journey to New England was to set an example to others how the Church should be, and so their motive for settlement was solely related to religion. The Puritans positively influenced the political, economic, and social development of the New England colonies from 1630 through the 1660s because they were a “city upon a hill” that served as an example to other parts of the world as a result of their strong belief in God.

The original settlers of America practiced Puritanism. Tocqueville considers Puritanism itself almost a form of politics. The Puritans founded the land based mostly on intellectual prowess over aristocracy. They were seeking shelter due to religious conflict in their motherland. The Puritans were of a mind to preserve their genetic culture, but as society progressed, the discontent with the English monarchal government festered. In fact, England was the driving force behind American democracy which really began with Puritan democracy. Puritan democracy was based on a sense of morality, but the downside was the religious intolerance that they founded their settlements on. The idea of a dissenter was distasteful and the Puritans had no problem fining or even executing anyone they thought were breaking their religious code, which for a settlement founded on freedom of religion and freedom itself, contradicts the ideals of both.

Puritanism was a set of beliefs that sprang up after the Protestant Reformation. This was especially focused on self-indulgence and sex. Puritanism should not to be practiced in America today because of all the negative effects it had created , such as being the enemy of freedom in the twentieth century, portrayal of sexuality of the human body, and the search for religious freedom, while being intolerant to other religions.

There have been three major influential movements in American history—Puritanism, Rationalism, and Romanticism. Each occurring during generally different time periods, they produced a number of different types of literature reflecting their beliefs at the time. The Puritans, being some of the first settlers in modern day America, relied heavily on beliefs they brought with them from the Church of England. Rather than simply being followers of their prior Church, Puritans believed in the Church as less of a structured organization and more of a spiritual journey or community. In these beliefs, the Puritans sought to bring religion, spirituality, and the Bible into mainstream thought. The Puritans had a number of other important beliefs

The Puritans and the Founding Fathers both set out for a fresh start in the new world. They had similar ambitions of finding freedom, and building a new society. The Founding Fathers did play a large role in laying the foundation for the American lifestyle by writing up our Constitution, and Declaration of Independence. Yet, the Puritans embedded small traits into our society that takes a much larger role than we realize. They were the first to arrive in America, and share their beliefs of religious freedom, they also introduced the idea of a well educated society, and a strong work ethic never seen before.