The Puritan Dilemma

¶ … Puritan Dilemma

A democracy is a system of government wherein the governed have a voice. In the simplest terms, it is a government by and for the people. In the present, the United States government is based upon the idea of representational democracy. Every citizen has a voice which is expressed through election of representatives who then vote on items and legislation. This is not how things have always been. In the time of the colonization of the New World, each colony would be responsible for creating their individual, workable governing systems. The Massachusetts Bay Colony was led by one John Winthrop, a Puritan lawyer. More than anyone at the time, John Winthrop set the tone for the style of government which would dominate the colony. Although some form of representation in legislation did exist in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, Winthrop's community cannot be considered a true democracy. The man's authoritarian perspective ensured that only certain people were represented by the government then present in the colony.

In the book The Puritan Dilemma, author Edmund Morgan demystifies Winthrop. He uses the first chapters of the book to illustrate to the reader that Winthrop was a flesh and blood man, not an immaculate servant of God. Winthrop's judgment of other men and women then take on a level of hypocrisy. He had fallen prey to the temptations of sin as a younger man. Only after he turned his back on his youthful indiscretions did Winthrop take up the cause of Puritanism and then make the journey to the New World. The colonies were struggling to create sustainable shelter and stave starvation. This Winthrop was able to aid the people in. As governor of the Massachusetts Colony, Winthrop did much to better the lives of the people around him (Morgan 68).

In helping create the government for the colony, Winthrop and his fellow leaders based their government on the teachings of their religion. To help support this religious-based legal system, Winthrop encouraged the immigration of more Puritans to the colonies (Morgan 73). This ensured that the predominant religion of the area was Puritanism, making it less likely for the agenda of the Puritans to face opposition. However, there was still concern on John Winthrop's part over the growing power of Separatists within the colonies. To prevent the danger of these groups, Winthrop committed such undemocratic acts as censuring letters back to England.

After the colony was issued a decree by the king to formulate their own government, Winthrop and his colleagues were granted nearly unlimited power over their fellow colonists (Morgan 86). Another way that Winthrop kept the Puritans in positions of power was to appoint only fellow followers into roles of leadership in the government. He allowed Puritans to have political rights in the colony. This was more freedom than English citizens back in the home country were allowed, but anyone in the New World who did not belong to the Puritan religion were marginalized and denied these rights.