Causes, Character, and Consequences of New England Puritanism

Introduction: Puritan Roots in England

Puritanism in New England was an offshoot of the religion in England, but in the New World, the movement evolved until it became central to society and to a person's place within it. The causes of New England Puritanism had their roots in England, where the Puritans — along with other religious sects — were persecuted. When Puritans came to America, they hoped to worship in their own way and to enjoy genuine religious freedom.

The Puritans longed for purity in their lives and in their relationship with God. They were pious, strict, and quite rigid in many of their beliefs, and when they came to America, they were able to build on these foundations and create a form of religion that ruled New England and the broader New World for decades. Puritanism grew in direct opposition to the opulent and flamboyant rituals of the Catholic Church and the Church of England. Indeed, the Puritans were known as "plain" because of their lack of ornamentation in their clothing and in their religious services. As Lippy, Choquette, and Poole explain, "The major targets of criticism were religious ceremonies thought to be without scriptural warrant and a polity based on episcopacy, another corruption of pure religion thought to lack scriptural support. At first those who attempted to 'purify' the church further (hence the name) worked from within the church structure" (256). Thus, the roots of the Puritanism that made its way to America were firmly the roots of dissent and change.

The Character of New England Puritanism

The character of New England Puritanism was strict and morality-based. One scholar argues that the analogies central to Puritan religion were drawn from the history of ancient Israel and the Hebrews. As Emerson writes, "In a sense, they were reliving what had transpired in ancient Hebrew history, for they were in the process of creating a new nation in a new wilderness" (3). Just as the Hebrews had been cast out of Egypt, the Puritans had been cast out of Europe because of their religious beliefs, and to remedy that situation, they created a new world where they could worship as they chose in peace.

The Puritans also grounded their religion directly in scripture, and the scriptures formed a vital element of every Sunday sermon. As Lippy, Choquette, and Poole observe, "Hence Scripture was of paramount importance to the Puritans. Scripture was explicated in sermons that often lasted two or three hours and always placed emphasis on the practical application of Scriptural precepts to daily life" (269). Because of this emphasis, religious services lasted many hours, but more significantly, most Puritans could read the scriptures for themselves and chose to live by them as closely as possible.