Puritans Essays (Examples)

Puritans and Quakers

Comparative Analysis of the Beliefs and Attitudes between Puritans and Quakers in Colonial America (17th-18th centuries)

Early Colonial American society during the 17th and 18th centuries is characteristically bound by strong religious beliefs of Christianity. The New England inhabitants from Britain, who have established their respective colonies in the Americas, have brought with them their cultural histories; thus, this culture had been further developed in the new country to strengthen its new identity and culture as the American society.

In colonial America, two religions dominated its cultural history: Puritans on one hand, and the Quakers, on the other. Puritanism was borne from the creation of a religion that seeks to fuse and at the same time, reform, the Catholic and Protestant teachings and principles. When it was created, it was given a chance to further develop and eventually became one of the dominant religions of the British…

North was a stronghold of strict religious and moral belief, controlling the population and their actions, while the South was more open, plantation based, and already importing slaves. The color lines were already drawn, leading to an inevitable conclusion in 1860.

In contrast, the strict morals of the Puritan colonies in the North were very different from the settlements in the South. There, wealthy landowners commandeered much of the available land and created vast estates, already importing slaves to work in the rice fields in the 1600s. The southern planters and new arrivals looked forward to wine and beer making along with other profitable ventures, and many of them came from poor roots, while the Puritans were more prosperous from the start. Thus, the northern colonies served as a foundation for the country's government, commerce, and religious beliefs, and so, they were models for the rest of the country.

eferences…

Wayward Puritans: A Study in the Sociology of Deviance by Kai T. Erickson. Specifically, it will contain an extra chapter to "Wayward Puritans" demonstrating how the study illustrates the social control approach to deviance. The Puritan society of early New England is an excellent example of how a small society carefully controlled deviant behavior that frightened them.

The Social Control Approach

The sociological and historical study of the Puritans and their approach to deviance in their society indicated just how these early Americans controlled their society, and thus controlled deviant behavior in their society. This social control approach is still the most common method of societal behavioral control, because it works in many applications. For example, today, social controls can be seen in the war on drugs, and on drinking and driving. For most of society, these behaviors are not acceptable, and so, there are laws against them, but there…

Franklin and the Puritans

There were many different aspects to Benjamin Franklin's character and while many Americans like to concentrate on his more lurid, or worldly endeavors, his ethical beliefs were a very important part of his life. In fact, Franklin listed thirteen virtues in his autobiography which he found to be instrumental in becoming a moral and honorable person. It is interesting to note that Franklin's list of virtues bear remarkable similarities to Puritan beliefs and virtues. But while there are similarities between Benjamin Franklin's self-professed list of virtues and those of the Puritans, Franklin was not simply parroting Puritan thought, and there are also a great many differences between the two as well. An examination of the two codes of ethics will demonstrate that while Franklin's code may well be based on the Puritan code, he diverted from a strict religious-based ethical system to a more practical system…

Roger illiams was a Puritan Separatist and Baptist, who founded the new colony of Rhode Island after his expulsion from Massachusetts. His views were quite radical and democratic by 17th Century standards, since he supported religious freedom for all individuals and strongly disapproved of state-supported religions and established churches of the kind that existed everywhere at the time. Although his own views were strictly Calvinist, and he regularly entered into religious disputes with supporters of other religions, Rhode Island did not use the power of the government to enforce religious conformity. He called for the separation of church and state in his 1644 pamphlet "The Bloody Tenet of Persecution," on the grounds that in went against scripture and also caused religious wars. illiams directed his arguments against fellow John Calvin, John Cotton and other Protestants who favored state-supported churches and enforcement of laws against heresy and blasphemy. Judges, governors and…

The Puritans’ Search for Religious Freedom in the New World
By the turn of the 17th century, much of the New World had already been explored by Europeans in search of gold and glory, and reports of the opportunities and riches available encouraged others to follow. Not everyone who ventured into the New World wildernesses was in search of money, including the Puritans who braved the elements in search of religious freedom. This paper provides a review of selected primary sources from the era together with other relevant literature to determine why the Puritans came to America as well as a description of their overarching goals and an analysis concerning whether they achieved these goals. In addition, a discussion concerning the difficulty of the lives of these early colonists and a description of their interactions with Native Americans are followed by an assessment of their values and whether these values…

Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter is a fictionalized account of life in puritan New England. Although the story is an amalgamation of characters, places, and events, the journals of Hawthorne's contemporaries and forebears reveals a sinister connection between real life in seventeenth century Massachusetts and the tragedy of Hester Prynne's life. Prynne is in fact a symbol of all women living under Puritan patriarchal rule. Through Hawthorne's foresight, her story is recorded as a critical warning against the evils of patriarchy and the clear need to examine the hypocrisies of early American life.

inthrop's journal addresses the full gamut of life in Puritan Massachusetts, including the life of women. It is abundantly clear through inthrop's memoirs that Hutchinson symbolized the self-empowerment of women, which threatened to undermine the patriarchal social order in puritan society. Hutchinson was demonized and scapegoated, although she was certainly a self-conscious political figure. In fact, it…

62). In the records of the trial, a disturbing trend appears in depositions provided by supposed witnesses to the time period immediately preceding the rape.

In short, the investigators seem less interested in determining the facts of the case than in showing that Watkins was, for lack of a better phrase, "asking for it" due to her sexually aggressive nature and the fact that she had been drunk (Sweet, 2010, p. 63-64). That sexual and behavioral standards for women constituted a double standard intended to excuse male behavior while condemning female behavior is quite evident by the parade of witnesses whose sole testimony is to the fact that Watkins seemed unconcerned with Christian standards of sexual behavior. That this testimony represents a kind of gender and religious bias is evidenced by the fact that it was contradicted by one other witness, who gave information that largely conformed with Watkins' claims…

Puritan Woman

Puritan women in the New World of the United States were torn between belief that their "hope and treasure lies above" and their very real need to survive and create a loving community on earth. The Puritans were English Protestants, and they had very strong views on a variety of issues. For example, Puritans believed in the literal authority provided by the Bible, and that individuals who did things wrong in life would be punished by God (Coffey & Lim, 2008). There was also no guarantee of salvation for Puritans, and anything they would do for atonement was not enough to protect them from potential damnation in the future. The women in that society were not equal to men, and they were left to do what men wanted them to do and act a certain way in society, or they were not accepted (Coffey & Lim, 2008). Because…

He began in the center of a Puritan's life with the husband and wife relationship, but with each succeeding chapter, slowly expanded the view of relationships to include parents and children, masters and servants, the family and society, and finally the Puritan group as a whole. In each case, Morgan presented the order by which these relationships should take place, as well as the rationale behind the positioning of the different partners. But throughout all the discussion, Morgan is careful to remind the reader that this order he described is based on God's will, and that nothing can exist with the will of God permitting it to do so.

It has been suggested, with some justification, that the Puritan's possessed a world view that was biased toward themselves and their beliefs, and in effect, discriminated against Native Americans. (Simmons) and it is true that Morgan discussed the Puritan belief that…

Puritan Dilemma

Morgan, Edmund S. The Puritan Dilemma: The Story of John Winthrop. USA: Pearson

Education, 1999.

H]e which would have suer peace and joye in Christianitye, must not ayme at a condition retyred from the world and free from temptations, but to knowe that the life which is most exercised with tryalls and temptations is the sweetest, and will prove the safeste. For such tryalls as fall within compasse of our callinges, it is better to arme and withstande them than to avoide and shunne them.

John Winthrop)

What Mr. Morgan manages in this book is to show us that even 370 years ago, John Winthrop was already confronting many of what would be enduring themes and challenges of the American experiment. The struggle over how democratic America should be has been at the very core of our politics. Separationism would eventually lead to revolution and the split with…

First, his use of rhyme is incredibly heavy, and quickly becomes awkward and intrusive:

Ye sons of men that durst contemn the Threatnings of Gods ord,

How cheer you now? your hearts, I trow, are sthrill'd as with a sword.

(stanza 8)

The internal rhyme in the odd numbered lines of each stanza, especially when coupled with the end rhyme in the even numbered lines (this pattern repeats in the second half of the stanza), gives the poem a condescending feel as though it is an instruction for children, while at the same time hammering itself into the mind of the reader in an obsessive manner. The complete lack of enjambment strengthens this effect, especially when reading the poem out loud.

In comparison to this, Bradstreet's sometimes stilted rhyme comes out very favorably. In one of her most well-known poems, "To My Dear and Loving Husband," even her twelve straight…

Therefore, the lasting effect of the printing press on colonial America is to be found in its contribution to the emergence of a national identity based first and foremost on language and writing. It was first by means of publication that America declared to the world its identity as a nation and trough an effect of discourse that she defined proclaimed and projected its past, its present and its future.

With the help of Guttenberg's invention of the printing press, the identity of America was defined in many Puritan literatures. The printing press and the colonized America's identity which was contained in Puritan literatures became the means in awakening the minds of many Americans, providing them with vision of the new world and breaking out from the colony of the ritish rule. These visions, according to the Puritanism: A New World Vision online article, are embedded in the following elements.…

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 orld, each colony would be responsible for creating their individual, workable governing systems. The Massachusetts Bay Colony was led by one John inthrop, a Puritan lawyer. More than anyone at the time, John inthrop 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, inthrop's community cannot be considered a true democracy. The man's…

puritan life was heavily contaminated by death. Half of the original 102 pilgrims that settled in America died during the first winter and it was not uncommon for children to perish before they reached adolescence. Funerals were a common occurrence in everyday life and the air of towns was often littered with the sounds of church bells. From the early stages of learning, children were educated on the grim reality that they faced and if they were fortunate enough to grow up, their demise still followed them wherever they ventured to. Puritan religion explains that a person is unable to control their destiny. Their ascendance to heaven or hell is pre-determined before the time of their birth and their actions in life have no influence on their final destination.

Although her lifetime took place more than two centuries after their arrival, Emily Dickinson presented poetry that offered views on death…

Another manifestation of the paradox is the confrontation with Anne Hutchinson. She promoted the ideals of Arminianism and Antinomianism. Arminianism was the specific paradigm that Winthrop was to deal with in this reagard. Arminianism entailed the belief that God could be influenced in order to secure salvation by preparing oneself for its receipt. Antinomianism is nearly the opposite of the above, entailing the belief that God's predetermined salvation grants permission to be however sinful one wishes. Goodness or sinfulness have no meaning in the yes of God. Thus the one philosophy holds that one group of persons should feel superior to another, while the latter is a form of nihilism. Both extremes however is not good for any society.

Finally, Winthrop's dilemma relates to the position of his established city towards to foreign states, perceived as more corrupt than the Puritan "City on the Hill" founded by Winthrop. Winthrop showed…

Despite this hardship she still managed to publish the first volume of poetry written by a woman in the New orld. This volume of poetry marked a milestone and reflected her faith, as did her other works, in the goals of her Puritan faith, and are not without skepticism.

Martin 4)

God doth not afflict willingly, nor take delight in grieving the children of men: he hath no benefitt by my adversity, nor is he the better for my prosperity; but he doth it for my Advantage, and that I may bee a Gainer by it. And if he knowes that weaknes and a frail body is the best to make me a vessell fitt for his use, why should I not bare it, not only willingly but joyfully? (orks, 20)

Bradstreet's faith was essential to existence in her society and this struggle is the core of her works.

Martin…

"

Mather 22)

Hawthorne clearly stepped away from the Puritan ethic by consistently alluding to the existence of the earthly supernatural. Though this was a fear of the Puritans, clearly it was associated with Satan and possession of the living. In Hawthorne's works the supernatural was associated with less grand sources, such as those seen in Young Goodman Brown. (Hoeltje 39-40) Hawthorne allows his characters to explore concepts that would have been those deemed heretical within the Puritan settings of the works.

In The Birth-Mark, Hawthorne associates the active expulsion of character traits of humanity clearly results in the death of the whole.

The line of divergence in "The Birth Mark" is indicated by its name. e all have our birth-marks, -- traits of character, which may be temporarily suppressed, or relegated to the background, but which cannot be eradicated and are certain to reappear at unguarded moments, or on…

John Marshall was the greatest Puritan of them all. Puritans emphasized an individual relationship with God, and rejected organized religion's dogmas. Certainly, Puritans have long been against slavery. In this context, John Marshall, a well-known opponent of slavery, and a proponent of individual rights can be said to be one of the greatest Puritans.

The Puritans emerged in the 18th Century, from the teachings of John Locke. They rejected the dogmas of the major religious denominations of Europe, and emphasized the idea of an individual relationship with God. Many Puritans came to American in order to avoid religious persecution at home.

Interestingly, a common misconception about Puritans is that they are highly intolerant, especially of other races and religions. While there have been specific incidents of religious and racial intolerance by Puritans, in general the Puritan religion is one of tolerance towards others. Specifically, the famous preacher Jonathan Edwards (who…

. . Even puritanical John Adams thought that the argument for Christ's divinity was an 'awful blasphemy' in this new enlightened age." (Wolf, 160)

And yet, Wolf goes on to discuss the manner in which religious values remain such a prominent part of the political process. n spite of the effort to which our founding fathers went to prevent such manipulation, the puritanical roots of American culture and values is now suffieiently entrenched to the point that presidential candidates must declare their faith to expect any chance of victory. To the point, Wolf recalls the manner in which recent elections, included those of Bush and Obama thereafter, have called religion into the public discourse as a way of identifying the candidates and their resonance with American culture at large. The degree to which Obama, Wolf's text denotes, would work to articulate his faith in Christ as a response to politically…

Puritans and Native Americans

What scholars call the "captivity narrative" has had a remarkable life of its own in American culture: stories about this kind of "captivity" continued to be told as entertainment, in Hollywood films like "The Searchers" or "Dances With Wolves," long after anyone had been abducted by a Native American tribe and held captive. It is worth inquiring why this particular type of story maintains its fascination for an American audience, by returning to where these narratives first came from, and how they were told in the centuries before Hollywood movies existed. In Colonial America, the life of Mary owlandson presents an excellent way to examine the clash of cultures. owlandson was born in England but came to New England as a Puritan colonist: she was then abducted during the "First Indian War" and held for several months before a ransom was paid and she was released…

Colonial America: Questions

Puritans

Unlike previous European settlers who came to the New World primarily to make a profit, the Puritans arrived with a commitment to create a new society and genuinely 'settle' on the land. They had no plans to return to England, given that they had been cast out of the Old World because of their religious beliefs. Unlike the settlers at Jamestown, they came prepared to work hard, and did not hope to simply make a quick profit and return to England rich, having done little labor. They believed in the value of hard work as part of their religious philosophy. They believed God had quite literally 'chosen' them to know the truth, which sustained them during times of suffering. During the first years, however, like previous colonists, they did struggle to stay alive. The winter was harsh, and they were forced to adapt their crops and…

One of his major works was a long poem written in three cantos about the horrors he experienced while being held prisoner on a ritish prison. ship. There we see a much edgier, angry Freneau who is willing to write about real life in real terms:

Here, generous ritain, generous, as you say,

To my parch'd tongue one cooling drop convey;

Hell has no mischief like a thirsty throat,

Nor one tormentor like your David Sproat."

All of these influences eventually came together, resulting later in the 19th century in Transcendentalism. This time when American writers reached to the past, they combined the best higher ideals of both the Puritans and the Enlightenment, and the love of nature from neoclassicism, and produced bodies of work that transcended all its previous influences. The roots for the literary movement that would bring us "Washington Irving, James Fenimore Cooper, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry…

Hawthorne

Hooper suddenly dons a mysterious black veil "which entirely concealed his features, except the mouth and chin, but probably did not intercept his sight, further than to give a darkened aspect to all living and inanimate things," (Hawthorne). This "gloomy" veil is the central symbol of Hawthorne's short story, "The Minister's Black Veil." As with other Hawthorne stories, "The Minister's Black Veil" offers a poignant critique against hyper-religiosity in ultra-Puritan New England. Hawthorne shows that a Christian obsession with the theme of sin has been taken to an extreme, evident in Hooper's mentally deranged methodology. By wearing the veil continuously in her personal and public affairs, Hooper alienates himself from those who care about him, including the community members who used to count on him. On the other hand, guilt-ridden members of the community view Hooper's veil as a sign that the minister is ultra-pious and therefore capable of…

Mill take issue with the Puritans? Explain.

Famed government theoretician John Stuart Mill took great exception with the Puritans who traveled to the New orld in order to start a community based upon similar fanatical religious beliefs. The reason that he took such issue with the Puritans is that they used religion as a basis of government but worse than this they used that religious intolerance in order to oppress and marginalize others. The Puritans made their laws based upon the assertion that their restriction encouraged moral behavior, but in doing so they took away each person's right to make individual choices. Mill wrote, "ith respect to what is said of the necessity of protecting society from the bad example set to others by the vicious or the self-indulgent; it is true that bad example may have a pernicious effect, especially the example of doing wrong to others with impunity…

The European actions against the natives were in error, because they were committed by Protestant Christians, who, unlike Catholics or savages, should have known better and responded with higher forms of faith and feeling. The Indian atrocities were seen as inevitable, the result of "undesigned provocation" (even though esley acknowledges that the settlers are interlopers) rather than a response in defense of their land (ard, 1872).

Thus, although the First Amendment of the Bill of Rights may proclaim religious separation from all churches, America was actually founded by individuals seeking to create what today we would call a theocracy. Despite early amicable relations with the natives, eventually conflicts over territory caused the two populations to be hostile. The violence that ensued was justified by the religious rhetoric and beliefs of the Puritans, as they strove to create a New Jerusalem in a land that was inhabited by people whose civilization…

Scarlet Letter

Modern day movies rarely do justice for the classics. The Scarlet Letter by Nathanial Hawthorne falls into that category. Even Demi Moore could not meet the genius of the original writing. "Demi Moore plays the strong-willed Hester Prynne brilliantly, and Gary Oldman (I want to marry him) turns Reverend Dimmesdale into an extremely complex and passionate character. The love between Hester Prynne and Reverend Dimmesdale lasts throughout the movie with great intensity - all of it rooted in the one amazing love scene which leads to Prynne's pregnancy." (hen Love Becomes Sin) I loved reading The Scarlet Letter much more than the I did seeing the movie and this report is an attempt to explain why I think so highly of the written work.

Nathanial Hawthorne was a writer from Salem, Massachusetts where his famous home, the House of Seven Gables, still stands to this day. Surprisingly, Hawthorne…

The Puritans and early 19th century Americans also tended towards a pessimistic view of the world: the physical body and the physical universe were perceived as being inherently evil in conjunction with the concept of original sin. Death was therefore viewed as liberating. Because of westward expansion, 19th Century Americans cultivated more utopian visions and were generally more hopeful about the future of the United States. Furthermore, the Puritans lived outside the confines of the nation-state so their attitudes toward human life and politics differed from that of 19th century Americans.

Ethics in Puritan New England and in early 19th century America were rooted in Christian beliefs. The Puritans laid the foundations for a normative ethics that closely followed the Biblical commandments. 19th century Americans would conveniently override Biblical ethos when it came to the treatment of slaves and Native Americans and therefore both Puritans and early 19th century Americans…

eferences

Brauer, J.C. (1954). The Nature of English Puritanism: Three Interpretations." Church History. 23 (2): 99-108.

Coon, D. (1976). Eliza Lucas Pinckney and the eintroduction of Indigo Culture in South Carolina. The Journal of Southern History. 42 (1): 61-76.

Daniels, B.C. (1991). "Did the Puritans Have Fun? Leisure, ecreation, and the Concept of Fun in Early New England." Journal of American Studies. 25 (1) 7-22.

Governors of Massachussettes. (1768). "Massachusetts Circular Letter to the Colonial Legislatures." Yale University's Avalon Project. etrieved from http://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/mass_circ_let_1768.asp

Judgments and Decrees National Archives, ecords of District Courts of the United States, ecord Group 21. (1773). "Dowry Gift of Slaves: Ann Taylor vs. Thomas Hart Jr.." The National Archives Documented ights. etrieved from http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/documented-rights/exhibit/section1/detail/dowry-gift-transcript.html

Lambert, F. "I Saw the Book Talk': Slave eadings of the First Great Awakening." The Journal of Negro History Vol. 77, No. 4 (Autumn, 1992), pp. 185-198. etrieved from http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/3031473?uid=3739600&uid=2129&uid=2&uid=70&uid=4&uid=3739256&sid=47699031113437

Mereness, N.D.…

There are many examples in the literature of the intention and purpose of the early colonists to eradicate the Indian population. The genocidal intentions against the indigenous population of America do not however begin with the English colonists, but starts with Columbus. The following quotation refers to his second voyage to the New World.

Columbus took the title "Admiral of the Ocean Sea" and proceeded to unleash a reign of terror unlike anything seen before or since. When he was finished, eight million Arawaks -- virtually the entire native population of Hispaniola -- had been exterminated by torture, murder, forced labor, starvation, disease and despair.

Genocide of the American Indian Peoples)

Historian David Stannard also states quite categorically that "the destruction of the Indians of the Americas was, far and away, the most massive act of genocide in the history of the world." (Genocide of the American Indian Peoples) The…

John Winthrop

What is America's role in the world? Considering that America was in many ways founded experimentally, it is only natural to imagine that outside observers are constantly looking to America as an example or a source of guidance. In particular, America's early status as an experiment in religious tolerance has led to the popularity of the phrase and image of "the city on a hill." Derived from Jesus Christ's Sermon on the Mount -- where Christ tells his followers "You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden" (Matt. 5:14) -- the notion of America as both a model and a source of immense scrutiny is popular even to this day. In this paper I would like to examine three ways in which the notion of America as a "city on a hill" was persuasive in the period of…

Satan and Paradise Lost

In Paradise Lost by John Milton, Satan represents the royalist, Catholic and aristocratic enemies of the Puritans during the civil wars and religious wars of the 17th Century and reflects the culture and events of the era such as the Renaissance, Reformation and Scientific Revolution. Milton was a Puritan who had supported Oliver Cromwell in the English Civil ar and the overthrow of the king, aristocracy and Church of England. He was disappointed by the outcome of this revolution, and especially with the Restoration of the monarchy and the old order in 1660, which banned and censored many of his writings for being too radical. Not only is it a specifically Christian story of original sin, the fall from grace and hope for redemption, it should be considered as a revolutionary tract from the Puritan-Protestant side during the civil wars and religious wars of the 17th…

com). Sedate it is definitely not. e read, "Even from this distance the tower's abundant ornamentation is clear. Its Northern Italian Gothic style adds exotic elements to the neighborhood's skyline." (iboston.org). Trinity Church cannot be overlooked when examining the history and architecture of Boston. It is said, "James O'Gorman described Trinity as 'a cultural event of the first importance in American history'" (O'Gorman qtd. In iboston.org). Trinity church is significant because it "represents a departure of the Boston's mind from its Puritan past, and emergence of American creativity as a force in architecture" (iboston.org). The churches of Boston are not special to Bostonians. It is written in the Catholic Historical Review that in 2005, "The National Trust for Historic Preservation announced... that it had included the Historic Catholic Churches of Greater Boston, Massachusetts, in its 2005 list of America's Eleven Most Endangered Historic Places" (Catholic Historical Review). The churches of…

William Penn, a Quaker whose father had been an Admiral in the King's oyal Navy, was given a large piece of land as payment for a debt owed by the Crown to his father. Penn had suggested naming the new territory Sylvania, meaning wood, but the King added his surname, Penn, as a tribute to William's father (Uden). Penn considered his venture a "Holy Experiment" and sought to establish a society based on religious freedom and separation between religious and governmental authorities,

Under Penn's governorship, Pennsylvania became a safe haven for all persecuted religious groups like the Quakers. He instituted a ballot system that intended to allow all members of Pennsylvania to have an equal say in their own governance. Some of the provisions of equality and religious tolerance in the charter that he drafted for Pennsylvania would eventually be incorporated into other charters, including the U.S.

Constitution (Uden). Perhaps…

orks Cited

Baumgarten, Linda. (2002). hat Clothes Reveal: The Language of Clothing in Colonial and Federal America: The Colonial illiamsburg Collection. New Haven, CT: Yale University

Press.

Bilhartz, Terry D., and Elliott, Alan C. (2007). Currents in American History: A Brief History of the United States, Volume 1. Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe.

Crunden, Robert Morse. (1996). A Brief History of American Culture. Armonk, NY: M.E.

Sharpe.

Fisher, John Hurt. (2001). "British and American, Continuity and Divergence" in the

Cambridge History of the English Language: English in North America, Eds. Hogg, Blake,

Algeo, Lass, and Burchfield. New York: Cambridge University Press.

Grigg, John a., and Mancall, Peter C. (2008). British Colonial America: People and Perspectives. estport, CT: ABC-CLIO.

Horsman, Reginald. (1981). Race and Manifest Destiny: The Origins of American Racial Anglo-

Saxonism. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Jandt, Fred Edmund (2007). An Introduction to Intercultural Communication: Identities in a Global Community.…

Evolution of New England Puritan Gravestone Symbols

The evolution of Puritan New England gravestone symbols (e.g., death heads, cherubs, and urn and willows), inscriptions, borders, and finials, styles popular in New England from approximately1620-1820.

y comparing seriation charts from a variety of colonial Puritan cemeteries, one can begin to see that changes in style may be connected to a broader cultural context.

There is no universal agreement among scholars regarding the relationship between the symbols on Puritan gravestones and ideology. James Deetz, Allan Ludwig, and Peter enes all link gravestone style to a larger cultural context but David D. Hall challenges this interpretation by suggesting that this type of research is reading too much into the meanings of mere designs and decoration ("Nonchronological Sources of Variation in the Seriation of Gravestone Motifs in the Northeast and Southeast Colonies."). Over the years, through direct observation and seriation charts, experts have generally…

Among the first major nations to have their people leaving for America were the Irish and the Germans. Life in Europe during the seventeenth and the eighteenth centuries had been difficult, with the lower classes living in extreme poverty. As a result, people saw the opportunity of establishing themselves in a place where they would escape their problems. People coming to America from countries other than England generally received harsh treatments because the English felt that North America mostly belonged to them.

hile white people coming to America did so in search of freedom and riches, black people had a totally different fate in store for them. Black people were brought into America as slaves and could have no dreams since they knew that freedom was an inaccessible concept.

The seventeenth and eighteenth centuries have been a period in which women were still regarded as not being qualified to fulfil…

" The differences in these two lines seem to be only a matter of syntax but in actuality, it also differs in the meaning. The King James Bible version makes it seem like the Lord is making the individual do something, as if by force or obligation, while the Puritan version states that the Lord causes the individual to do something, as if out of their own will. This alone relays the message that faith itself is driving the action, not a perceived obligation.

Another distinction between the two translations can be found with the lines "Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: / and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever" (King James Bible) and "Goodness and mercy surely shall / all my days follow me. / and in the Lord's house I shall / dwell so long as days…

Revolution

Christopher Hill's The Century of Revolution 1603-1714 details the transformations in English economic, political, ideological, and religious life. The author states in his introductory chapter, "The years between 1603 and 1714 were perhaps the most decisive in English history" because those years signified the dawn of the modern age and the rise of the English empire (13). Hill divides the various changes in English society, which would come to transform American society as well, into issues related to economic theory, political philosophy, and the realm of religion and ideas. The Century of Revolution is broken up into three chronological sections: 1603-40; 1640-60; 1660-88; and 1688-1714. The realm of religion and ideas encapsulates the realms of economics and politics because of the widespread influence of religion on culture. Therefore, the theme of transformation can best be illustrated through Hill's depiction of the changes occurring in religion and ideology in seventeenth…

As her meetings became increasingly well-attended (men and women participated) they also became controversial because she was teaching religious and spiritual values that bucked the system.

Those that supported her theories and her right to hold these twice-a-week meetings became polarized from those who questioned her right to go against traditional church teachings. If you questioned the Church, then you also questioned the State, Reuben explains. She was put on trial, accused of heresy and of doing acts that were "not fitting for her sex" (women were supposed to be subservient to men), and was banished from the Colony (Reuben, p. 4/6).

The challenges that Hutchinson put forward to the Church's fundamentally strict tenets through her preaching were bold and in hindsight, they were absolutely correct. She was a person well ahead of her time, and did not fear being banished because her beliefs were so strong. The historical record…

Neal Salisbury, Manitou and Providence, 110-135

Q1. I was surprised at the initial good faith shown by the natives to the settlers. I was also surprised by the degree to which the natives were willing to trust the settlers, in exchange for trading agreements. The relationship between the natives and the settlers, which was unequal from its inception and in its subsequent outcome, is a powerful illustration of the danger of putting material goods at a higher priority than territorial security and upholding one's values as a people.

Q2. Given the later animosity between the two sides, the agreement was extraordinary: both sides agreed to aid one another if attacked, to return any tools that were stolen (reflecting European notions of personal property and thus an important point for the English), to disarm during meetings, and to turn over any Indians suspected of assaulting settlers to the English (while the…

Colonial life was like in two different areas. The writer compares and contrasts the way of life experienced during colonial times in the Chesapeake area and the new England area during Colonial America. The writer used ten sources to complete this paper.

Each year as Thanksgiving approaches students throughout the nation dress in traditional colonial garb and put on skits and meals to portray colonial life in America. While this has become a tradition for American students it has also become a blended generic portrayal of colonial life with little attention paid to area differences and similarities. Colonial times shared many similar facets as the nation of America began to build its foundation, but within that era there were also region and culture specific differences that set populations apart from each other. The new England Colonial life and the Chesapeake area colonial life can be held side by side to…

He would not be allowed to leave during his contracted bondage, and would be treated like an escaped slave who committed a crime if he tried to escape a cruel master. Although, unlike a slave if his master was honest, he would be set freed and given a new start in life at the end of the contracted period.

20-year-old Puritan bride in the Massachusetts Bay Colony: This bride likely would have been subjected to tremendous religious prejudice and persecution back in her native England. After suffering a long and grueling passage to the colony, she would have faced conditions she had never experienced in England -- a rough life, difficult farming conditions, and the threat of Native Americans whose culture she little understood. If she survived and she was lucky enough to have a good relationship with her husband, she would have seen the beginnings of a new society…

Celia Rowlandson

American history includes a wide variety of women who have been involved with heroic acts. Two of these historic figures are Mary Rowlandson, a New England Puritan kidnapped by Indians in the 1700s, and Celia, an African-American slave who was hanged for killing her brutal master. Although their stories are very different, they demonstrated the personal fortitude to personally handle the worst of situations.

Rowlandson was living in a Massachusetts settlement when an Indian raid killed and wounded many of her fellow colonists. One of her children was killed in the massacre, another died soon later, and the third was taken by another raiding party. She was wounded and taken captive by the Indians. For three months until ransomed, she traveled with the tribe throughout the New England region as they hunted for food and eluded the colonists who were set on retaliation.

Rowlandson was born in England…

Even in Catholic France, the Protestant sentiment that God's grace alone can save His fallen, human creation was evident in the humanist king, Francis I's sister, Margaret, Queen of Navarre's novel when she wrote: "We must humble ourselves, for God does not bestow his graces on men because they are noble or rich; but, according as it pleases his goodness, which regards not the appearance of persons, he chooses whom he will."

Shakespeare's Hamlet is haunted by the ghost of his father from Purgatory. Purgatory was a Catholic concept. But rather than trusting the vision of the divine on earth, Hamlet is suspicious about the ability of fallen human beings to enact justice. Rather than finding good in the face of women, Hamlet sees only evil. "In considering the cultural conditions that allow tragedy to revive, we may also want to consider that the plays occurred in Christian Northern Europe;…

nature in American literature, from earliest writings to the Civil War period. It is my purpose to outline the connection between spirituality, freedom and nature and explain how American writers have chosen to reflect and interpret these themes in relation to their historical realities.

At the beginning of the colonization process there were two congruent depictions of nature. Initially, the tribes comprising The Iroquois League lived in close contact with nature and believed in the importance of maintaining a harmonious relationship with it. In this respect, the Iroquois Constitution imposes a devout display of gratitude to all by-human elements of the world before the opening of any council. On the other hand, the early explorers and founders of the United States perceived an immense natural potential in the country. In this sense, Thomas Hariot describes the New World as a land of wealth, his words and images aimed both at…

Restoration Drama: the Rake as a Symbol of Social Disorder

One of the distinctive features of Restoration comedy is the figure of the rake as romantic hero. The image of the rake-hero is of a witty, cynical, calculating, and self-serving man who pursues his own pleasure above all other considerations. Antagonistic to established rules and mores, the rake rejects conventional ideas of virtue, integrity, fidelity, restraint; above all he adopts a rhetorical position of opposition to the institution of marriage. However, it is significant that in most plays which feature a rake-hero in a prominent role, he becomes reconciled to the concept of marriage and ends up either actually married or firmly committed to marriage. It is the contention of this paper that first, it is overly simplistic to see the rake as irredeemably opposed to marriage, and that the relationship between such figures and the institution of wedlock is…

These conditions were evident in a letter to his wife, where inthrop described wintertime as "weather being cold and the waters perilous," and the difficulty of finding logs to burn for warmth.

The Puritan colonies survived, due in large part to inthrop's efforts at both instilling this culture of discipline, and in addressing any growing factionalism within the ranks. Such actions have indeed been a double-edged sword, for they planted the seeds for suffering, they also ensured that the colony endured and later, flourished. In this way, inthrop played a largely forgotten role in the founding of this country.

orks Cited

Bremer, Francis J. 2003. John inthrop: America's Forgotten Founding Father. New York: Oxford University Press.

Morgan, Edmund S. 1958. The Puritan Dilemma: The Story of John inthrop. New York: Little, Brown and Company.

inthrop, John. 1630, "A Model for Christian Charity." Hanover Historical Text Project. Available online at http://history.hanover.edu/texts/winthmod.html…

And bee it also Enacted by the Authority and with the advise and assent aforesaid that whatsoever person or persons shall from henceforth use or utter any reproachfull words or Speeches concerning blessed Virgin Marv the Mother of Our Saviour or the holy Apostles or Evangelists or any of them shall in such case for the first offence forfeit to the said Lord Proprietary and his heirs Lords and Proprietaries of this Province the sume of five pound Sterling or the value thereof to be Levyed on the goods and chattells of every such person soe offending, but in case such Offender or Offenders, shall not then have goods and chattells sufficient for the satisfying of such forfeiture, or that the same bee not otherwise speedily satisfyed that then such Offender or Offenders Shall be publiquely whipt and bee imprisoned during the pleasure, of the Lord Proprietary or the Lieut.…

This seems rather likely as well given that the women in question often stood to inherit or gain from an economic standpoint and therefore became threats to the male-dominated society. If the orderly transfer of property and wealth from father to son was threatened by a female, the men in the society could use witchcraft accusations against the woman who would otherwise threaten the male-dominated chain of inheritance. Many other examples of Puritan customs and mores are cited as well by Karlsen as sources of contention between the sexes as well as the accused and the accusers. It is little wonder why so many women, willing to question the cultural and social structures in a very benign way, were made to feel the wrath of the Puritan male power structure.

From an academic standpoint, Karlsen's work is quite seminal in helping to prove that there is still much room for…

The narration of Hope Leslie also offers some other insights into the radical nature of the novel. Sedgwick's personal experiences in her home town as well as in New England and Massachusetts helps to add to the realism and beauty of her own descriptions of these very same places within the novel. However, Sedgwick uses these beautiful, serene, and sometimes melancholy characterizations of the landscape to both enhance the novel's themes and underscore the interactions of the many characters as well as literary devices of their own accord (Schweitzer, 100). One excellent example of this is during Everell's captivity, where Sedgwick uses the vivid and sometimes philosophical landscapes as an integral part of the dramatic action that takes place.

In this way, Sedgwick is one of the first novelists to use this sort of technique in a way that both highlights the natural surroundings in the story and how these…

Hope Leslie: Or, Early Times in the Massachusetts by Catharine Maria Sedgwick. Specifically, it will contain a critical analysis of the text. "Hope Leslie" is a romantic novel that sheds light on Puritanical views of the time, and involves two young heroines who both love the same man. This novel indicates the differences between Hope, a young New England Puritan, and Magawisca, a young Native American Pequod. They both love Everell Fletcher, and they certainly both are deserving of his love. That Hope ends up with Everell is romantic, but it is also quite representative of the time this novel was written, where there was still a sharp division between the Native Americans (savages) and the New England Puritans. This novel illustrates that division, and a society that was unwilling to accept racial differences in their relationships, and in their lives.

Written in 1827, "Hope Leslie" is the story of…

consequences of New England Puritanism. Puritanism in New England was an offshoot of the religion in England, but in the New World, the religion evolved until it was central to society and to a person's place in society.

The causes of New England Puritanism had their roots in England, where the Puritans (and other religious sects) were persecuted. When Puritans came to America, they hoped to worship in their own way with religious freedom. The Puritans longed for purity in their lives and 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 their own religion that ruled New England and the New World for decades. Puritanism grew in direct opposition to the opulent and flamboyant Catholic and Church of England rituals, and indeed, the Puritans were known…

It is evident that in his case, he tried to improve his condition by looking at his captors as providing him with guidance, and it is in this perception that Equiano's journey becomes meaningful, both literally and symbolically, as he eventually improved his status in life by educating himself after being a free man.

Bozeman (2003) considered Equiano's experience as beneficial and resulted to Equiano's changed worldview at how he looked at slavery and British society (his 'captors). Bozeman argued that Equiano's worldview became "fluid," wherein

…he is exceptional among his contemporary British brethren: not only is he able to stand both on the inside and outside of the window of British society, Equiano can move efficiently between the two…Accepting the essence of who Equiano is, in the end, is to acknowledge the reality he was a living oxymoron perpetuating a simply complex life (62).

It is this "fluid" worldview…

witchcraft trials of Salem, and those that occurred on the other side of the Atlantic as well, have long been framed and understood as misogyny made visible in law. On that level, Karlen's The Devil in the Shape of a oman adds little to scholarly analysis on the subject. However, Karlen's research presents evidence related to core Puritan beliefs that predicated the witchcraft trials, and discusses some of the economic and demographic contexts within which the trials occurred. The book relies heavily on primary source evidence, but the author's biases and points-of-view are also plainly evident throughout the text. Karlsen does accomplish the primary goal of elucidating the intersections between gender, class, and social power. In so doing, the author substantiates related research on the subject.

Fundamental to an understanding of the witchcraft trials that took place in the 17th century is an understanding of how, why, and when they…

history of the native American Indians is a long and colorful one. The first Indians arrived on the North American continent subsequent to the end of the Ice Age approximately 15,000 years ago. These early Indians arrived from Siberia as they passed through Alaska and gradually settled throughout what is now the United States. These early arriving Indians were hunter-gatherers and, as a result, they traveled freely across the vast North American continent and by 8,000 years ago had spread as far east as the eastern seaboard.

As indicated, the early Indians were hunter-gatherers and many of the tribes remained such until the early 1900's but a select few tribes began farming. The Indian tribes electing such life style were centered in present day Mexico City and by the time that this area began to be explored and settled by Europeans the farming life-style of these Indian tribes had been…

Edward Taylor

Education

Private Life

Profession

Purpose of orks

Intended audience

Central goal of writings

riting Style

Early works

Comparison between writings in England and America

Comparison to other authors

Personal Style

Use of Imagery

Major Themes

Major orks

Preparatory Meditations

God's Determinations

Other works

Taylor's orks Compared

The Life and orks of Edward Taylor

No study of Puritan literature would be complete without the works of the man often called the best Puritan writer of them all, Edward Taylor. Except for a brief few, the works of this great Puritan author remained unpublished during his lifetime. In 1939, they were discovered by Thomas H. Johnson at Yale, and have since become a valued and praised addition to the other works from the Puritan era. So important are these works that the Norton editors refer to them as "one of the major literary discoveries of the twentieth century" (Rowe). These…

English Civil War of the 17th century. Specifically, it will look at what the most important results of the English Civil War were, and how England in 1700 differed from England in 1600. The results of the English Civil War changed England forever, and altered many cultural aspects, from religious to government. Before the Civil War, England was divided from the inside, and after, it was more united, but stronger too, because of a better working relationship between the monarchy and the Parliament.

The English Civil War was really a series of wars fought during the mid-1600s in England, but also exacerbated by battles with the Scottish, the Irish, and the Welsh. In fact, modern historians often refer to the Civil War by several names, including, "Puritan evolution', 'English evolution', and more recently 'British Civil War(s)'" (Ohlmeyer, 1998, p. 16). It was a result of many things, including despotic rule…

Urban Infrastructure and Services Changed in the Colonial Era to 1860

Urban infrastructure and connected services had a massive impact in the development of the colonies, all the way up to the end of the 19th century. In just a few decades, the quaint colonial townships which had once existed were no longer around, but had manifested into bustling metropolitan centers. This paper will demonstrate how much of that evolution was as a result of the values of Puritanism which guided and helped the colonies to evolve and develop into the modern era. The values of Puritanism spurred people to work and to thrive, causing the towns to work and to thrive into cities.

Pennsylvania is a shining example of how urban infrastructure and such related factors were able to modernize and urbanize such a colony. Philadelphia largely offers a clear example of how both privatism and a rejection of…

" James a.S. McPeek

further blames Jonson for this corruption: "No one can read this dainty song to Celia without feeling that Jonson is indecorous in putting it in the mouth of such a thoroughgoing scoundrel as Volpone."

Shelburne

asserts that the usual view of Jonson's use of the Catullan poem is distorted by an insufficient understanding of Catullus' carmina, which comes from critics' willingness to adhere to a conventional -- yet incorrect and incomplete -- reading of the love poem. hen Jonson created his adaptation of carmina 5, there was only one other complete translation in English of a poem by Catullus. That translation is believed to have been Sir Philip Sidney's rendering of poem 70 in Certain Sonnets, however, it was not published until 1598.

This means that Jonson's knowledge of the poem must have come from the Latin text printed in C. Val. Catulli, Albii, Tibulli, Sex.…