Puritanism A Divine Mission to Establish an Ideal Community
The Great Migration (1628-1640) 20,000 fled England Were persecuted Est. Massachusetts Bay Colony
William Bradford Arrived on the Mayflower in 1620 Was Governor 30 times Wrote historical account
Puritan beliefs: Absolute Sovereignty God rules God is in control We are the chess pieces
Providence God provides (the good and the bad) God causes everything to happen
Natural Depravity We are born sinners We are naturally evil A stands for Adam: “In Adam’s fall, we sinned all.”
Election God chooses who goes to heaven Through God’s grace NOT good works or faith
Grace It’s a present from God The ability to love unconditionally
Additional Values America as Promised Land (American Dream) Strict moral code Community more important than individual Conformity to community Simplicity and plainness
Puritans and the Wilderness Puritans settle in the wilderness and they “fight” against it and the “savages” in order to settle an ordered environment. The forest reflects the wild/savage aspects of the human nature which the Puritans fear.
Religious Flow Chart
Puritan Timeline 1608 – England’s religious “Separatists” go to Holland 1607 – First permanent English colony in N.A est. at Jamestown, Virginia 1616 – Shakespeare dies (just to put this in perspective) 1620 – Pilgrims land at Plymouth 1630 – Mass. Bay colony est. 1630 – Major William Hathorne emigrates from England
Timeline cont. 1636 – Roger Williams founds Providence Colony for religious liberty. 1636 – Harvard College is founded. 1637 – Anne Hutchinson is banished from Boston for ‘traducing the ministers,” and settles Portsmouth, Rhode Island 1656 – Mistress Hibbins is hanged for witchcraft 1692 – Salem Witch Trials begin