The Puritans By Lauren Barbo

In the Beginning…. The Puritans were a group of people who separated themselves from the Church of England in order to seek a more religious, moral, and societal reform. (1) The leader and creator of this idea was John Calvin. (1) He concluded that the Church of England had become a product of political struggles and man-made doctrine. With their new religion and ideas, the group of people packed up their belongings and came to America (1)

Inside Puritanism God was at the foremost in the Puritan’s minds and was the motivation behind all their actions. (1) The Puritans believed that the Holy Bible was God’s true law. They felt that they were chosen by God for a special and certain purpose – that they must live every moment in a God fearing manner. (1) They also believed that believing in Jesus and participations in sacraments could not effect a person’s salvation. (2) They could not chose salvation, for it was God’s decision. The Protestant work ethic was the belief that hard work was an honor to God and they would receive a prosperous reward. (1)

Inside Puritanism If one did not follow the Puritan way, then consequences would lead to strict disapproval and punishments. (1) Drama, religious music, and erotic poetry were prohibited from the way of life because they were believed that these things led to immorality. (1)

Inside the Church The church was the center of everything around the town. It was placed in the middle of the colony and town meetings were held there where they discussed laws, fees for laborers, prices for ale, and assigning people to certain tasks around the community. (3) It was made into law that every person was to attend church on every Sunday. (3) Puritans were required to read the Bible which showed their religious discipline. If they did not read the Bible then they were considered to be worshipping the Devil. (3)

Daily Way of Life Everyone in the family helped out around the house. Many families were farmers and grew their own food and raised their own cattle. (3) The men of the family went out to hunt for the food while the women stayed home and took care of the household. Basically, every necessity was made at home such as clothes, soap, candles, preserved vegetables, and the cooking. (3)

Puritan Women The duties of the Puritan women were just like any other duties of other women in history. They were to raise the children up in the “right” Puritan way and teach the them about moral values as well as share Bible stories about Jesus and God. The women would cook, clean, and sew everything around the household. (2) The women knew the expectations they were to uphold and they were caught in the act of doing something they weren’t suppose to be doing, they were to be casted out in front the society and punished. (2)

Clothing Style Women and their daughters would dress almost like as well the father and son dressed alike too. Their clothes were very modest and dark. The women would wear very long dresses that went down to their feet that covered majority of their bodies while the men wore linen shirts, breeches with stockings with boots. (3)

Suppositions The Puritans were very supposititious about everything. One believed that if a child was born on a Sunday, it was born out of sin. They believed that if a child was born on the Sabbath day, then they were conceived on the Sabbath day which was majorly frowned upon. (4) Another supposition was that the Puritans believed that evil witches followed them over from England. They believed the Witches were out the harm their families and kill their livestock. They were often people (primarily women) who had negative reputations and low social standings. (4)

Bibliographies (1) Kizer, Kay. "Puritans." University of Notre Dame. University of Notre Dame. Web. 08 Mar. 2011. <http://www.nd.edu/~rbarger/www7/puritans.html>. (2) "Puritan Life and Religion." Puritan Life and Religion. Tripod. Web. 08 Mar. 2011. <http://fervis.tripod.com/>. (3) Cannon, Jackie. "Daily Life of the New England Colonies." East Buchanan Community Schools. East-Buc. Web. 08 Mar. 2011. <http://www.east-buc.k12.ia.us/00_01/ca/13c6.htm>. (4) Sutter, Tim. "Salem Witchcraft: the Events and Causes of the Salem Witch Trials." Salem Witch Trials Page - History of the 1692 Witch Trials in Salem. Siteclopedia Network. Web. 08 Mar. 2011. <http://www.salemwitchtrials.com/salemwitchcraft.html>.