1. Andrew Hodgson Ryan Roman
The Puritans
Andrew Hodgson
Ryan Roman

2. The Puritans were people who left England in the 17th century in search of religious tolerance (Calvinists)
They mostly settled in the New England region
While they left for religious tolerance they for some reason became the exact thing they despise in England because they ran a strict religious where they would punish you for trying to have fun
Pilgrims were famous Puritans
They thought that everything came from God, meaning if they had a good day it was because God was rewarding them, if they got hit in the head with an apple, they were being punished
They become the butt of all the jokes told by the rationalists
If you led a good life and something bad happens, then you must have been really bad

4. Beliefs Because they were Calvinists, they believed in pre-destination
Pre-destination is the belief that no matter what you do in life, it is decided before you are born whether you go to Heaven or Hell
Puritan beliefs were filled with paradoxes. The puritans rebelled against the English in order to create the perfect World, yet man was not to sin. Man was a seeker of salvation, but was helpless against evil. He was to live in hopes of eternal salvation, but he may not have been predetermined by God for salvation.
In other words, if you start out bad and turn it around and become good, it won’t matter and you will still go to Hell

6. Beliefs cont.
Puritans spent their days working hard to build up the colony
At the center of the colony was the church, which was attended regularly
Usually, they knew almost all of the people in the colony so if one misses church, everyone would know and try to punish you. Likewise, if you did something bad, like stealing, everyone would know about it
Family was very important, but they were quick to throw aside family when it came to the church
It could also be argued that they were more afraid of Satan and Hell, then hoping to get into Heaven
Knowledge came from God, the source of happiness, came from God “We live for God, we work for God, we die for God”
The Puritans were so sure of it that it obviously dictated their life, as previously mentioned

7. Salem Witch Trials Occurred in Massachusetts in 1692
Pitted neighbor on neighbor
A couple of bratty girls were seen at the start of it all by making crazy accusations of seeing peoples souls, which everyone was dumb enough to believe (and those who didn’t were also accused of witches).
Because of how uneasy and scared everyone was, you could make almost any accusation you wanted on anyone, and they usually were powerless in defending themselves
In other words, once you are accused, you are screwed and would be put on trial
People could only be saved by confessing or else they would be hung or drown, because it was believed a witch would survive either of those and if they did they’d be killed anyway
In total, about 150 people were put on trial, about 30 convicted, and 19 were hung, 14 women and 5 men
The real “witches” were the ones accusing random people and, much like this picture, it was often right in front of them

10. Decline
It began to decline over a resentment of the power that only a few had over so many
With Massachusetts also becoming a royal crown colony, the church leader’s power was lessened and people would listen to the British instead.
People were growing sick of a closed lifestyle, and wanted to expand beyond the colony
With wanting to leave the colony and be more free, concepts of self-reliance, individualism, and optimism became popular (or what we learned to be rationalism)
An age of reason and discovery led people to believe that maybe God was not so strict on life and therefore wanted it to be lived more freely
Puritanism never truly died in total and is still a live today