1. Warmup: What words and/or images come to mind when you think of the Puritans?

2. The Puritans
© Cara Persico

3. Who? Christians from England Where and When?
Settled in Boston in 1630 (Massachusetts Bay Colony)
Why?
To reform the Anglican church and “purify” it. Hence, Puritans

4. Motivation?
To create a perfect, godly community so people in England would see why it was so important to reform the Church of England (Anglican Church).
The Puritans were *not* trying to found a new society.

5. Foundations of the Community
The health (spiritual and literal) of the community depended on what they called the "Community Covenant”.
This was a pact between the community and God. God would protect them and offer salvation to the Elect, but in exchange the community must preach the true word of God and ensure that *everyone* followed his laws.

6. Foundations cont’d.
This is why Puritans police one another so strictly. It's not done out of mean-spiritedness but out of love.
They ensure all follow the laws so that they can be safe from God's wrath in an uncertain world.

7. Puritan views View of God View of Man View of Nature All-powerful
All-knowing
Revengeful
Just/fair
View of Man
Sinful
Unworthy of salvation
View of Nature
- Used by God as a way to punish or reward man

8. Puritan life Simple life; dress was constant and strict
Men ruled the households and made all decisions
Children were dutiful and followed father’s wishes
Church attendance was essential; attendance was taken and if you missed church you were made aware of it

9. Puritan life cont’d.
They were bound by the words of the bible; if the bible mentions it, the people believed it
Morality and religion are dependent on each other
Strong belief in education and literature (founded Harvard in 1636)

10. Why is this important?
We are who we are as a nation because of the Puritans
Many of their ideals are the foundation of what we as Americans believe: the importance of education, hard work, involvement in community and religious issues
Aside from the Native Americans, they were the starting point for American literature

11. Exit Slip
Based on what you learned about the Puritans what do you think their writing will be like in terms of subject and style?

12. Note to teachers
I used to show a 14 minute video clip at the end of this lesson on YouTube from “The Making of Colonial House,” a PBS docu-series, because it gave a very real illustration to students of life in the 1600s. The video has since been removed from YouTube, but if you are able to borrow the series from your library, I highly recommend it. Here is a link to the official site at PBS: