1. Puritans

2. Literature in Early America
Early colonists did not call themselves “Americans” until the mid 18th century
Roanoke Island, 1580
Jamestown, 1607
Pilgrims landed at Plymouth, 1620
Puritans founded Mass Bay Colony, 1630

3. Massachusetts Bay Colony
The Puritans were the center of colonial culture
Founded Harvard, 1636
First colonial press, 1638
First American published book, 1640
First colonial newspaper, 1690

4. Puritan Beliefs Doctrine of the Original Depravity
Adam and Eve broke the covenant with God
All people were sinners and damned
Doctrine of the Elect
Predestination – only a select few would go to heaven
All sinners must live a holy life – you never knew
Being good would not change your damnation

5. Puritan Concepts Supremacy of Divine Will
Natural phenomena is the will of God
Un-natural events caused by the Devil’s witches
Theocracy
Government controlled by the church
The Devil
The forest is evil and home to the Devil

6. Puritan Values
Education – created America’s first schools Hard Work Family Life Community Service Self-sacrifice

7. Characteristics of Puritan Writing
The Bible provided a model for Puritan writing – each individual life was a journey to salvation.
They saw a direct connection between Biblical events (allusions) and their own lives.
From R Wilton

8. Characteristics of Puritan Writing
They used writing to explore the inner and outer lives for signs of the workings of God.
Diaries and histories were the most common types of literature.
They favored a “plain style” similar to that of the Geneva Bible and stressed clear expressions over complicated figures of speech.
From R Wilton

9. William Bradford
Of Plymouth Plantation
Described hardships of journey to New World; unshakeable belief in God.
Plain Style of writing - few figures of speech or metaphors.

10. Jonathan Edwards 1703-1758 Fire and brimstone imagery.
Helped bring about the Great Awakening.
Tyrannical pastor - extreme and strict - humans “lowly sinners.”
The last Puritan (Elements of Literature, Fifth Course, 77 ).

11. SINNERS IN THE HANDS OF AN ANGRY GOD by the Rev. Jonathan Edwards
A Sermon Preached at Enfield, July 8th, 1741
At a Time of Great Awakenings, and Attended with Remarkable Impressions on many of the Hearers.

12. The Crucible By Arthur Miller
Drawing on research on the witch trials he had conducted while an undergraduate, Miller composed The Crucible in the early 1950s. Miller wrote the play during the brief ascendancy of Senator Joseph McCarthy, a demagogue whose vitriolic anti-Communism proved the spark needed to propel the United States into a dramatic and fractious anti-Communist fervor during these first tense years of the Cold War with the Soviet Union. 

13. The Crucible is best read outside its historical context—not as a perfect allegory for anti-Communism, or as a faithful account of the Salem trials, but as a powerful and timeless depiction of how intolerance and hysteria can intersect and tear a community apart.