1. Puritan Literature (1600s)

2. The First Thanksgiving 1621, oil on canvas by Jean Leon Gerome Ferris (1899).

4. Terms and Concepts to Understand
Puritan
Absolute Sovereignty of God
Predestination
Depravity of Mankind
Puritan Plain Style

5. Puritans A religious group that formed the Massachusetts Bay Colony
Wanted to reform or purify the Church of England from within
Set up the colony as an example for the rest of society to follow, a “City Upon a Hill” (founding father, John Winthrop)
Pilgrims = Puritans who separated from the Church of England and settled Plymouth Colony

6. Absolute Sovereignty of God
God has absolute power and authority over mankind and all of creation
Supreme Authority of the Bible
The Bible is God’s word given to Mankind and should be followed strictly and absolutely.
Humans should do ONLY what the Bible COMMANDS.

7. Predestination
From the beginning of time, the soul of every Human is PREDETERMINED by GOD to be saved or condemned.
Mankind is completely dependent on God for salvation, it cannot be earned.

8. Depravity of Mankind Man is, by nature, evil, immoral and wicked.
Man is, by nature, a sinner and totally undeserving of God’s grace.

9. Personal Religious Experience
The Puritans were constantly looking within themselves for signs that they were among the “saved.”
They often struggled with their own nature, and wrote many journals and diaries that spoke of intense religious meditation and contemplation.

10. Signs Puritans saw signs in everything
Saw natural disasters, attacks by Native Americans, fires, famine, and witches as punishment from a just God for man’s many sins.
Also looked for smaller signs in everyday life.

11. Puritan Plain Style (of Writing)
Reflected the plain style of their (physical) worlds and lives.
Characteristics
Short words
Direct statements
References to ordinary, everyday objects
Everything should serve God

12. New England Primer
First “textbook” designed for the American Colonies in the late 1680s
Combined the study of the alphabet/reading with the morals of the Bible.
Encompassed many of the themes and ideas that dominated Puritan life: respect for parents, predestination, sin, reading the Bible
Used in New England into the 1800s

13. Anne Bradstreet ( )
At age 18, arrived at Massachusetts Bay Colony with her husband Simon
Mother of 8 children
Collections of poetry reflect the joys and hardships of daily Puritan life
Considered first American Poet (“very unladylike” occupation)

14. Jonathan Edwards ( )
Wrote and preached the sermon “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God”
Believed in science and reason with a religious twist
“Fire and Brimstone” style of preacher
Saw signs of God’s will in everyday life
Preached during the Great Awakening of the s

15. Other writers and works from the Puritan Literature Unit
William Bradford’s ( ) from Of Plymouth Plantation – narrative/Puritan Plain Style account of Pilgrims’ arrival and settling in Cape Cod, Massachusetts
Stephen Vincent Benet’s ( ) “In the House of the Wild Wood” – poetic account of Pilgrims’ arrival and settling in Cape Cod, Massachusetts