1. Of Plymouth Plantation

2. William Bradford,
Separatist Puritans (Pilgrims) to Plymouth, 1620
Group most persecuted in England
Most radical, extreme views
Images: William Bradford; contemporary
reconstruction of Plymouth Plantation homes

3. Figures and typology
Puritan literature explicates prophecies of Biblical Old Testament as foreshadowing of events and people—first in the New Testament, then in contemporary life (by 1640s)
Biblical forecasts of current events
E.g.: Atlantic journey of Puritans is “antitype” of Exodus of Israelites, the “chosen people” (the “type”). Image: The First Thanksgiving, Jenny Brownscombe, Pilgrim Hall Museum, 1920.

4. Figures and typology: Story of American Exceptionalism
Individuals are “chosen”—the elect
But COMMUNITY as whole is “people chosen of God” as well
New Israelites (Puritans) sent on errand into the wilderness to establish the new Jerusalem in anticipation of Christ’s return

5. Vocabulary
Theocracy - government of a state by immediate divine guidance or by officials who are regarded as divinely guided

6. "Bible Commonwealth” - the Bible contained a clear blueprint for the good society, they based many of their laws on Biblical precedent.

7. pre·des·ti·na·tion - The divine foreordaining of all that will happen, esp. with regard to the salvation of some and not others.

8. Original sin - a consequence of this first sin, the hereditary stain with which we are born on account of our origin or descent from Adam.

9. Total Depravity - a state of corruption due to original sin held in Calvinism to infect every part of man's nature and to make the natural man unable to know or obey God

10. Puritans saw themselves as “New Israelites” and were reactionary and more conservative than other groups within England at the time. 
They did not believe in progress, and preferred a return to the past.

11. Some of the language that they used in their chronicles, histories, and sermons was considered archaic even for the period in which they lived.

12. Democracy would have been considered blasphemous by Puritan standards

13. Puritans believed in a literal interpretation of the Bible, and that they referred to the Bible for ideas about law and government, as well as societal values and attitudes. 
The Puritans were “People of the Book” in every aspect of their lives.