2. Overview  16 th Century  More extreme Protestants within the church of England  James 1/Charles 1  Wanted to “purify” their national church by eliminating every shred of Catholic influence  17 th Century  Emigrated to the new world  Founded a holy commonwealth  Remained dominant in New England into the 19 th century

3. 4 Convictions  Personal salvation was entirely from God  The Bible provided the indispensible guide to life  Church should reflect the express teaching of scripture  Society was one unified whole

4. English Puritanism  Known at first for their critical attitude regarding religious compromise made during reign of Elizabeth 1.  Encouraged:  Direct personal religious experience  Sincere moral code  Simple worship services  Christianity should be taken as the focus of human existence  ACT OF UNIFORMITY (1662)  English Puritans expelled from church; considered non- conformists

5. American Puritanism  17 th Century Puritan groups separated from the church (among these were the Pilgrims who in 1620 founded Plymouth Colony)  10 years later= first large Puritan migration  Richard Mather and John Cotton- Massachusetts Bay  Mainstream Calvanistic thought: Stressed personal religious experiences as “God’s elect”

6. Strict and Rigid Puritan Code

7. Beliefs  Depravity  Unconditional Election; God “saves” those he wishes  Limited atonement: Jesus dies for the chosen  Expected to work hard and repress emotions  No tolerance for individual difference  All sins should be punished  God’s Will  Followers of Satan were witches (social outcasts)

8. Salem Witch Trials

9. Facts on Salem Trials  Over 150 people (78% women) were accused of witchcraft in Salem, Massachusetts, 1692.  19 people were hanged (14 women and 5 men), and one man was pressed to death because he would not say whether he was guilty or innocent.  Nobody was burned at Salem, but they did burn “witches” in Europe.  Evidence used against suspected witches to prove they were on the devil’s side: accused of harming animals, making people sick, pinching people as they slept, unladylike behavior (yelling at their husbands in public).

10. Nathaniel Hawthorn 1804-1864  Hawthorn’s great-great Grandfather was among the judges of Salem Witch Trials  Hawthorn was not a Puritan (they were mostly gone by his time)!!!  He looked with distaste upon “the whole dismal severity of the Puritan code of law”.  Transcendental reformer  He calls his stories “allegories of the heart”

11. Sources  Puritain Beliefs: http://sunburst.usd.edu/~jdudley/241/basic_puritan_ beliefs.htm Puritain Beliefs: http://sunburst.usd.edu/~jdudley/241/basic_puritan_ beliefs.htm  Salem Facts: Elizabeth Reis Author of Damned Women: Sinners and Witches in Puritan New England  Henry Warner Bowden