Essays of American History

In what ways did ideas and values held by Puritans influence the political, economic, and social development of the New England colonies from 1630 through the 1660s?

The first Puritan Pilgrims landed in Plymouth in 1620. These Separatists were fed up with the abuses of the Church of England as well as the social status they had endured for years. Their settlement struggled and they managed to survive while basing every facet of their lives on their Calvinist beliefs. A much larger wave of new British Puritans and non-Puritans came in mass to Massachusetts ten years later. These settlers of the Massachusetts Bay Colony would craft their government, society, and economy around their original beliefs that inspired their 3,000 mile journey.


In 1517, Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses against the Roman Catholic Church on the door of his local church in Wittenburg, Germany. These Theses called out the Roman Catholic Church for becoming corrupted by earthly pleasures and no longer being focused on leading the people of the church to a more holy lifestyle. These ideas that Luther expressed eventually became known as Protestantism. John Calvin of Geneva was a devout follower of the Protestant faith who was influenced heavily by Luther's teachings. He formed his own radical sect of Protestantism that came to be known as Calvinism. Calvinism was based on the doctrine of predestination. Predestination, one of the most vital pillars of Calvinism, states that the eternal fate of all individuals is predetermined by God. Those who were considered to be predetermined for eternal bliss were known by Calvinists as the "elect".


Calvinism came sweeping into England at a time of religious and economic turmoil in the country. Henry VIII had just broken off from the Roman Catholic Church and recently formed the Church of England. Also at this time, English countryside was being bought by wealthy landowners to use as sheep pastures. This forced many small farmers off the land and turned them into unemployed people just looking for something to hold onto. At this time, Calvinism presented itself to the poor as an idea that assured them that there was a supreme deity who could, in the end, bless them enough to justify their poor conditions.


The Calvinists were radicals compared to the people of the Church of England and wanted to "purify" the parts of the Church that they disagreed with. From this desire, the English chapter of Calvinism became known as Puritans. After their initial complaining, the Puritans began to be persecuted by the new English monarch, James I. The king saw them as a threat to England due to their defiance of accepted spiritual teachings. To escape this persecution, the Puritans began fleeing to the New World. The two most notable Puritan colonies of Plymouth and Massachusetts Bay Colony, with Massachusetts Bay Colony being the most powerful, were governed by William Bradford and John Winthrop respectively. Both of these men used their position in government to promote the Calvinistic way of life.


Puritan society was founded entirely on their Calvinistic faith. They wanted to live pure lives devoted to their God to show that they were "elect". As John Winthrop famously stated, the Puritans in the New World wanted to be "a city on a hill" for the rest of the world to look up to. The Puritans emphasized the role of the church in society and it made all decisions concerning their colonial society. Their church was so important to them that they always situated their physical church in the middle of their village. So much did they base their beliefs on their unique worldview, that they totally rejected any other worldview. A famous dissenter, Roger Williams, lived in the Massachusetts Bay Colony and voiced his opinion of freedom of religion loudly and passionately. His fellow Puritans did not agree with him at all. They believed firmly in the idea that since their religion was the only correct one, all other religions should not be tolerated. They went as far as to say that if you tolerated other religions, it was a sign of doubt in your own religion. The Blue Laws were also another social norm created by the Puritans. It enforced conservative values on all people to keep life as it always had been. For example, a coupe was fined 20 shillings for kissing in public. Another important facet of the Puritan society was their emphasis on providing education. After settling in the New World, education was of high importance to them due to the fact that they wanted to be able to think better theologically. The overarching theme of Puritan society is the concept of the "elect". If you were a member of the church, considered "elect", then you could participate in politics and were regarded highly. After the Puritans began to lose church membership due to it's harsh teachings, the church accepted the Half-Way Covenant which agreed to let those who were not considered "elect" to be part of the congregation as long as they were baptized. This severely equalized the social gap between "elect" and the other colonists.


The political landscape of the Puritan colonies was much different than that of traditional England. The Mayflower Compact was a Constitution adopted by the colony of Plymouth that stated they would rule themselves and not be governed by England. This idea of local government caught like wildfire in the New England colonies and is still being used in America today. The Puritan government enforced harsh laws among the people as they were really just a medium to impose the will of the Church. Although the government was completely aligned with the Church, the people did not want the clergy in the government due to how the clergy in England governed harshly upon them. The Puritan people also wanted to limit the government's power as to not let corruption take hold and tear down their society. Another important part of colonial Puritan politics was the town hall, located in the center of towns. The town hall was a place where the freemen, or landowning elect, would come and discuss politics and oftentimes vote. An ominous part of Puritan politics can be seen in their policies towards Natives. They warred with the Natives, who were just an obstacle on the way to gaining more land for economic growth.


The Puritan influence on New England's economy is not as easily seen as their social and political influences due to the fact that they came to the New World for religious freedom and were not as concerned with creating a booming economy. The Puritans were still hard workers, as they believed that their labor was the will of their God. They possessed what is known as the "Protestant Ethic", a desire to work hard at all things, though they may we worldly. Much of the economy that the Puritans had was agriculture as most of their land was devoted to either farming or livestock breeding. Another significant branch of their economy was their fur and fish trade. These commerces were helped tremendously by the additions of New Hampshire and Maine to the Massachusetts Bay Colony.


After their daring journey to the dangerous New World, the Puritans truly created a domain for their habitation in New England. The social, political, and economic practices of the Puritans shaped New England in a way that no other people group could have. Due to their deep roots in Calvinism, they created a region that would be unique to all other parts of the world.

29/30
-Gave a bit too much background information and didn't answer the question quick enough
-Some paragraphs were too long
-Used 2nd person in my arguments of social influences