Prim, religious, and proper, the Puritans' stern reputation precedes them–so much so that the term is often used to describe any prudish individual who, in the words of journalist H.L. Mencken, is possessed of the "haunting fear that someone, somewhere might be having a good time."
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Jetzt kostenlos anmeldenPrim, religious, and proper, the Puritans' stern reputation precedes them–so much so that the term is often used to describe any prudish individual who, in the words of journalist H.L. Mencken, is possessed of the "haunting fear that someone, somewhere might be having a good time."
Puritan congregants were so religious they thought they were too "pure" for their church–and that was after they broke off from the Church of England. Read on to find out how the Puritans came about, how they differed from the Pilgrims, founded New England, and fractured under the weight of their divisive philosophy.
Before we delve into the Puritans, first, let us look at the definition of Puritans.
Puritans - a heavily devotional separatist religious group with extremist beliefs persecuted by the Church of England for their beliefs. They fled first to the Netherlands and later to America, where they settled in what would eventually become New England and later dispersed.
Did you know? The term "Puritan" was originally a pejorative term making fun of the separatist sect's self-righteousness and strict, narrow interpretation of the Bible. The word was used negatively and had a specific connotation of hypocrisy.
Puritanism had its roots in late sixteenth-century England. Some congregants of the Church of England, the mandatory house of worship, demanded Church reform. They felt that the structure and teachings of the Church were too close to that of the Roman Catholic Church. Since the English monarch oversaw the direction of the Church in a similar way that the Pope governed. Puritans felt that the teachings of Christianity needed to be led by the Bible alone. Anything less was idolatry, pure and simple. Puritans referred to their congregants as "saints."
Puritans disagreed profoundly with the direction the Church of England was going. Puritans felt that, much like the Catholic Church, it had become too wrapped in formality and presentation. They wanted to bring worship and devotion back to their basics. So they left England and resettled in the future of New England.
What about the Pilgrims, you might ask? And what is the difference between Pilgrims and Puritans? Though they had similar goals and would end up cooperating in the New World, the two groups were separate entities.
Pilgrims considered themselves separatists and wished to make a clean break from the Church of England. They were mainly lower or middle class and uneducated. The first group of settlers was relatively small, only 102 people and their goal was total spiritual freedom.
Puritans differed from Pilgrims in that they did not consider themselves separatists (although they were considered so by others and thus indistinguishable from Pilgrims). Instead, they were unhappy with the Church's reform and wished to "purify" it. The Puritans were generally upper-class, educated folks, and they were a much larger group than the Pilgrims. Thousands of Puritans came to the New World in the early 17th century. Their goal was to spread the gospel of salvation through their religion.
Let's look at some of the differences between Pilgrims and Puritans.
Pilgrims | Puritans |
Considered themselves separatists | They did not consider themselves separatists |
Wanted to break off from the Church of England completely | Wanted to "purify" the Church of England |
Lower class, uneducated | Upper class, educated |
Low numbers: only about 100 came over on the Mayflower | They came to America in their thousands |
They yearned for their spiritual freedom without losing their English culture. | They wanted to spread Protestantism. |
Table 1
Punishment for dissension in the Church of England was brutal. Both Catholic and Protestant kings and queens, as early as the 16th century, had sentenced folks to death for breaching the ban on religious freedom. The first group of separatists to grow tired of this and light out for greener pastures was based in Scrooby, England. A hundred of these self-proclaimed separatists, known as Pilgrims, got together and left England for the Netherlands.
While the Pilgrims made some progress in the Netherlands, after 12 years, they had had enough. The Pilgrims began to fear that growing up in a Dutch setting would cause their children to lose their English culture. Instead, they felt they needed to set sail for the unknown territory, where they would be free to practice their religion as they saw fit. They returned to England, boarded the Mayflower, and took off for the New World.
The first tiny colony of Pilgrims to arrive at Plymouth–there were only about a hundred of them– were soon joined by thousands of Puritans. The new arrivals brokered a peace with the colony's leader, William Bradford, and the two groups, with similar common goals, worked together to expand the settlement.
The Puritans lived and breathed the word of the Bible, closely adhering to its text and chastizing those who transgressed against it. They closely tied providence and prosperity, charity and self-discipline. Puritans were known for their work ethic, a trait drawn along American, especially New England, lines.
Seeking to redress the balance of a Christian ethic existing in a world approaching modernity, Puritans preached moderation amid the abundant cornucopia of the New World. They essentially behaved as if they were the chosen ones, much like the Jews of the Old Testament. In this respect, they felt central to a new cosmological drama in this menacing but prosperous land. Puritans, in short, felt that they had a direct covenant with God.
Puritan beliefs declined during the eighteenth century because Puritans were too heterogeneous and splintering into new groups. The fractures in Massachusetts led to the formation of other colonies like Connecticut and Rhode Island.
The intense focus on the individual's relationship with the word of God meant that this was open to different interpretations, literal and otherwise. So the very nature of the Puritan way of life and devotion, always purifying itself, made it unsustainable as a single sect of Christianity.
Practitioners of Puritanism believed in the teachings of John Calvin. Calvinism adhered to the doctrine of predestination or the belief that God has already decided who will go to heaven and who will go to hell. Thus, Puritans had a basis for believing that they were God's chosen people and had a special purpose in seeking out their destiny in a new land free of religious persecution.
Today we see other denominations in America echo the Puritans' ethics. Methodists, Baptists, Quakers, Mennonites, the Amish, and Latter-Day Saints are among these. These denominations are also marked by abstinence, self-discipline, hard work, a surface rejection of pleasure, and sometimes righteous judgment of other religious groups. Some would say that the very essence of American life is puritanical, albeit in a watered-down version.
However, the American Supreme Court's conservative majority and their many rulings in favor of certain groups based on "religious liberty" point to a rise in the kind of religious extremism that suggests we may not have seen the last of the Puritans.
Did you find this explanation helpful? If you answered yes, check out our other explanation on the Pilgrims!
The Puritans were a group of separatists who broke off from the Church of England in the 17th century. Believing themselves to be the chosen ones, they fled first to Holland and then to the New World in America.
The Puritans left England due to religious persecution. They were considered too extremist for the mainstream church, and prevented from worshipping by the likes of King James.
The Puritans settled first in Holland, then later in what would become New England.
They believed they were the chosen people akin to the Jews go the Old Testament. They had strong work ethic and did not believe in pleasure for its own sake. They tempered the prosperity of the New World with moderation and practiced charity and self-discipline.
True or False: The Puritans consisted of members of the upper class.
True.
The first leader of Plymouth was_________.
William Bradford
How many Pilgrims went over on the Mayflower?
About a hundred
What was the major difference between Pilgrims and Puritans?
The Pilgrims wanted to break from the Church of England, and the Puritans wanted to "purify" it.
Where did the first group of Pilgrims come from?
Scrooby, England
How did the Pilgrims travel to America?
On the Mayflower
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