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Between Heaven and Hell. The Puritan Tradition. Literature. Puritan literature is often stereotyped as overly pious, gloomy, and unimaginative. Some Puritans have made great literary contributions.
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Between Heaven and Hell The Puritan Tradition
Literature • Puritan literature is often stereotyped as overly pious, gloomy, and unimaginative. • Some Puritans have made great literary contributions. • English Puritan John Milton’s Paradise Lost is perhaps the most acclaimed imaginative work of the period.
Sociology • The Puritans envisioned their society as a Christian “commonwealth” in which each person put the good of the group ahead of personal concerns. • They established a strict moral code that provided a sense of common mission and cultural cohesion.
Sociology cont. • Education was highly valued as a way to fight atheism and to instill in children the value of hard work.
Puritans often focused on other Christians in their efforts to root out the devil. Quakers and other dissenters received harsh punishments, including execution, for their beliefs. The Puritans believed that repentance, like personal salvation, depended on the grace of God. They believed that, since humans were inherently evil, sin could never be eradicated. Religion
Religion cont. • They saw guilt and remorse as signs of God’s grace. • Therefore, they examined themselves and their lives constantly, always looking for evidence of their election.
Government • Many variations of John Winthrop’s “city of God” experiment were tried in the colonies. • Other groups came to America fleeing religious persecution and set up religious establishments of their own. • Most colonies had some form of religion supported by the government.
History • Puritan leader Roger Williams was banished from the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1635 for challenging the strict religious code and the government’s right to confiscate Native American land without compensation. • He befriended the Narragansett tribe, learned its language, and purchased land from two chiefs.
History cont. • In 1636, Williams founded the colony of Providence and established the first government policy in the colonies guaranteeing political and religious freedom.
