OverviOverviewew

16th 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

17th Century Emigrated to the new world Founded a holy commonwealth Remained dominant in New

England into the 19th century

4 Convictions4 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

English PuritanismEnglish 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

American PuritanismAmerican Puritanism

17th 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”

Strict Strict and and

Rigid Rigid PuritanPuritanCodeCode

BeliefsBeliefs

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)

Salem Witch TrialsSalem Witch Trials

Facts on Salem Facts on Salem TrialsTrials

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).

Nathaniel HawthornNathaniel Hawthorn1804-18641804-1864

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”

SourcesSources

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