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Law and Order in Puritan New England. Old Ship Meeting House , Hingham, Massachusetts. Built in 1681, t his meetinghouse with its elevated pulpit bathed in light s ignals the illumination of God’s Word as preached by the minister. Bell-Ringer.
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Law and Order in Puritan New England Old Ship Meeting House, Hingham, Massachusetts. Built in 1681, this meetinghouse with its elevated pulpit bathed in light signals the illumination of God’s Word as preached by the minister.
Bell-Ringer • What can laws tell us about a society and its culture?
The Puritans felt it was their duty to use their government to punish sinners. They were fearful of what God would do to them if they allowed sinners in their communities. Using the Old Testament and English common law, the Puritan colonies made the following criminal offenses: immorality (including not observing the Sabbath), worshiping idols, using the name of God in vain, drunkenness, slander, and practicing magic. Even though the Puritans were heavily concentrated in the New England colonies, they were not always successful in keeping out people who did not share their very devout faith and morals. Sailors, fishermen, and indentured servants fell into this group. They were also not very tolerant of people with other religious faiths. Puritans routinely prosecuted, tried, convicted, and exiled people who went against their religious beliefs. For the Puritans, the death sentence was limited mainly to the crimes of murder, sodomy (gay sex), witchcraft, and insurrection (any attempt to rise up against the government/authorities).
BACK, BREH! Print from Divine Examples of God’s Severe Judgements upon Sabbath-Breakers, c. 1671.
For those who were sentenced to death, there was no attempt to make executions painless. Ever heard of being drawn and quartered? (Hung by the neck, bowels cut out and burned in front of your eyes, head cut off, and body cut into four parts)! • Justice during this time period was swift and simple. Not many of the lawmakers and judges had legal training, so many based their decisions off of intelligence, common sense, and experience. • Being jailed for a long period of time was not a practical solution, so depending on the severity of a crime, many first and second-time offenders were publically humiliated. • There were also double-standards in how justice was served. If you were a woman who had a child out of wedlock, you would be whipped publically, while the man paid a fine. Common people, more than upper-class people, suffered public humiliation.
General Characteristics of the New England Colonies • The other New England colonies were created for different reasons. Massachusetts Bay was set up to be a religious example (“city on a hill”) to the rest of the world; both Connecticut and Rhode Island were set-up by people banished from Mass. Bay colony for their disagreements with Puritan leaders. • Due to longer winters and rocky, uneven, soil, New England instead focused on mills, shipbuilding, and using their natural harbors for trade. • Early settlers lived in villages and towns around the harbors, which made it easy for most to carry on some kind of trade or business. Since things were more compact in New England, greater importance was put on the village school, the village church, and the village/town hall. • Not as tolerant toward differing beliefs.
Notice the physical features that correspond to the earliest habitation by English settlers? Also consider why towns were so much more a feature of 17th century New England than of the Chesapeake region.
