The Puritan Tradition

The Puritan Tradition Between Heaven and Hell

North America: 1630 • The Massachusetts Bay Colony was named for the Massachuset tribe of Native Americans. • About 1000 Puritans established the Massachusetts Bay Colony.

Massachuset’s Tribal Attire Once a great tribe in New England, the Massachuset lost their cultural identity when colonists converted them to Christianity.

North America: 1682 • Quakers led by William Penn begin living in peace with Native Americans in Pennsylvania. • Quakers voice opposition to slavery in 1688. • Within 5 years, 12,000 people had moved to Pennsylvania.

Salem Witch Trials • Witchcraft trials take place in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692. • Between February 1692 and May 1693 were a series of county court trials to prosecute people accused of witchcraft in colonial Massechusetts. • Over 150 people were arrested and imprisoned, with even more accused who were not formally pursued by the authorities.

Salem Witch Trials • The two courts convicted twenty-nine people of the capital felony of witchcraft. • Nineteen of the accused, fourteen women and five men, were hanged.

Salem Witch Trials • One man who refused to enter a plea was crushed to death under heavy stones in an attempt to force him to do so. • At least five more of the accused died in prison. • (Video)

North America: 1763 • British defeat French in French and Indian War, and claim land east of Mississippi River, including Canada. • In 1765, British Parliament passed the Stamp Act which levied tax on colonies to help pay off British debts.

North America: 1773 • 1773 brought the Boston Tea Party, a protest on the new British tax on tea. • (Video)

North America: 1775 • “Shot heard around the world” is fired on Lexington Green in Massachusetts, starting the Revolutionary War. • In 1781, the British surrender to General George Washington, ending the Revolutionary War. • 1789: George Washington is elected the first president of the United States.

Puritan Literature • Puritan literature is often stereotyped as overly pious, gloomy, and unimaginative. • Notable achievements of Puritans are John Milton’s Paradise Lost and Anne Bradstreet’s sensitive lyrics. • Puritans cultivated a straight-forward prose style.

Puritan Sociology • 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. • Education was highly valued as a way to fight atheism and to instill in children the value of hard work. • How does this compare with the Native American trickster tales?

Puritan Religion • 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.

Puritan Government • Many variations of John Winthrop’s “city of God” experiment were tried in the colonies. • The Puritans were among a number of groups who had come to America fleeing religious persecution. • Most colonies had some form of religion supported by the government in the revolutionary period. • Massachusetts retained a limited version of Protestant government until well into the 1800s, despite the Constitution’s restriction on the establishment of religion.

Puritan Beliefs • Human beings are inherently evil and so must struggle to overcome their sinful nature. • Personal salvation depends solely on the grace of God, not on individual effort. • The Bible is the supreme authority on earth.

Puritan Influence on Literature • Nathaniel Hawthorne had an ancestor who had been a presiding judge during the Salem Witch Trials. His novel, The Scarlet Letter, was set in Puritan times along with many of his short stories. • In the 1950s, the playwright Arthur Miller dramatized the Salem witchcraft trials in The Crucible. • Miller’s drama not only personalizes the events of Salem but also warns against similar injustices in our own time.

The Puritan Tradition