The Puritans of New England

U.S. History to 1877

The Reformation

  Martin Luther, 1517

          Basic tenets of Protestantism

                  Faith alone

                  The Bible alone

                  Priesthood of all believers

The English Reformation

  Henry VIII, 1509-1547

  Catherine of Aragon

          Mary

  Anne Boleyn, 1533

          Elizabeth

  Edward VI, 1547

English Calvinists

  Counterreformation

          Mary, 1553

  Geneva: Protestant refuge

          John Calvin & Calvinism

                  Predestination

                  Activism

                  Goal of the godly society

                            God intended the Bible as a model for life, society, culture, and government

Puritanism

  Queen Elizabeth I, 1558

          The “middle way”

  Puritanism

          “Purify” the Church of England?

          The search for signs of grace

                  Conviction

                  Conversion or justification

  Separatism for the impatient

Refuge in America

  James I, 1603

          Clamps down

                  Separatists leave, 1620

  Charles I, 1625

          Puritans resist

  The “Great Migration,” 1630-42

          English Civil War, 1642-1649

  “Bible Commonwealth”

  Steady hand of Governor John Winthop

          Towns & town meetings

          Balanced sex ratio; long lives; healthier population

          Large families, patriarchal authority

          Community before individual

                  Restraint of individual actions for the common good

          Church membership & citizenship

  Ministerial authority & congregationalism

  “Plain style” clothes, buildings, speech

          Moderate enjoyment of God’s gifts

          Useful, sober, productive, industrious

 

  Indian Relations

  Rev. John Eliot’s “praying towns”

  Conflicts

          The Pequot massacre, 1636

          King Philip’s War, 1675

  End of the Bible Commonwealth

  Charles II, 1660, & James II, 1684

          The Glorious Revolution, 1689

          William & Mary: secular charter, 1691

  Legacy

  Local, democratic control

  Strong defense of individual and community rights

  Community values balancing individualism

          Government regulation of private action, for the common good

  Deeply moralistic worldview

          Self-control and social order

  Education and community institutions: Harvard, 1636; Yale, 1705

          Uplift of society and the individual