Puritan Puritan HistoryHistory

and and LiteratureLiterature

Comunicación y Gerencia

Puritanism• Puritanism covered a period from the1550s

to about 1700

• Originally developed in England to “purify” the Anglican church (or the Church of England) of the trappings of Catholicism

• A Separatist movement developed within the Puritans. They had given up on “purifying” the church deciding that only a separate movement could succeed.

• Moving first to Holland in 1607, fear of assimilation and lack of religious fervor led them to leave for a new land “devoyd of all civill inhabitants” in 1620.

• These people we call “Pilgrims.”

• Most of the settlers of Plymouth were poor and of the working class.

Plymouth Colony

Plymouth today

William Bradford• William Bradford was the governor of the Plymouth Colony

• Helped create positive Indian relations and democratic town hall meeting

• Wrote Of Plymouth Plantation in 1630 using “Puritan Plain Style”

• Non-Fiction Narrative Account– Tell the story of real-life events. Can be first-hand or written by

someone that researched the events.

• Considered the most complete authority on the Puritans and a primary document on the time period.

• A group of Puritans persuaded King James to grant them an area of land between the Massachusetts Bay and Charles River in North America.

• The main party of 700 people left Southampton in April 1630.

• During the 1630s over 20,000 people emigrated to Massachusetts Bay.

• The settlers of the Massachusetts Bay Colony were much wealthier and of higher social standing. They came as Puritans in the true sense, not Separatists.

Massachusetts Bay Colony

Boston today

Anne Bradstreet Wrote for herself, not publication

– Published in 1650 – considered to be the first collection of original poetry written in the colonies

– First female poet to be published

Used Plain Puritan Style as well

Lasting Effects of Puritans

• Emphasis on Simplicity in Worship

• Public Education• High Moral Standards• Democratic Political

Principles• Puritan Ethic – Believed

good was accomplished through hard work, self-reliance, and self-discipline. Influenced industrialism and efficiency.

Harvard University

Puritan Literature

Purpose for Literature: – provide spiritual

insight and instruction

– reinforce authority of the Bible and church

Style of Puritan Literature:

• Simple—plain writing style with a clear statement. There is no use of pathos or emotion to sway the reader.

• Straightforward—unembellished direct statements, with little figurative language, although there are frequent Biblical allusions.

• Spiritual—intended as either personal reflection or group edification

Characteristics of Puritan Literature:

• God is all-powerful, vengeful, and wrathful.

• Man’s destiny is already decided – nothing can be done to change it.

• Humans are essentially evil and flawed.

• A few people will go to Heaven, but most will go to Hell.

• No one knows whether they are one of the saved or one of the damned.

Characteristics cont. of Puritan Literature:

• God decides who goes to Heaven and who goes to Hell.

• Human duties while living are to be faithful to God and prepare for the afterlife.

• Education exists to teach people to read the Bible.

• The Bible is the ultimate source of information for anything.

Types of Puritan Literature

• Some narrative accounts such as histories, biographies, and autobiographies.

• Some poems, journals and diaries, but their aim was primarily for serious self-examination

• Did not produce fiction nor drama because they regarded both as sinful.