Puratainism

This first group of people had been living in self-exile in Leyden, Holland. They were known by 3 different names, their leader William Bradford called them Pilgrims, those who held them in contempt called them Brownists, and to King James and his court they were known as Separatists (Williams, 48). They were forced to leave England, because their complete and unchanging belief that religion should be completely free from government. They became tired of Holland, because of their poor worship of the Sabbath, and were ready to find a new place to live, but only 35 were brave enough to go to the America, they were joined by 66 people from London.

Their desired destination is not known, but they ended up landing at Cape Cod. After some exploring surrounding land the Pilgrims chose Plymouth Rock as their permanent settlement (Williams, 52). Although the first year almost half of the population died, by 1632, 11 years after the beginning thei

The Separatists in England did not contribute very much to this development, partly because there were very few, and partly because their writers were busy in explaining and defending their separation. The other Puritans, remaining within the Church of England, who charted the route from sin to holiness and explained the way God carried a saint along it. Only through these writings and beliefs could there be an explanation of the Practices of the New England churches.

Puritans made many settlements and had trade routes in between the cities. Inside of the cities life was organized and run very strictly. The church was the government and controlled everything under strict rule. They believed punishment for everything should be death or shame. If you had beliefs other than what the church wanted you to have you would be thrown in jail, or banished. The church felt fear of God was the way to worship, and also felt that fear was the best way to run a community.

After a church had its offices it would start testing candidates for new membership. Because the procedure for admission caused much dispute between the Puritans of New England and old England, the details of it are completely recorded. A person seeking admission to the church would first approach the elders who in a personal interview examined both his knowledge and his religious experiences (Morgan, 88). Any person who was obviously ignorant, “graceless,” or a scandalous person was turned away at that interview. If the person passed the examination the ruling elder proposed the candidate to the church, and asked the members to make inquiry about him. The members were expected to tell the elder of any known offense committed by the candidate and he was required to explain or show his repentance for it, in private for private offenses and before the church for public ones. If a candidate passes all these tests, several members testified at a church meeting to his good behavior, and he was called upon to demonstrate that he had work of God in his soul. Usually he was expected to make a narration, about fifteen minutes in length, in which he would describe in the way in which God’s saving Grace came to him. Afterwards the members of the church would vote on whether he was admitted or not.

In 1652 Massachusetts began coining her own money and officially proclaimed to be an independent commonwealth. But with New England’s founders dead and the turn of events in England this was Massachusetts’s last grasp at Independence. William Bradford, one of the first Puritans in New England and Governor of Plymouth died after 37 years of service to New England and all of the Puritans (Williams, 215).

Boston became the center of the Puritan settlements, as well as the biggest. It was on a bay and ships could get in and out with ease. Although many settlements popped up for the same reason as the puritans setting up settlements, religious freedom, many of the people who set up these new settlements were Puritans themselves. They just did not agree with certain things the Puritan leaders did and were either banished or ran away for fear of life.

Some topics in this essay:
Church England, Holland Plymouth, Puritans Massachusetts, England England, Congregationalism Salem, Puritans Protestants, John Winthrop, Plymouth Rock, Robert Child, Practices England, church england, morgan 65, puritans massachusetts, church membership, saving faith, separatists puritans, morgan 67, saving grace, anglican church, puritans england, believed churches england,