Puritans, Nature, Universe, and Time

December 7, 2009

History 120

Puritans

Summary of the Puritans:

The New England Puritans were a group of people who have played a pivotal role in shaping American values. The Puritans of the seventeenth-century have contributed to our country’s work ethic, sense of mission, and its moral sensibility. “Today, eight million Americans can trace their ancestry to the fifteen to twenty thousand Puritans who migrated to New England between 1629 and 1640” (http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/

learninghistory/puritans/puritans_menu.cfm). The New England Puritans had grown discontent with the Church of England; they came to America to work towards religious, moral and societal reforms. “The Puritans were one branch of dissenters who decided that the Church of England was beyond reform. Escaping persecution from church leadership and the King, they came to America”(http://www.nd.edu/~rbarger/www7/puritans.html).

Nature:

The Puritans view on nature was based on their religion. The nature of the new world (America) to the puritans was radically different than what was found in England. The Puritans despised nature, they were strictly against it. “Nature is ‘a hideous and desolate wilderness, full of wild beasts and wild men’ (William Bradford, 1620)” (http://www.googl e.com/search?hl=en&rlz=1T4ADBR_enUS257&q=puritan+view+of+nature&aq=1&oq=puritan+view&aqi=g4g-m1). They believed that nature was evil and that the devil lived in the forest, because of this they pushed back the forests. “The Puritans interpreted nature in Biblical terms, with themselves as part of a biblical story” (http://www.google.com /search?hl=en&rlz=1T4ADBR_enUS257&q=puritan+view+of+nature&aq=1&oq=puritan+view&aqi=g4g-m1). Since the Puritans were against nature and the forests, they were also against Indians because they lived in the forest and were therefore devil worshipers. Nature is generally seen by the Puritans to be something that has to be fought, as...