The Puritans

Author's note: In this essay my goal was to write a well written informative essay about the Puritans, making sure my vocabulary was right for the subject and my understanding of the subject was clear. I also worked on organizing my thoughts before I started so that I didn't ramble and have no conclusion.

The idea of traveling to North America during the sixteen and seventeen hundreds appealed to a very wide variety of people in Europe. The new land caught the attention of people seeking a different government, freedom of religion or unlimited land to lead to a wealthy future. These people saw America as an opportunity to start over, and influence others to help lead to a future they desired. This concept of renewal was especially valued by the Puritans, one of the many groups of people that settled in America.

During the time of American colonization, the Puritans had become more and more in disagreement with the English churches. They thought the churches were straying too far from the concepts and traditions laid out in the Bible. The fact that there were still several similarities between the English and Roman churches did not settle well with the Puritans either. The other disagreement the Puritans had with England was the educational system. They believed in a system where all children should be required to learn how to read and write, so that they are well educated when reading the Bible, laws, and other important influencing literature of that time. The Puritans were outsiders in England, so they moved to America to start fresh, with people of similar beliefs.

The first group of Puritans, led by John Winthrop and containing about 1,000 people, that settled in New England left Europe in 1630. The group established the Massachusetts Bay Colony, creating a government that was strictly religion based, hoping that other colonies would model after their example of leadership. Only men involved in the church were able to vote for governor and representatives to the general court. The Puritans were also responsible for founding the first school in America. This school soon became known as Harvard, named after John Harvard, a member of the colony.

Many of the Puritan's thoughts and actions have had a huge impact on the way United States citizens think and act today. Although several of the concepts founded by the Puritans have diminished over time, the mindsets of people in America today reflect the mindset of the Puritans very well. The desire to challenge the government to be better, the desire to change religion, and the desire to be free to choose were all concepts initiated by the thoughts of some of America’s first settlers. Even views from individuals during that time are valued today. Roger Williams, an outcast in his society because of his thoughts and ideas, was the best known challenger of the relationship between religion and government. He believed that government should in no way be influenced by any religion. By looking at the first amendment we can tell that being told what religion to practice didn't settle well with the founders of this country.

Although America has been influenced by a lot of different cultures, some of the ideas contributed by the Puritans are still around today.  Even though society has grown with time, we still have government text proving that the Puritans had important and valid ideas. Our government was founded by people who disagreed with their own government and wanted fair and equal rights. This is very apparent in our country today, and is something that we're constantly looking at to make improvements. The puritan ideas and beliefs were very innovative due to their background of opposition to government, which made them extremely valued when creating a new system. Maybe the Puritan thoughts on society has diminished, and maybe their thoughts have long since been exposed, but a part of America was founded by this innovative way of thinking, and it will long remain in our minds as we continue to improve  our government and the laws laid out by the constitution.