[Sca-cooks] Canadian Friends

[XvLoverCrimvX at aol.com]

In a message dated 10/5/01 11:48:41 PM Eastern Daylight Time, lcm at efn.org
writes:

> A challenge for you Misha- go to the library, and do some reading. See
>  if you can find 4 or 5 things about the Puritans that surprise you and
>  are different from what you'd expect. And see if you can draw a line of
>  thought that helps you understand their role in the formation of our
>  nation. Report back. I for one would be interested in seeing what you
>  think is important about the Puritans in 17th c. America.
>
>  'Lainie
>  frustrated history teacher strikes again...

Well, from what I know of my English and History class the Puritans were a
strict religious group in England that wanted to purify the Church of England
to a more simplier style of worship than the more elaborate church of
England. Their attempts to form and create a theocracy in Massachusetts was
called the Puritan Experiment. William Bradford was their first leader I
think both in England and the New World. To escape religious prosecution and
intolerance, they fled to Holland and then to the United States where the
caught the name:Pilgrim. The ship they fled on was no other than the
Mayflower. On the Mayflower they formed a document called the Mayflower
Compact which essentially outlined how they would be governed. This was the
grandfather to our American Constitution. Many ministers and members of the
"elect" had great influence in the government.
     The literature of the Puirtans was in a plain style which told about
diaries and journals of self examination and the Bible. They believed that
writing about anything else would lead to temptation and would lure them into
the hands of the Devil. A Puritan woman was the first poet in America:Anne
Bradstreet. In her poem "Here follow some verses upon the burning down of our
house, July 10, 1666", she gives many allusions to the Bible such as Job 1:21
"The lord hath given, and the lord hath took. Blessed be the name of the
lord". But her poetry did deal a lot about the Bible, love for her husband,
public events, and her children. Her major source of influence of her poems
was none other than William Shakespeare. The Scarlet letter  by Nathaniel
Hawthorne was about one of his ancesters that was convicted with adultry and
therefore was made to wear the Scarlet letter A forever, unless she told who
the father was.
     The religion of the Puritans was very strict and dealt heavily with
self-examination to see if you were one of the "elect". They were Calvanists
who believed in predestination. But to see God's work, you must repent of
your sin and keep your mind and hands busy so the Devil wouldn't tempt you.
They believed the Devil was all around you and always tempting you. They were
a very susperstitious group of people. The quote I sort of sarcasitcally used
was to represent a "hellfire and brimstone preacher" known as Jonathan
Edwards. His most famous sermon was called "Sinners in the hands of an angry
God" which compared a ship sinking in damned waters, a bow and arrow piercing
a heart, and a lead weight pushing down on you to God's wrath. His sermons
brought out fear of damnation to the people which took the religion out too
far.  The Salem Witch trials showed how the Puritan religion was pushed too
far because of the oppression of women. Let me talk about the Salem Withc
trials. The first convicted in the SWT was Sarah Osborne and Sarah Good, two
unpopular women who did not go to church so they had to be witches, right?
Well, both were hanged as well as 17 others. The Salem Witch trials slowly
diminished when a Puritan Minister recited the Lords Prayer perfectly before
being hanged.
      I'm not going to go but so in depth cause my hands are hurting. But you
could say the influence of the Puritans gave us the American Constitution and
many great literary works.

Misha