New England Puritans

U.S. History to 1877

The Reformation

  Martin Luther, 1517

          Basic tenets of Protestantism

                  Faith alone

                  The Bible alone

                  Priesthood of all believers

The English Reformation

  Henry VIII, 1509-1547

  Catherine of Aragon

          Mary

  Anne Boleyn, 1533

          Elizabeth

  Edward VI, 1547

English Calvinists

  Counterreformation

          Mary, 1553

  Geneva: Protestant refuge

          John Calvin & Calvinism

                  Predestination

                  Activism

                  Goal of the godly society

                           God intended the Bible as a model for life, society, culture, and government

Puritanism

  Queen Elizabeth I, 1558

          The “middle way”

  Puritanism

          “Purify” the Church of England?

          The search for signs of grace

                  Conviction

                  Conversion or justification

  Separatism for the impatient

Refuge in America

  James I, 1603

          Clamps down

                  Separatists leave, 1620

  Charles I, 1625

          Puritans resist

  The “Great Migration,” 1630-42

          English Civil War, 1642-1649

“Bible Commonwealth”

  Steady hand of Governor John Winthop

           Towns & town meetings

           Balanced sex ratio; long lives; healthier population

           Large families, patriarchal authority

           Community before individual

                  Restrain individuals for common good

                  Equity for all

           Church membership & citizenship

  Ministerial authority & congregationalism

  “Plain style” clothes, buildings, speech

           Moderate enjoyment of God’s gifts

           Useful, sober, productive, industrious

Indian Relations

  Rev. John Eliot’s “praying towns”

  Conflicts

          The Pequot massacre, 1636

          King Philip’s War, 1675

  End of the Bible Commonwealth

  Charles II, 1660

  James II, 1684

          The Glorious Revolution, 1689

          William & Mary: secular charter, 1691

New England Legacy

  Local, democratic control

  Strong defense of individual and community rights

  Community values balancing individualism

           Government regulation of private action, for the common good

  Deeply moralistic worldview

           Self-control and social order

  Education and community institutions

           Harvard, 1636; Yale, 1705; Brown, 1764; Dartmouth, 1769

           Uplift of society and the individual