Transcript American Literature 1600-1850

Early American Literature and Life
The Puritans and Pilgrims
Who were the Puritans and Pilgrims?
• Sept. 20, 1620: Pilgrims set sail for New
World in hopes of practicing their faith
without persecution. They wanted to
move away from the Church of England.
– Why did they leave when they did?
• They arrive in early winter 1620.
• ½ of the pilgrims died during the first
winter.
• Puritans come a few years later.
• More intellectual than the Pilgrims.
• More driven by religious principles than the pilgrims in
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the south.
Puritans didn’t want to move away from the church; they
merely wanted to reform it.
According to Fredrick Turner in Beyond Geography, the
puritans viewed themselves as the new Isrealites,
banished from their home country and chosen by God to
establish a “city on a hill” amidst the evil and sinful
nature of their new, untamed surroundings.
Two Early American Historians
William Bradford
John Winthrop
William Bradford fr. History of the
Plimoth [sic] Plantation
Being thus arrived in a good harbor and brought safe to land, they fell upon their knees and
blessed the God of heaven, who had brought them over the vast and furious ocean, and delivered
them from all the perils and miseries thereof, again to set their feet on the firm and stable earth,
their proper element. . . . But here I cannot but stay and make a pause, and stand half amazed at
this poor people's present condition; and so I think will the reader too when he well consider the
same. Being thus passed the vast ocean and a sea of troubles before, in their preparation, . . .
they had now no friends to welcome them, nor inns to entertain or refresh their weather-beaten
bodies, no houses or much less towns to repair to, to seek for succor. It is recorded in scripture
as mercy to the apostle and his shipwrecked company, that the barbarians showed them no small
kindness in refreshing them ; but these savage barbarians when they met with them . . . were
readier to fill their sides full of arrows than otherwise. And for the season, it was winter; and they
that know the winters of that country know them to be sharp and violent, and subject to cruel
and fierce storms, dangerous to travel to known places, much more to search an unknown coast.
Besides what could they see but a hideous and desolate wilderness, full of wild beasts and wild
men? And what multitudes there might be of them, they knew not. Neither could they, as it were,
go up to the top of Pisgah, to view from this wilderness a more goodly country to feed their
hopes; for which way soever they turned their eyes (save upward to the heavens) they could
have little solace or content in respect of any outward objects. For summer being done, all things
stared upon them with a weather-beaten face; and the whole country, full of woods and thickets,
represented a wild and savage hue. If they looked behind them, there was the mighty ocean
which they had passed, and was now as a main bar and gulf to separate them from all the civil
parts of the world. . . . May not and ought not the children of these fathers rightly say : `Our
fathers were Englishmen which came over this great ocean and were ready to perish in this
wilderness; but they cried unto the Lord and he heard their voice and looked on their adversity.
Let them therefore praise the Lord because he is good and his mercies endure for over.'"
John Winthrop (1588-1649)
History of New England
• Came to Massachusetts in 1630.
• "Mr. Hopkins, the governor of Hartford upon Connecticut, came to Boston,
and brought his wife with him (a godly young woman, and of special parts),
who was fallen into a sad infirmity, the loss of her understanding and
reason, which had been growing upon her divers years, by occasion of her
giving herself wholly to reading and writing, and had written many books.
Her husband, being very loving and tender of her, was loath to grieve her;
but he saw his error, when it was too late. For if she had attended her
household affairs, and such things as belong to women, and not gone out
of her way and calling to meddle in such things as are proper for men,
whose minds are stronger, etc., she had kept her wits, and might have
improved t them usefully and honorably in the place God had set her.
"He brought her to Boston, and left her with her brother, one Mr. Yale, a
merchant, to try what means might be had here for her. But no help could
be had."
Puritan Beliefs
• Everyone is a sinner
• God’s son, Jesus, was sent to earth to save
certain people—”the elect.”
• A person didn’t know if he/she was one of the
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elect or one of the “regenerate.”
Only saved by “grace of God” which arrived in
an intensely emotional moment.
Experiencing God’s grade led to outward
“Christian” behavior.
Puritan Values
• Self-reliance
• Industriousness
• Temperance (self-control)
• Simplicity
(Sounds like Thoreau, without the religious fervor)
Surely there is in all children...a stubbornness and
stoutness of mind arising from natural pride, which
must, in the first place be broken and beaten down;
that so the foundation of their education being laid
in humility and tractableness, other virtues may, in
their time, be built thereon. For the beating and
keeping down of this stubbornness parents must
provide carefully...that the children's wills and
willfulness be restrained and repressed, and that, in
time; lest sooner than they imagine, the tender
springs grow to that stiffness, that they will rather
break than bow.
John Robinson
Puritan Rules
The Puritans were a serious group of people who put God and hard work first in
their lives. They rarely had any time for fun or good times. They believed in
strict conformity and a very strict version of God. They wore very simple clothes
and did not allow dancing, which they saw as sinful against God. They believed
that witches were real, and that they make a deal with the devil for their magic
powers. They worked together as a community to build their towns, but this
often led to a fear of outsiders and nonconformity. People who dared to threaten
this world order were either banished into the woods or were killed, sometimes
accused of witchcraft. The Puritans believed in a "fire and brimstone" method of
preaching, and led lives in fear of an angry God. Sometimes their strictness led
to horrific things happening in their community, like the Salem Witch Trials.
http://www.teachnet-lab.org/MBHS/Scragg/Crucible/life.html
Puritan Society begins to
break down
“Natural” Forces undermining the
Puritan way of life:
• 1. A person's natural desire to
• 6. The presence of the frontier
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do good - this works against
predestination.
2. Dislike of a "closed" life.
3. Resentment of the power of
the few over many.
4. Change in economic
conditions - growth of fishery,
farms, etc.
5. Presence of the leaders of
dissent - Anne Hutchinson,
Roger Williams.
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- concept of self-reliance,
individualism, and optimism.
7. Change in political
conditions - Massachusetts
became a Crown colony.
8. Theocracy suffered from a
lack of flexibility.
9. Growth of rationality - use
of the mind to know God - less
dependence on the Bible.
10. Cosmopolitanism of the
new immigrants.
Perry Miller's Errand Into the Wilderness 1956
Excerpts from Anne Hutchinson’s
Creed:
•That faith is not a receiving of
Christ, but a man's discerning that
he hath received him already.
•This witness of the Spirit is
merely immediate, without any
respect to the word, or any
concurrence with it.
•The graces of Saints and
hypocrites differ not.
•A Christian is not bound to pray
except the Spirit moves him.
(1591 – 1643)
For her views, Hutchinson was banished from
the Puritan community. Five years after her
husband’s death, Anne, her servants, and five
of her children were killed by Mahican
Indians. Her former community members
viewed this as God’s wrath for her
disobedience.
•A minister that hath not this new
light is not able to edify others:
that have it.
•A man may have all graces, and
yet want Christ.
Signs that the Puritan way of life was decaying
• 1. Visible decay of godliness.
• 2. Manifestations of pride -
especially among the new rich.
• 3. Presence of "heretics" Quakers and Anabaptists.
• 4. Violations of the Sabbath
and swearing and sleeping
during sermons.
• 5. Decay in family government.
• 6. People full of contention •
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rise in lawsuits and lawyers.
7. Sins of sex and alcohol on
the increase.
8. Decay in business morality lying, laborers underpaid, etc.
9. No disposition to reform.
10. Lacking in social behavior.
Perry Miller's Errand Into the Wilderness 1956
The Salem Witch Trials
and
Puritan Clergy
Cotton Mather (1663 – 1728)
Witch Trials at a Glance
• In 1692 alone, legal actions were taken in Massachusetts
against 154 individuals accused of the crime of witchcraft.
• Of the 154 prosecutions, 19 ended in execution
– 13 of which were women and 6 were men.
– Four individuals died while in prison
– One man was crushed to death under rocks during his
interrogation.
A list of the accused
Nehemiah Abbot
Nehemiah Abbot, Jr.
John Alden
Daniel Andrew
Abigail Barker
Mary Barker
William Barker, Sr.
William Barker, Jr.
Sarah Bassett
Bridget Bishop
Edward Bishop, Jr.
Sarah Bishop
Mary Black
Mary Bradbury
Mary Bridges, Sr.
Mary Bridges, Jr.
Sarah Bridges
Hannah Bromage
Sarah Buckley
George Burroughs
Candy (slave)
Hannah Carrel
Andrew Carrier
Martha Carrier
Richard Carrier
Sarah Carrier
Thomas Carrier, Jr.
Bethia Carter, Sr.
Bethia Carter, Jr.
Elizabeth Cary
Mary Clarke
Rachel Clenton
Sarah Cloyse
Sarah Cole
Sarah Cole
Elizabeth Colson
Mary Colson
Giles Corey
Martha Corey
Deliverance Dane
Mary DeRich
Elizabeth Dicer
Rebecca Dike
Joseph Draper
Ann Doliver
Lydia Dustin
Sarah Dustin
Rebecca Eames
Mary Easty
Esther Elwell
Philip English
Thomas Farrer, Sr.
Edward Farrington
Abigail Faulkner, Sr.
Abigail Faulkner, Jr.
Dorothy Faulkner
John Flood
Elizabeth Fosdick
Elizabeth Fosdick (Jr.?)
Ann Foster
Nicholas Frost
Eunice Frye
Dorcas Good
Sarah Good
Mary Green
Elizabeth Hart
Margaret Hawks
Sarah Hawkes
Dorcas Hoar
Abigail Hobbs
Deliverance Hobbs
William Hobbs
Elizabeth How
John Howard
Francis Hutchens
Mary Ireson
John Jackson, Sr.
John Jackson, Jr.
George Jacobs, Sr.
George Jacobs, Jr.
Margaret Jacobs
Rebecca Jacobs
Abigail Johnson
Elizabeth Johnson,
Sr.
Elizabeth Johnson,
Jr.
Rebecca Johnson
Stephen Johnson
Mary Lacey, Sr.
Mary Lacey, Jr.
John Lee
Jane Lilly
Mary Marston
Susanna Martin
Mary Morey
Sarah Morrill
Rebecca Nurse
Sarah Osborne
Mary Osgood
Martha Emerson
Joseph Emons
Elizabeth Paine
Mary English
Alice Parker
Mary Parker
Sarah Pease
Joan Peney
Hannah Post
Mary Post
Susanna Post
Margaret Prince
Benjamin Proctor
Elizabeth Proctor
John Proctor
Sarah Proctor
William Proctor
Ann Pudeator
Wilmot Reed
Sarah Rice
Susannah Roots
Henry Salter
John Sawdy
Margaret Scott
Ann Sears
Abigail Somes
Martha Sparks
Tituba (slave)
Job Tookey
Mary Toothacker
Margaret (daughter of Mary) Toothacker
Roger Toothacker
Hannah Tyler
Martha Tyler
Mercy Wardwell
Samuel Wardwell
Sarah Wardwell
Mary Warren
Sarah Wilds
Ruth Wilford
John Willard
Abigail Williams
Sarah Wilson, Sr.
Sarah Wilson, Jr.
Mary Withridge
The Great Awakening
“There is nothing
that keeps
wicked men at
any one moment
out of hell but
the mere
pleasure of
God.”
Jonathan Edwards (1703 – 1758)
Some Biblical References to Sin and
Hell
Deuteronomy 24:16
“every man shall be put to death for his own sin.”
Micah 7:19
“thou will cast all their sins into the depths”
2 Thessalonians 2:3
“…that man of sin be revealed…”
James 1:15
“sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death
Romans 3: 6
“whosoever abidith in him sinneth not”
Romans 3: 23
“For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.”
Romans 6:23
“The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life.”
Psalms 9:17
“the wicked shall be turned into hell”