The Puritans were a religious group that wanted to do one thing--purify the Church of England by getting rid of all traditional Catholic practices. They viewed themselves as “a model of Christian charity”, according to John Winthrop, but I don’t believe they actually were. As we study the Puritans, and what they accomplished in their time of settlement, we will answer the question of if they really were a perfect model or not. In class, we read over many documents, both primary and secondary sources. We read primary sources from John Winthrop, which read him claiming that God had claimed the land for them.
Puritans were a religious group that wanted to purify the Church of England by ridding all traces of traditional catholic practices. King Charles I was King James I's son. When he took the throne it became obvious that he had even less tolerance for religious difference than his father. Once Charles I became king, it was clear he had a very high dislike for the Puritans. The Puritans left to settle in New England because they weren't liked by Charles I at all. When they first settled there, they intended to live there in peace, to love other settlers like a brother, and to always help one another. “To do this we must work together as if we were one man. We must treat other settlers as brothers. We must enjoy each other. We must make others’ problems our own.” It was also said to make one another’s problems their own, and to work together as a community.
Before leaving England in 1630, John Winthrop and other Puritans attended a sermon by Rev. John Cotton, who said "god promised his plantation" saying they were chosen people. “The settlers can plainly see the influence of God leading them from one country to another. God makes room for a people to live there when he drives those who live there away by a just war.” He is saying that God is leading the Puritans to New England, and if there are settlers there, it is justified to wage war against them. And, after a short while in the New World, they waged war against the Pequot tribe. It was an all-out massacre, and they ended up burning the entire village down, which consisted of ⅓ of the total population. It was unjustified in my opinion because it was a complete and utterly brutal massacre that killed hundreds, if not at least thousands of Pequots for no good reason. They were too brutal with their attack. One thing that also struck my interest was how poorly women were treated in Salem. Anne Hutchinson was put on trial for speaking her mind, and defied the church by interpreting the bible for herself. She was given no rights and was put on trial immediately. As a woman, she was expected to cook, clean, and care for the children around the household. And also, related to trials, the witch trials were just as unfair, if not more so. If the girls screamed, and accused someone of being a witch, they were put on trial, but 9 times out of 10 they were executed.
So, overall, the Puritans were not a perfect model of Christian charity they thought they were. In fact, they were the near opposite. Although they left England because Charles I didn't like them, they had no religious rights in America and they didn't own any land because of God. They completely massacred the Pequot colony, because they believed that they were justified into doing so because God sent them to that land and the Pequots were blocking it. They, however, crossed the line when they waged war and burnt the village down. The women were also very highly oppressed, and treated very poorly. They had almost no rights, and some were put on trial for even speaking their mind. The Salem Witch Trials were also one big last example. Basically, no matter how religious, how well-respected that person was, if they were accused they were eventually going to be executed.
The Pequot War:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vFfxRm8ZXsw (Part one)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G92duTgaZ_A (Part two)
Salem Witch Trials: Life in Salem in 1692
http://school.discoveryeducation.com/schooladventures/salemwitchtrials/life/
