Puritanism was entirely English in its origins, yet the movement achieved its greatest influence in America. . . . The 17th century colonies in New England represent the fullest development of the movement.
. . . The first Puritans to arrive in America were Separatists . . . known as Pilgrims--[who] emigrated to America, landing at Plymouth in December 1620 [Encyclopedia Americana, 1988, volume 23, page 22].
For purposes of this web page essay and for convenience of readers, the following information has been obtained from encyclopedias at the local public library in order to allow readers everywhere an easy way to verify the accuracy of what is printed here. Look up "Puritanism" in any encyclopedia. Abbreviated references hereon are to the 1988 Encyclopedia Americana and the 1982 Encyclopedia Britannica Macropaedia.
Seventeenth Century Puritans
A. Puritans: "A name derived from the Latin word for pure, and intended as a criticism of the reformers for being too extreme in their demands"; their beliefs were "religious truth" which demanded purity in lifestyle (Americana, 23:21).
B. Purify the church in matters of faith and morals by conforming to the teachings of the "Bible," by promising to "walk in the ways" of Christ, and by becoming "visible saints" in terms of showing through "behavior that their whole way of living was based on serving God" (Americana, 23:21).
C. Purify the nation.
a. Prepare for the "final day of judgment," "wait for Christ to return," and build a "city upon a hill" (Americana, 23:23).
b. Make "government a theocracy" (Americana, 23:23).
(a). "Church and state should cooperate in serving God" (Americana, 23:23).
(b). "Unless the saints . . . [hold] political power, the wrong kind of person . . . [could] get elected to office" (Americana, 23:23).
(c). "Biblical law . . . [as] the primary law for the ordering of both church and state" (Britannica, 15:307).
(d). "Enforce the Ten Commandments and other precepts" (Britannica, 15:308).
(e). Banish the "antinomian" (antilegalist Anne Hutchinson), and the religion and government separationist (Roger Williams--Americana, 23:23).
Twentieth Century Puritans
Ditto.
The History Lesson from Puritanism
At long last having power to do as they pleased, the Puritans suddenly discovered that they could not agree [Americana, 23:22].
In 1833 the state of Massachusetts gained the distinction of being the last state in America to purge fromits statutes the idea that religion is to be established by law and funded with public money. The Founding Fathers and the majority of American people, in the Constitution for the United States of America, had already rejected that idea for the federal government; and, the First Amendment guaranteed that Congress would not be allowed to establish "religion" by law. Many state constitutions contain more specifically worded provisions separating religion and government.
James Madison's Advice for the Future of America
Ye States of America, which retain in your constitutions or codes, any aberration from the sacred principle of religious liberty, by giving to Caesar what belongs to God, or joining together what God has put asunder, hasten to revise and purify your systems, and make the example of your country as pure and compleat, in what relates to the freedom of the mind and its allegiance to its maker, as in what belongs to the legitimate objects of political and civil institutions.
Strongly guarded as is the separation between Religion and Government in the Constitution of the United States, the danger of encroachment by Ecclesiastical Bodies, may be illustrated by precedents already furnished in their short history. (See the cases in which negatives [vetoes] were put by J.M. [James Madison] on two bills passed by Congress and hissignature withheld from another. See also attempt in Kentucky; for example, where it was proposed to exempt Houses of Worship from taxes.)
The most notable attempt was that in Virginia to establish a general assessment for the support of all Christian sects.
The above is quoted from James Madison's undated (perhaps 1817 or later) essay "Monopolies, Petpetuities, Corporations, Ecclesiastical Endowments," published in "Madison's Detached Memoranda," William and Mary Quarterly, vol. 3, series 3 (October 1946), page 555.
For those readers who prefer a more scholarly approach to understanding the Puritans, I recommend this book: Walzer, Michael. The Revolution of the Saints: A Study in the Origins of Radical Politics. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1965. Therefore, the following quotes:
Seventeenth Century PuritansTwentieth Century PuritansIn politics as in religion the saints were oppositional men and their primary task was the destruction of traditional order. But they were committed after that to the literal reforming of human society, to the creation of a Holy Commonwealth (p. 3).
One of the key themes of the revolutionary period: "You are physicians to the state," . . . "and these are purging times; let all malignant humors be purged out of the ecclesiastical and political body" (pp. 176-177).
The individual Christian had an end outside the body politic, and that end was heaven; but there was no haven for the ship of state (p. 178).
The preachers tended to generalize and socialize the themes of their theology (p. 179).
God had solved all the moral problems and had left men nothing more to do than to follow blueprints (p. 182).
The young child which lieth in the cradle is both wayward and . . . inclined to evil . . . We become good not by birth but by education . . . Therefore parents must be wary and . . . must correct and sharply reprove their children for saying or doing ill (p. 190).
A family is a little church and a little commonwealth, . . . a school wherein the first principles and grounds of government and subjection are learned (p. 191).
Religious discipline, household government, the holy commonwealth: all these were presented as substitutes for the traditional forms of order and relationship (p. 198).
He knew his enemy, he was impatient with negotiation and maneuver, he sought nothing by victory (p. 299).
Puritan writers described the connection of man and God, of the saint and his associates, of minister and church, of husband and wife. . . . They felt themselves living in an age of chaos and crime and sought to train conscience to be . . . permanently at war, against sin (p. 301).
What lay behind the warfare of the saints? Two things above all: a fierce antagonism to the traditional world and the prevailing pattern of human relation and a keen . . . anxiety about human wickedness and the dangers of social disorder (p. 302).
The zeal of the saints seems to have little in common with the secular . . . It suggests most clearly the activist role that Puritanism called upon the saints to play in the creation and maintenance of a new moral order (p. 307).
The Puritans . . . dreaded the dance and the drama, tore down maypoles and closed playhouses; they waged a long, bitter and unending war against fornication (p. 314).
The historical role of the chosen band . . .is a political movement aiming at social reconstruction (p. 319).
Ditto.
Thus ends the comparison.
Copyright 1998 Gene Garman