Legacy of the Puritans

The puritans left behind an extraordinary legacy. The love of learning was carried down through generations, and we still love it now. The puritans started our first colleges, including a very well known school, Harvard. They also they made the "colonies" Rhode Island, and Massachusetts, which are now known as states. The puritans had many ideas that we still have now.

Puritans in Plymouth

The Puritans sailed to Plymouth to purify the church but not break away from it, unlike the pilgrims, who wanted to break away. They arrived in Plymouth in 1630. Over time the Puritans began spreading out across New England. When they did this they created new colonies along the way. Also, not everyone stayed at the Massachusetts Bay Colony. For instance, at first the settlers of Rhode Island were those who left the Massachusetts Bay Colony. In 1603 a young minister named Roger Williams went to England to get a charter from King Charles. THere was a civil war in England, and the puritans became very powerful.

Religious Beliefs of the Puritans

The Puritans believed that the Bible was God's true law, and that it provided a plan for living. The established church of the day described access to God as monastic and possible only within the confines of "church authority". Puritans stripped away the traditional trappings and formalities of Christianity which had been slowly building throughout the previous 1500 years. Theirs was an attempt to "purify" the church and their own lives.

Puritan Controversy

The Puritans had mad many disagreements- between themselves, and the English. The disagreements between England were mostly about who would rule. The English wanted to rule the puritans in Jamestown, but the Jamestown people wanted to rule themselves. The puritans were very independent and wanted to become part of a democracy, but the English were power hungry and wanted to rule Jamestown. Since the church of England differed little from the catholic church, so the fights were mostly about power.

The disagreements between themselves were the same as the disagreements between the English. About power and religion. Even though the puritans seemed like a nice, peaceful community, they had many controversies among themselves. One of these were the battle of power. The ministers and wealthy families had basically all of the power. This upsetted the people so many issues were around this. Another problem was that education was very important to them. This may seem like a good thing but because of this a schoolhouse was required in a town with 50 or more people.

Puritans to the New World

The Puritans set off to find a new life in September of 1620 on the Mayflower. They left because they wanted to change the church of England by removing catholic traditions. Since King Henry VIII did not want them to change the English traditions which consisted of a Catholic religion. Many people sailed, mostly men, and few women and children. They reached a land 3,000 miles away from their home, and started a civilization there. This land was named Plymouth. 10 years later, more puritans followed the movement and left to the new world called Plymouth.

Puritans Coming to the New World

The Puritans set off to find a new life in September of 1620 on the Mayflower. They left because they wanted to change the church of England by removing catholic traditions. Since King Henry VIII did not want them to change the English traditions which consisted of a Catholic religion. Many people sailed, mostly men, and few women and children. They reached a land 3,000 miles away from their home, and started a civilization there. This land was named Plymouth. 10 years later, more puritans followed the movement and left to the new world called Plymouth.

Massachusetts Bay Colony

The Massachusetts Bay Colony was the first colony of Puritans to come to North America. It was on the east coast of North America around Boston and the Salem areas and was founded in the 17th century. As many know, the Puritans came by sea, on a ship called the Mayflower, and had many more ships to follow. The puritans knew it was a difficult journey and that it would be a difficult task to create a new settlement out of nothing. But eventually they completed there tasks and let go of their fears of the journey by sea. After a while, they even established a congress for the area they were living in, now a days Massachusetts. Some congressmen there were John Cotton, Roger Williams, and Thomas Hooker. The English were very angry with the puritans because so many people followed them to the new world and that meant that so many people left England. King James I and Prince Charles I attempted to stop the Puritan movement, but all their tries were hopeless.