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.