American Puritanism_American
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American Puritanism
1.the beginning of American history
2.American Puritans and British Puritans
3.American Puritans and Puritanism’s contribution to American literature and its influences.The beginning of American History
Generally, the year of 1620 was considered as the beginning of American history, in which 100 British emigrants, on the ship of Mayflower, croed the Atlantic and landed on the new continent.Actually the ship was intended for Virginia and paengers planned to join Jamestown.But the bad weather failed them.They landed much northern, on Cape Cod Bay.And they decided to set up their own colony, hence the colony of Plymouth, which would become a part of Maachusetts.The coming of Mayflower was considered an historical event.For among its paengers, 35 were Puritan Separatists—they called themselves saints(the other 67 were strangers—people who were not part of the congregation)who would survive the harsh life in the new world, and would, with the other later coming puritans, build the New England into a Puritan Society, which had ingrained and far-reaching influences on American culture, especially its literature.As a matter fact, British people’s colonization of the new world began much earlier than 1620.In 1578, Sir Walter Raleigh, a friend of Queen Elizabeth, claimed the first piece of land in the new world along the North American coast.He called it Virginia in honor of the unmarried Elizabeth, who was known as the “Virgin Queen”.But nobody settled down there.It was the Island of Roanoke that became the first place on which British people settled down.But a year later of the colonists disappeared.So it was called the “lost Colony”.Even today no historian can work out the mystery.The first permanent British colony in North American was Jamestown off Chesapeake Bay.The colony was set up in 1607.But the earlier settlers in Jamestown were quite different from those in Plymouth in their purpose of leaving their country to colonize the new world.The former were looking for ways to earn money while the latter were seeking free religious freedom.Their differences decided that the religious people were much more adaptable to the harsh life in the wilderne.The differences also decided that they would build their colonies into quite different communities.Generally, the New England would evolve into the centre of American culture and education and the South would develop a typical plantation economy.And more importantly Puritans in the New England developed a typical new code of values, namely Puritanism.It exerted a far-reaching influence on America.American Puritans and Puritanism
From the point of religion, Puritans refers to the more extreme Protestants inside and outside the Church of England who found the Elizabethan religious settlement unacceptable and wished a further “purification” of religion.They looked more and more to the Bible as the sole authority, rejecting all tradition in matters of public worships, and were mainly Calvinist in outlook and theology.After the Restoration and the Act of Uniformity(1662), they became collectively known as Dienters or Nonconformists.So they became unwelcome in England or even suffered persecution.That became one of the major reasons to leave their country for the new continent for religious freedom.And the
other major reason is that they were motivated by a sense of pious commiion.That is that they believed themselves to be the chosen people to reconstruct “the lost paradise” in the new world.Generally, Puritanism is a code of values, a philosophy of life, a point of view and a pious idealism, which American puritans bore with themselves.In respect of Christian, it is observant of Calvinism(that is, the doctrine of predestination, original sin and a total depravity, and limited atonement or the salvation of a selected few).It holds a strong belief in reconstruction of their “Eden on the Earth” in the wilderne through personal hard work.Idealism and optimism is the most obvious features in Puritanism.2.the influence of Puritanism on American literature
American Puritanism was one of the most enduring shaping influences in American thoughts and literature.First of all, American literature is based on a myth---the biblical myth of the Garden of Eden.American Puritans held a strong belief in reconstruction of the lost paradise in the wilderne.Whatever adversity they came acro they gave a optimistic attitude to it.Their optimism was inherited by the younger generation especially it was prevalent in early literary works.Later when they disillusioned from their dream, a mood of frustration or despair dominated the works of later period.Thus in either way American literature was from outset conditioned by the Puritan heritage.In technique, puritan doctrine and literary practice contributed a lot to the development of an indigenous symbolism.Puritans thought God is omnipresent so they could see God in anything surrounding them.That is the physical surroundings are just symbol of God.And this prevailed in their various writings.In addition, simplicity that is the characteristic of the puritan style of writing was handed down in the history of American literature.At last Puritans contributed to American education, for they never neglected the education of the young generation in spite of the harsh reality of their life.Thus American Puritanism has been, by and large, a wholesome legacy to both the Americans and American literature.
