The lesson on the Puritans is intended to inform students on the lives of
Puritans before and after arriving in New England.
They will learn about their struggles to establish their church in
England and the decisions that led to the migration to the New World.
The students will intensely learn about the leaders of the Puritan church
and the people who followed them. It
is important for students to understand the intentions of the Puritans and their
reason for forming their community. They
will learn that the Puritans laid the foundation for self-government.
The relationship the Puritans had with the Indians is also included in
the discussion. There will be a
major emphasis on the way of life for the Puritans in New England.
Students will learn about the major sense of community and the idea of
everything being for the common welfare. They
will learn about the role of women in the society and how strong family life
developed structures and architecture different then the Virginia settlements.
Students will learn about the huge emphasis on education within the
Puritan community. The English
Revolution and its effects on the population in the New World will also be
discussed. The Puritan chapter will
finish up with how the society changed over time due to generation gaps and the
intriguing Salem witch trials.
Requirements
5.4 Students understand the political, religious, social, and economic institutions that evolved in the colonial era.
2. Identify the major individuals and groups responsible
for the founding of the various colonies and the reasons for their founding
(e.g., John Smith, Virginia; Roger Williams, Rhode Island; William Penn,
Pennsylvania; Lord Baltimore, Maryland; William Bradford, Plymouth; John
Winthrop, Massachusetts).
3. Describe the religious aspects of the earliest colonies (e.g., Puritanism in
Massachusetts, Anglicanism in Virginia, Catholicism in Maryland, Quakerism in
Pennsylvania).
·
Religious
Reformers
·
Sig:
In England, Puritans were established because they wanted to keep “The Church
of England” purified and Protestant.
·
Sig:
Not only did they want to reform religion, they wanted to save society from the
Modern future full of disorder and wickedness.
·
King
James and Charles I
·
Sig:
Enemies with high authority; these kings sent the Puritans to work outside of
England, later we find that to be Massachusetts.
·
Fisherman
·
Sig:
First working the fishing banks of New England
·
John
Smith
·
Sig:
Wrote about the New World which eagered Pilgrims and others to move to New
England.
·
Primary
Source: Map of New England (1616)
·
Pilgrims
·
Sig:
Protestants that settled before Puritans
· Leaders
· Sig: University-trained ministers, lesser gentry, and men following the puritan teachings
· Ordinary Settlers
· Sig: From the middle ranks of English society: freemen in families, trained artisans, .and farmers
·
Establish
communities of pure Christians
·
Sig:
Collectively swore a covenant with God to work for
his ends
·
Civil and
Religious transgressors must be rooted out and severely punished
·
Emphasis
was on homogeneous communities
·
Good of
group outweighed individual interest
· Free male Church members annually elected the officials that would make up the two houses of a colonial legislature
· Sig: Consent of both houses was required to pass laws
· One house was made up of a governor and deputies from each town
· The other house was made up of the governor’s assistants, who were later to be called councilors
·
Massachusetts
Bay Company and John Winthrop
·
Sig:
Each had view and plans on Indians.
·
Conflicts
with Indians
·
Sig:
Disease with Indians proved to Puritans God was on their side.
·
War in
1637
·
Sig:
Puritan victory and assured English dominance over tribes of southern New
England. A few years later over
1000 Indians prayed “the white man’s way”
Puritan
Village Life
·
Close
compact villages
·
They used
a “closed-field” systems
·
They
prohibited single people from living alone
·
The
Puritans used meeting houses
·
Primary
Source: Plymouth fort and meeting house
·
Sig: They wanted to maintain community and keep everyone on the
right path
·
Played a
vital role in the family centered society
·
Roles
outside motherhood and wife:
Custodian of garden; processor of salted and smoked
meats, dairy products; and weavers
·
Sig:
Women were apart of the economics of the Puritan society
·
Sig: Women and strong family life in the colony affected New
England’s regional
structure and architecture
·
Puritans
focused on substantial housing for the family
·
Started
with one room house and slowly added to it
·
Believed
that through education they could preserve the central values of their struggle
to redeem human kind
·
Sig:
Puritans
stressed literacy and education
·
Primary
Source: Primer (American Antiquarian Society)
English
Revolution in 1642
·
King
Charles I violated the country’s customary constitution
·
Civil war
climaxed with the trail and beheading of the king
·
Sig:
During this time Puritans in England had the opportunity to complete the reform
of religion and society at home
·
Sig:
Migration to New England abruptly ceased
Problems
with Dispersion
·
Migration
slowed and left the colonies disperse
·
The
20,000 English immigrants were scattered from Maine to Long Island
·
Sig:
Leader establish a broad intercolony political structure
called the Confederation of New England
·
Designed
to coordinated government
·
Provide
greater defense
·
As the
Puritan society became more stable leaders complained that the founding visions
were faltering
·
Material
concerns seemed to transcend religious commitment
·
Complains
about how the individual prevailed over the community
·
Moral
standards notwithstanding
·
Sig: A generation gap had taken place in the community
·
Sig: The second generation had different priorities and ideas
· Sig: The colony is left in political limbo for three years
· The void allows for a brief witchcraft episode to escalate into a ridiculous wich hunt
· Began as a couple of girls playing with magic and their then their accusations of three women
· The accusations and confessions led to dozens being charged with witchcraft
· Sig: The problem got way out of control because there was not a authority figure present
· Factors contributing to the hysteria:
· Generation differences
· Population growth
· Pressures on the available farmland
· Tension between agriculture Salem Village and nearby commercial center called Salem Town
· Sig: Salem witchcraft suggest that there was major problems deep within the community long before the witch hunt
Important
People
· John Winthrop- leader and first governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony.
· Roger Williams-had doubt in the Puritan belief and wanted to completely separate from the church and was also earliest spokesperson for the separation of church and state.
·
Anne
Hutchinson-instigated
a division in the community with her new idea of salvation and was exiled from
the community.
Activity
·
Reenacting
a Puritan trial. Having students
each play an important role in the courtroom.
With parts like Judge, clergy, jury, the accused, and the magistrates.