The Puritan Legacy

The Puritan Legacy American Literature’s Colonial Roots

Pilgrims and Puritans The Pilgrims were part of a group of English Puritans called the “______” who fled persecution in England. • The Pilgrims traveled to America aboard the Mayflower and landed at ______in 1620.

Puritans is a general term for English Protestants who wanted to “______” the Church of England. • The Puritans objected to the rituals, decorations, and organization of the Church of England. They wanted a ______form of worship and organization.

A Puritan Time Line

What the Puritans Believed • Religion is a ______, inner experience. • Humans are wicked by ______, and most are marked for damnation. • A chosen few can be saved through the ______of ______. • Hard work and worldly success are ______of God’s grace. • ______is essential in order to ______the Word of God.

Grace: The Puritan Ideal • ______—God’s special favor—was the only way to escape an eternity in Hell. • People did not know for certain if they had grace, but they could feel the arrival of grace as an intense ______. • People who had grace were among the “elect” (______). • People who did not have ______were among the “unregenerate” (damned). • The presence of grace was demonstrated by a person’s outward behavior. People with grace displayed • self-reliance • personal ______• ______• temperance • ______

In Theory • Every individual had an ______covenant with God. • Laws came from ______, as revealed in scripture.

In Practice • Most people yielded authority to those seen as the saintly “elect.” • Conformity and ______took precedence over individual rights. What the Puritans Read • The Bible and other religious texts Why They Read • Puritans stressed individual responsibility for ______development. • Every person was responsible for reading and understanding the Bible. What the Puritans Wrote • Sermons, essays, and poems on spiritual and religious subjects • Diaries and histories that recorded inner and outer events of their lives

Why They Wrote • Puritans used writing to explore their lives for signs of grace and to describe the workings of God in their communities.

Plain Style Puritans favored a plain style of writing. Plain style is a way of writing that stresses ______and clarity of ______. Plain style: • emphasizes ______sentences and the use of ______words from common speech • avoids ______figures of speech and imagery Salem: Believers Run Amok • 1692—Girls suffer from mysterious illness in Salem, Massachusetts. • Doctors blame witchcraft. • Mass hysteria erupts; neighbors accuse one another. • In the end, about 150 people were accused, and 20 were executed. What Happened to the Puritans? • The Age of Faith gradually gave way to the ______. • Philosophers and scientists stressed the importance of using ______, rather than ______, to explain how the world operates. • The Puritans didn’t disappear—their culture was absorbed into the colonial mainstream. The Puritan Legacy In the United States, we generally value • individual rights and responsibilities • equality of individuals • literacy and education • spiritual and worldly rewards for hard work

What Have You Learned? 1. Puritans believed that religion was a personal, inner experience. a. true b. false

2. Those who had grace were among the a. damned b. unregenerate c. elect

3. A person with grace may display all of the following characteristics except a. simplicity b. self-reliance c. greed