Get Chapter Section Quiz Puritan New England

Puritanism, a religious reform movement in the late 16th and 17th centuries that sought to “purify” the Church of England of remnants of the Roman Catholic “popery” that the Puritans claimed had been retained after the religious settlement reached early in the reign of Queen Elizabeth I.

Examples of Puritan Laws No public enteretainment or meetings were allowed except for church services. Church or "meeting" on Sunday included two-hour services in the morning and the afternoon. Travel on Sunday was banned, except walking to and from the meeting house and for emergencies.

The New England colonies were founded between 1620 and 1642, when the English Civil War broke out. With the exception of Rhode Island, these colonies (Plymouth, Massachusetts Bay, New Haven, and Connecticut) were Puritan, and Puritanism influenced their social morés, economics, and politics.

Puritans played the leading roles in establishing the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1629, the Saybrook Colony in 1635, the Connecticut Colony in 1636, and the New Haven Colony in 1638.

Plymouth Colony was founded by a group of English Puritans who came to be known as the Pilgrims.

The real lifespan of Puritan New England is 1630 to about 1720. We say 1630 because the Pilgrims who arrived in North America in 1620 were not Puritans (see here for more on that); it was the group who arrived in 1630 who began Puritan colonization.

Basic Tenets of Puritanism Judgmental God (rewards good/punishes evil) Predestination/Election (salvation or damnation was predetermined by God) Original Sin (humans are innately sinful, tainted by the sins of Adam & Eve; good can be accomplished only through hard work & self-discipline) Providence. God's Grace.

The Puritans founded the Massachusetts Bay Colony north of the Plymouth Colony that had been established by the Pilgrims ten years earlier. The Puritans wanted their colony to be based on the laws of God. They believed that God would protect them if they obeyed religious laws.

Puritan law recognized the principle that no one should be deprived of life, liberty or property without due process. They also explicitly limited government power. Puritan law prohibited unlawful search and seizure, double jeopardy and compulsory self-incrimination.