Puritan Effect In The New World

1408 Words6 Pages
Puritan Effect in the New World The Puritan social and religious movement existed in the sixteenth and seventieth century sprouting from England to America. By following strict beliefs within their union, they strived to purify the Church of England and make it less similar to the Roman Church. Along with trying to purify the Church, Puritans also wanted to reform the American society at large. Their first mark in the New World was the Massachusetts Bay Colony. The Puritans branched off from the Protestants in England. They were affiliated with a radical activist movement going on in the Church of England. The issue with this new set of ideals is that they did not want to abandon or shun the Church of England, they just saw it unfit and wanted to purify and alter the main concept of the Church. The Puritans got their name because they wanted to purify the Church of England of all practices they considered popish. They sought the removal of all images, veneration of the saints, sacramental practices, and the like. Their attempts failed and the Puritans soon became persecuted by the Church of England. Thus, they fled and came to the new world, hoping that this would be the place where they could build the shining city on a hill where Puritan practices would shine for all to see. Some were not pleased with this name because it categorized them as radical extremists. (Bercovitch 25) From the outside, it would look like the Puritans were shut out from trying to change the everlasting system of the Church of England because of persecution in England. But just because there was no long hope in purifying England, it did not stop their views from spread like wildfire. Puritanism snaked its way into the Netherlands, Ireland, Wales, and also to New England where the religion was no longer hidden, rather it was being preached from sea to sea. Since hope was pretty much
Open Document