Puritans And Cavaliers

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James Given 11/4/07 5th period Puritans and Cavaliers In the 17th century there were two main groups of people. The Puritans who believed strongly in religion often referring to god in their literature and the Cavaliers, a more modest and cultured group of people. Both groups inhabited north America in the 1700’s, sharing some traits and disagreeing on others. The Puritans emigrated to North America from England in the 1700’s believing strongly in their religion and the English church despite the move from England. The Puritans lived only on the essentials, believing that earth was only a holding place until they reached Heaven. A Puritan’s bookshelf held only one book; The Bible, in which they read often. Puritan literature, much like their life was simple, to the point, and referred to god and heaven often. The Cavaliers, on the other hand, did not own only the essentials but instead owned lavished, decadent, perhaps unnecessary items. Having an extensive collection of books, most Cavaliers enjoyed the pursuit of education and reading. The comprehensive educations of these Cavaliers was reflected in their style of writing. Long Sentences, intellectual anecdotes, and vast vocabulary made up the Cavalier style of literature. Though these groups were almost complete opposites, they did share some common traits. Both groups migrated from England to North America in the 1700’s and both still believed their religions and the English church. Both also had authors that wrote literature such as What we should be thinking about in these two groups are not their differences or their similarities but the importance their literature has had on us and our society. We must break down the walls in which cover our eyes and examine the true meanings of these amazing peoples
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