Political,
Economic, and Social Practices of Puritans
Puritan ideals dominated the political, economic, and
social development of the New England colonies during the years 1630 through
1669. Politically, the towns’ laws emerged in part from the Puritan view of
original sin. Economically, as Puritans always worked hard, the towns became
stable and, for their time and place, prosperous. Socially, New England consisted
of towns, which allowed for easy and frequent interaction. That made the
colonies very unlike the later West territories. Combined, all three of these factors
created what most people think of as early colonial New England.
Politically, the Puritans promoted limited government. John
Cotton said, “It is therefore most wholesome for magistrates and officers in
church and commonwealth never to affect more liberty and authority than will do
them good” (H). Many Puritans from this
time period had some bad experiences with governmental officials having too
much power, such as during the English Civil War. Puritans believed that
everybody was born with sin and that the tendency to wrongdoing must be checked.
To keep one person from having too much power and abusing the power, the
Puritan men would appoint one man as Governor, while the rest of the men acted
as councils, to whom the governor had to answer. Thus, they came up with a very
good method of limiting government power.
Economically, even though Puritans believed that “worldly
gain was not the end and designe of the people of New England...” (J), hard
work was encouraged. An
example from the Enlarged Salem Covenant of 1636 explains why: “We resolve to
approve our selves to the Lord in our particular callings; shunning idleness as
the bane of any state...” (C). Often, this idea is called the Protestant work ethic, according to
which one has to work, in case the devil tempts one to sin out of sheer boredom.
Also, the Puritans exemplified the Protestant work ethic because they would
otherwise die from starvation or cold. Most importantly, the Puritans
emphasized work to build a free society of self-reliance and government that
allowed freedom of worship, since many of them had spent most of their lives in
a country, specifically England, that did not allow free worship. Some Puritans
did not agree with this. For instance, those in Williamsburg gave licenses to
pastors of the approved denominations and, if a pastor preached without a
license, he was thrown
in jail. However, the idea that “God requireth not a uniformity of religion to
be enacted and enforced in any civil state” lasted the longest.
Socially, the layout of the towns put everybody and
everything within walking distance, making it easy for the townspeople to
interact with each other. The Puritan towns had a green, common, church, town
hall, and school in the very center, with houses surrounding, then fields,
pastures, and woods. surrounding the houses (B). Because interaction took
little physical effort, the Puritans could “advance Learning, and perpetuate it
to Posterity” fairly easily (E). They founded schools so that the colonies
could survive, after the founders had died, under the rule of literate officials.
Puritans also had methods of socialization other than school and work. For
instance, they greatly enjoyed weddings, baptisms, and other formal celebrations.
The Puritans left their mark on New England in three ways.
Politically, the forms of government came from a mix of their experiences and
theology. Economically, the Protestant work ethic made the towns stable and
prosperous. Socially, the Puritans lived close enough together that the towns
aided their social interactions.
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