Puritan and John Williams Essay examples

Submitted By cdonohue
Words: 1177
Pages: 5
Open Document
Caitlin Donohue
HIST205
Professor Bendler
March 7, 2015

In our early exploration of colonial life we can see distinct patterns in Puritan religion, lifestyle, and settlement that can be related to the events that occurred in the novel “The Unredeemed Captive: A Family Story From Early America” written by John Demos. The themes of spreading faith and one’s devotion to faith are threaded into the novel and can be traced to back to what was going on in Puritan life in early America. In addition to this, the strict and calculated life the colonists chose to live is reflected in the development in the town of Deerfield and the lifestyle of John Williams and his family. The story of “The Unredeemed Captive” simply brings to life key aspects of colonial America during a time of development in our country. In the beginning of the novel Demos explains that the original purpose of the Massachusetts Bay Colony was to be “charitable” and that Puritans wanted to save Native Americans from the “darkness of heathenism” and draw them into the “bright light of Protestant Christianity” (26). The Puritans felt very strongly about their faith, and when Elizabeth was succeeded by King James the Sixth, toleration of those from the Anglican Church became less and less which made the Puritans more willing to leave England to spread and practice their beliefs. Demos also mentions that there would be “setbacks” for the Puritans in their goal to create a new culture in the motherland. In class we discussed many setbacks that early colonists faced such as Jamestown, the first settlement in Virginia. Problems with Jamestown included: humid climate, swampy terrain, disease, and the Powhatan. In addition to this, sons of lesser gentry were sent over to the motherland and they did not have the skills to successfully develop a new colony. New England, where the town of Deerfield was developed, was a faith-based region and the goal was to establish religious communities. The Puritans lived by the Covenant, which was Puritan Calvinist theology based on the “covenant of grace.” They believed god had revealed himself to humanity through the teachings of scripture. They believed salvation was through faith and Jesus Christ and that a community of like-minded people with the same faith was crucial. While discussing the development of Deerfield Demos writes, “Fields will be planted, town government established, a minister hired: customary stages, all, in the evolution of New England towns” (30). The meetinghouse was a focal point of Puritan life and it was where they held all their religious gatherings where they could practice and spread their faith. This speaks to the growing importance of symbolism in the puritan colonies as buildings, institutions, and places of worship became very symbolic of their life. In England, the focal point of political life was the town, and if you were not part of the religion you did not have the right to participate in town meetings or politics. As previously mentioned, the importance of religion during colonial times is evident throughout “The Unredeemed Captive.” To begin, Minister John Williams’s daughter, Eunice, is help captive by the Native Americans and converted to Catholicism. When Williams is able to visit his daughter for the first time, she is in fear because the Native Americans continue to “mock the devil”, which is feared in Puritan religion (70). However, in time, the Native Americans convert Eunice to Catholicism. The goal of the Native Americans was to keep children captive so they forget their earlier life and adopt the Catholic religion. This coercive behavior can be related back to what we discussed in class and the aggressive intentions of the Spanish trying to convert the Pueblo people to Christianity in New Mexico. In addition to this, the French Jesuits that the Native Americans were allied with at the time of the attack on Deerfield had earlier converted them to Catholicism. Once Eunice was converted
Show More

Related Documents: Puritan and John Williams Essay examples

puritan dissent essay

Puritan Dissent Essay John Winthrop, Roger Williams, and Anne Hutchinson all hoped to accomplish great things in the New World and did accomplish many great things. Roger Williams and Anne Hutchinson were both opposition of John Winthrop in the fact that they were Puritan dissenters. John Winthrop believed in the combined power of church and state, whereas, Roger Williams believed in the separation of the power of church and state, and Anne Hutchinson was an Antinomian teacher who taught salvation…

Words 632 - Pages 3

Edmund S. Morgan's The Puritan Dilemma

Edmund S. Morgan wrote The Puritan Dilemma, which focused on John Winthrop’s life, and his experience establishing the Massachusetts Bay Colony. It discusses the ups and downs, and the controversy surrounding Anne Hutchinson and Roger Williams around the same time. The Puritans seemed to seek the approval of their citizens, but they excommunicated Hutchinson and Williams for voicing their opinion. Of course, the Puritans also could not separate church from state, so politics and religion were…

Words 803 - Pages 4

American History Essay

) | 1607 | John Smith | Trade and profits | Anglican | Royal | Tobacco | Founded as joint-stock company. House of Burgesses (1619). Only 60 of 1st 900 colonists survived. | MassachusettsPlymouth( New England ) | 1620 | William Bradford | Relgious freedom for separatist | Puritan | Corporate | Mixed farming | Mayflower Compact. Led by Bradford | MassachusettsMassachusetts Bay( New England ) | 1630 | John Winthrop | Religious freedom for puritans | puritans | Corporate | Mixed…

Words 335 - Pages 2

Yellow Wallpaper

to the attempts in Puritan America to find all those Puritans who were not living the perfect life. The play’s protagonist, John Proctor was not perfect; he had an affair with Abigail Williams and she becomes the antagonist for John Proctor. However, a more frightening antagonist to proctor than Abigail is the Puritan community that he is trying to hide his identity from. Therefore, in Miller’s play, John Proctor faces two different antagonists: Abigail Williams and the Puritan Community. In the…

Words 842 - Pages 4

Deerfield Massacre Summary

John Demos recounts the night of the Deerfield Massacre through the perspective of a Puritan minister named John Williams. The Deerfield massacre consisted of the brutal killing of innocent families by a savage Indian invasion led by the French. The French allied with the Indians in an attempt to attack the English’s vulnerable American colonials. France used the American colonials as a way to indirectly undermine their imperial competition, England. The validity of Demos’s claim of the Indian’s…

Words 363 - Pages 2

Abigail Williams Research Paper

February 5, 2024 Abigail Williams The Perfect Puritan Throughout the earliest known beliefs of Puritan society during Colonial America, the redemption from sin and the undying servitude of God is by far the most important and most known covenant connection to Puritan beliefs. Consequently, Puritans had engraved strong concepts of humility, simplicity, and a life of quenching any utmost sin with their advances of hard work and self-control. Although, unlike the men of Puritan society, women were seen…

Words 956 - Pages 4

The Role Of John Winthrop In Arthur's The Puritan Dilemma

In the book, "The Puritan Dilemma," the arthur talks about the life of John Winthrop and how Winthrop impacted the development of the Massachusetts Bay Company. Edmund Morgan explained in depth the kind of leader John Winthrop became and the social, political, and economic structures that made the “Puritan experiment” an accomplishment. John Winthrop was the first governor of the Massachusetts Bay Company. He was with the colonies through their good and troublesome times. Amid Winthrop time as…

Words 757 - Pages 4

Puritan's Dilemma Book Report

Puritan’s Dilemma: The story of John Winthrop perfectly is an American history book that perfectly describes the life of the Puritan John Winthrop and how he led many English puritans. The story also talks about how they want to secure and preserve their religion and morality by secretly escaping England without anyone noticing them since they have been persecuted for their religion and heading to New England. Edmund S. Morgan is the author of this story. He is an American Historian who even though…

Words 350 - Pages 2

Character Analysis: The Salem Witch Trials

What did John Proctor have to do with the beginning of the Salem Witch Trials? Some say that the Salem Witch Trials all began with, John Proctor. If John had never gotten to know Abigail Williams in an intimate way, Abigail probably would have never gone into the woods with Tituba and the other girls, to cast what they thought would be “harmless spells.” If no one was in the woods, then no one would have been caught “dancing,” thus no one would have had to accuse anyone of witchcraft to save their…

Words 762 - Pages 4

The Salem Witch Trial

hundred man and women were accused, and a combined of nineteen were executed. The names involved were: Bridget Bishop, Rebecca Nurse, Sarah Good, Elizabeth Howe, Susannah Martin, Sarah Wildes, George Burroughs, George Jacobs, Martha Carrier, John Proctor, John…

Words 1067 - Pages 5