America
Literature
LectureTwoPurita
isma
di
dividualism
America
Literatureduri
gtheColo
iala
drevolutio
aryperiod
Theearlysettleme
tthearrivaloftheMayflowerthroughthee
dofthe18thce
turybuildi
gthewilder
essi
toahabitableplacewhilestruggli
gforliteraryexpressio
Purita
isma
di
dividualism
ThePurita
swereidealistswhobelievedthattheChurchshouldberestoredtothe“purity”ofthefirstce
turyChurchasestablishedbyJesusChristHimselfHe
cetheword“Purify”
Theywereavariedgroupofreligiousreformerswhoemergedwithi
theChurchofE
gla
dduri
gthemiddleofthesixtee
thce
turyTheysharedacommo
Calvi
isttheologya
dcommo
criticismsoftheA
glica
Churcha
dE
glishsocietya
dgover
me
tTheir
umbersa
di
flue
cegrewsteadilyculmi
ati
gi
theE
glishCivilWarofthe1640sa
dtheruleofOliverCromwelli
the1650sWiththerestoratio
oftheStuartmo
archyi
1660Purita
ismwe
ti
toeclipsei
E
gla
dlargelybecausethemoveme
twaside
tifiedwiththeupheavala
dradicalismoftheCivilWara
dCromwellstyra
icalgover
me
tavirtualmilitarydictatorship
Butitpersistedformuchlo
gerasavitalforcei
thosepartsofBritishNorthAmericacolo
izedbytwogroupsofPurita
swhograduallycuttheirtiestotheChurchofE
gla
da
dformedseparatede
omi
atio
sO
egrouptheCo
gregatio
alistssettledPlymouthi
the1620sa
dthe
MassachusettsBayCo
ecticuta
dRhodeIsla
di
the1630sA
othergroupthePresbyteria
swhoquicklycametodomi
atethereligiouslifeofScotla
da
dlatermigratedi
large
umbersto
orther
Irela
dalsosettledma
ycommu
itiesi
NewYorkNewJerseya
dPe
sylva
iaduri
gthelateseve
tee
thce
turya
dthroughouttheeightee
thce
tury
Purita
si
bothBritai
a
dBritishNorthAmericasoughttoclea
sethecultureofwhattheyregardedascorruptsi
fulpracticesTheybelievedthatthecivilgover
me
tshouldstrictlye
forcepublicmoralitybyprohibiti
gviceslikedru
ke
essgambli
goste
tatiousdresssweari
ga
dSabbathbreaki
gTheyalsowishedtopurgechurchesofeveryvestigeofRoma
Catholicrituala
dpracticetheruli
ghierarchiesofbishopsa
dcardi
alstheelaborateceremo
iesi
whichtheclergyworeor
atevestme
tsa
drepeatedprayersfromaprescribedliturgyAccordi
glyNewE
gla
dsCo
gregatio
alchurcheswereselfgover
i
g
1
fbodiesa
swerableto
ohigherauthoritymidAtla
ticPresbyteria
churchese
joyedsomewhatlessauto
omybecauseahierarchyof