...09-24-2014 Reading Summaries: The Puritans and Sex by Edmund S. Morgan In 1630 Mr. Winthrop led a small group of Puritans to America and started a colony. Here in America, they could start a new life a new beginning, they could start all over "in a city upon a hill" and they did or at least attempted. The religious “Utopia”, the desire to be perfect or have a perfect colony but it was not possible because humans are weak. In this chapter of the book: Readings in United States History Vol. I, Edmund S. Morgan talks about what the puritans did and how sex caused a lot problems between colonies. He briefly describe the different situations and informs us, the readers what was the life of a puritan when it came about sex....
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...THE DUALITY OF WOMEN’S SEXUALITY IN SEVENTEENTH AND EIGHTEENTH CENTURY PURITAN MASSACHUSETTS Liesl Schnuck November 1, 2011 Due to the strength of their belief in and fear of God, colonial Massachusetts’s society regulated women’s sexuality through a paradoxical relationship: women as saints and women as sinners. Introduction In the religion-obsessed society of colonial Massachusetts, Puritan beliefs dominated contemporary views on sexuality, especially with regard to women. Although Puritan ministers understood human nature’s inability to avoid sexual relations, they adamantly professed that sex must not interfere with religion. In order to create stability within their society, ministers and lawmakers turned towards the women to implement and describe sexual regulation. Women’s social function was not only complex, but also difficult to define. As historian N.E.H. Hull notes, “theirs was a special place, not altogether enviable—for in this land of saints and sinners, they were viewed as both saintlier and more sinful than men.” Not only did society expect and desire women to act morally, but society also feared women for their supposed tendencies to act corruptly. Carol F. Karlsen accurately differentiates between these two identities by naming these women either “handmaidens of the devil” or “handmaidens of the Lord.” This distinction demonstrates the binary opposition of women’s place in society that existed in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. By...
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...republicans today are viewed as the conservative and stringent side of the political spectrum. Among its many viewpoints, this party lays its support towards the ideas of liberal capitalism; they oppose increased taxes for anyone, including the wealthy, and a strong military force. Puritans were the very definition of conservatives, and prudence. For the Puritans, The Bible was the ultimate authority, these beliefs, were applied to every area and scope of culture. Puritans were the literal trailblazers that lead to the evolution that is the Republican Party of today. The republican definitions of marriage, life in stages of conception, and the religious factors intertwined within law making, are directly derived from the Puritan...
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...Puritanism was one of the strictest religious groups that were in the New World, yet still numerous the Puritan religion was more a thing of the past that a singular concrete reason. I feel people try to create reasons for change to occur even if no reason was evident. From the beginning our country has been a melting pot of ethnicities, religions, and beliefs. Some are going to slip through the cracks, so to speak, and slowly deteriorate to little or nothing. Granted there is proof that certain elements did decay at the religion, I personally feel it was more of time related extinction than anything else. John Smith was on the east coast of the Americas around the early 1600’s, being the first English expedition Smith was able to document what he exactly saw “A people so tractable, as the Indians are, would long ere this have been quietly possessed, to the satisfaction of the adventures and the eternizing of the memory of those affected by it” (McMichael 34). From the first day a settler walked onto the shore the country has been constantly changing, groups were disappearing in our country before it was out country! Time can wear down all things and it is a valid possibility that the Puritans time simply ran out. It is quite ironic that a movement to bring Puritans into the Massachusetts Bay colony could of aided its downfall. John Winthrop was a proud Puritan who knew that salvation was to be found in the Bay colony area, he surrounded his group and declared their new city...
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...three years at sea, an action that earned him several hours of public humiliation at the stocks. The laws, made crimes of lying and idleness, general lewdness and bad behavior. Sex was of large concern. Outlawed crimes were masturbation, fornication, adultery, sodomy, buggery, and every other possible sexual practice that wasn’t close enough to straight sex as approved by the Bible. The term sodomy was applied to homosexual behavior; and buggery was to bestiality. Punishment for such serious sexual crimes could be severe, and often were. Thomas Granger of Plymouth, a boy of seventeen was indicted in 1642 for buggery with a mare, a cow, two goats, five sheep, two calves and a turkey. Granger was therefore hung; the animals, for their part in the “affair”, were executed according to the law, Leviticus 20.15, and "cast into a great and large pit that was digged for the purpose for them, and no use was made of any part of them.” Moral conduct was the one crime that the Puritan’s did not take lightly, in fact they were the most strict about this one. The Puritans had more records on moral transgressions than they did on assault and even robbery....
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...In the era of the New World, puritans wanted to “purify” the Church of England. Puritans had various forms of punishments for many things. In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s book, The Scarlet Letter, he sets the tone of his book in the old English Puritan days. Hawthorne describes one of the multiple puritan punishments that took place, he mainly focuses on the punishment for committing adultery. He ties it all together with the puritans’ beliefs, the effects it had on his life, modes of punishment, and crimes related to some in his book. Puritanism is a powerful political movement in the late 16th and 17th century that strived to “purify” the Church of England and thought they were pursuing God’s work (Gao 176). They believed that sinners could not...
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...Colonial Gender Roles The main roles of a woman in Early America were: cooking and cleaning, having a family, and taking care of their spouse and children. The facts are that women were not looked upon as intelligent or equal to a man. In the Early American Era, the struggles women went through has influenced the writing and speaking of equality of sexes and started the feminism phenomenon. People have asked what exactly is a gender role and what makes something a gender role? Most people in the Puritan era did not think much of gender roles as they were societal rules and were not questioned. They had particular roles for men, women, and even children. There are many other questions about gender roles like how women have or are overcoming them...
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...infamous Salem witch trials occur amid the late seventeenth century and mid-eighteenth century. Business exchange rapidly turned into a need in numerous states. Product development was deficient in benefit. This drove Nathaniel Bacon to his disobedience to Virginia's representative Sir William Berkeley. This story was told again and again by different states and insubordination to their authorities or potentially their directions when it hindered their gainfulness. More significant part of the settlements,experienced varieties of comparable changes,regardless of whether it be in Virginia or Maryland. 2.Describe the influence of Puritanism in New England society in the 1600’s. Religion was vital to the Puritans, there were numerous other crucial convictions that the Puritans withheld which impacted New England society. The instruction was imperative because keeping in mind the end goal to comprehend the...
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...rights are a class of rights that protects individuals’ freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations and private individuals, and which ensure one’s ability to participate in the civil and political life of the society and state without discrimination or repression. Throughout America’s history civil rights has changed greatly between Puritan/Colonial, pre-colonial, and the revolutionary period. John was a “devoutly religious Puritan elder who led a large migration of Puritans from England to America in 1629 and became the first governor of Massachusetts Bay Colony one year later. He was probably the most powerful figure in New England in the first half of the seventeenth century.” (90) John Winthrop influenced civil rights in the Puritan/Colonial period. He strongly believed in civil rights by trying to widen voting and other civil rights beyond a narrow class of religiously approved individuals. Before Winthrop puritans listened to “freemen” which who were...
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...The Scarlet Letter A: Write an analytical essay (900 - 1200 words) on the excerpt from Nathaniel Hawthorne's novel The Scarlet Letter (1850). Part of your essay must focus on the narrative technique and the theme of Puritanism and slut shaming. Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel “The Scarlet Letter”, a dark tale of shame and condemnation, centres on a small Puritan society of Boston during the 17th century. Set in Puritan New England, it tells the story of Hester Prynne, a Puritan woman who has a baby out of wedlock. Although written many years ago, Hawthorne’s “The Scarlet Letter” covers themes and ideas related to modern readers. The themes of slut-shaming and breaking society’s expectations are ones to which many young people can relate to today. Seen in this context, the novel can be approached as the story of a young woman who let her heart rule her head and suffered the consequences. In a dedicated Puritan town, a young married woman named Hester Prynne conceives a child. There is a glitch, however; her husband, a doctor, has been missing for a long time. The society magistrates imprison her for this sin and commands that she must wear a scarlet “A” on her dress as a sign for adultery, shame and sins. Additionally, she must stand on a scaffold, exposed to public humiliation. The reason why is she had an affair with the local minister, Reverend Dimmesdale. The fact that he is a reverend makes the case much worse and also shows hypocrisy in the community, since the minister...
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...During the 1530’s King Henry the 8th severed ties with Rome and became the head of the Church of England. Englishmen who believed the Church of England was too corrupt and too similar to Catholicism were known as Puritans. Puritans attempted to purify the Church of England from within but failed. When King Henry the 8th died, his son King Charles I took over the throne. Under his leadership, the Church of England attempted to abolish Puritan practices and forced congregations to practice behind closed doors. Living under oppression, the puritans no longer believed they were able to practice their religion freely in their homeland and fled to New England with no charter form the king. On the voyage over from Europe, the Puritans not only brought Christianity but they also brought several deadly diseases. Once the Puritans reached America, they setup villages in New England where they could practice their religion without prosecution from the Anglican Church. One of the main goals of the Puritan colonies was to convert Indians to Christianity. The puritans sent out missionaries in an effort to convert Indians to...
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...American Literature November 20th, 2012 Perception: The True Meaning of Identity The works published by Whitman, Edwards, and Melville continue to astonish literary critiques today. It amazes me how three writers with such unique qualities all seem to stitch together the same ideas about the “American Identity.” Whitman chooses to see sex as an empowerment on our human race. While Edwards argues that God’s love inspires a fruitful outlook on a trivial life, Melville has no spiritual views and instead ignites his own reasoning to form his perceptions. Whitman’s theory of an American identity rests on an interpretation of sexual reproduction within our humanity. Children of Adam gives our lives true purpose and sheds light on the importance of love and procreation. After reading his poetry, it resurrected a thought I had during our class discussions. We live an endless paradox where life cannot hope to exist without death, good without evil, day without night, and so on. “The oath of procreation I have sworn, my Adamic and fresh daughters, The greed that eats me day and night with hungry gnaw, till I saturate what shall produce boys to fill my place when I am through” (p.2208). Compared to our vast universe, a human being may seem insignificant, yet we hold the key to restoration and preservation of our societal life cycle. Whitman’s poems paralleled the bible when he referred to God’s love for Adam and Eve that was so great, it drove to their creation for his Garden of...
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...aspect of the society, they all sprouted from one initial difference between the two: the very reason the colonists came. Life in colonial America was difficult for all, but more so for some than others. While some colonists struggled to scrape by, some managed to live well and be happy. It is very apparent that health, family, and growth helped New England to be more prosperous and a more enjoyable place to live than in its southern neighbor, Chesapeake Bay. History has proven that these factors have a major effect on the quality of life for people, and this instance is no exception. New England New England was north of the Chesapeake, and included Massachusetts Bay Colony, Plymouth, Rhode Island, Connecticut, and New Haven. In Puritan New England, a patriarchal conception of family life began to break down as early as the 1670s, Few institutions competed with a father's authority. Despite laws requiring the establishment of schools, most children were educated informally, and while older children were temporarily put out as servants or apprentices between seven and twelve, most adolescents lived at home under their...
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...It allows us to enjoy bodily pleasures without overly desiring them. By helping us avoid overly desiring pleasures, temperance allows us to be able to master our base desires and become more fully human through our use of our intellect and reason. Temperance is not solely avoiding over-indulging in our desires, however. A woman who detests sex as sinful and depraved is just as intemperate as a man who centers his entire life around obtaining sex. In fact, it could even be viewed as more sinful because it denies the goodness of human reproduction and hinders the continuation and proliferation of...
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...King's college Mid Baneshwor Kathmandu, Nepal U.S History: A synopsis Beginnings, 1607-1700: When Christopher Columbus discovered the New World (1492) and became the first European to set foot on San Salvador; he opened a new chapter in the history of the Old World as well as the New. The development of America took place when a static and status-bound European was responding to new intellectual stirrings, growing trade, and competition among emerging nation- states in overseas exploration and commerce. In 1585 Raleigh established the firs British Colony in North America on Roanoke Island. English colonization in America differed in character and consequences from that of other European nations. The English Monarchs had destroyed the power of the feudal nobility and had established a strong centralized state and in so doing, the monarchs had encouraged the growth of the business middle classes, the merchants and entrepreneurs who were to be major agents of the modernizing process. By seventeenth centaury, England's imperial reach was global; it stretched west from Ireland to Newfound land to Bermuda, and eastward to the subcontinent of India. It was to the west in the New World in 1606 that King James issued charter to two joint stock companies to colonize the land that Sir Walter Raleigh had named Virginia in honor of the Virgin Queen Elizabeth. The company promptly sent out an expedition of 144 people and after four months arduous voyage...
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