Puritan Escape from England to the Netherlands

The puritans were a group of settlers that came to America in the 1620’s from the Netherlands. They had previously immigrated from England to the Netherlands to escape their idea of religious intolerance and the form of Protestantism that was practiced. They also believed that England was a place of sin and was damaging their children. The Puritans left the Netherlands for Virginia for the same reasons and to reform the Church of England a little over a decade later. Slowly more and more members made their way to America in search of purification of the church. Although the main reason for coming to the New World was to escape religious rigidity of England and to create a utopian society based on the true teachings of the bible, the puritans had created a society that was just as unrelenting as the religious and political practices that they had left. The Puritans wanted to be a society that would set an example to others by honoring god and living a moral life, and while they did create a society that flourished economically and politically, their religious views lead to that of intolerance and inequality.

The Puritans believed in the basis of family and social harmony. Their homes were the center of their livelyhood and were relied upon for their food and income. All members of the family were expected to work to provide for the family. Aside from the normal household duties, women and children often worked their own fields and crops or contributed to making supplies that were needed for the household or to sell outside of the home. The Puritans believed that women, children and servants should be obedient to males or the head of the household and subservient to their husbands authority. In exchange for a safe haven and a roof ...

... middle of paper ...

...de of good intentions and moral beliefs, most of the problems lie with gender inequality, allowance of individualism and intolerance for different ideas. When the Puritan communities broke off from the Church of England, they believed that they were escaping the lack of freedom that was imposed by the church and then turned around and instilled the same lack of freedom and intolerance in their new communities. The Puritan belief of unity, intolerance and that peace and salvation come with moral rigor are what separated the religion and caused movements away from the community. In the end, there are many qualities that the Puritans exhibited that are commendable and moral however, there were a few serious problems with their beliefs and extremism. To this day, many people still practice some of the Puritan principals and systems that were put in place so long ago.