Puritans: The First Form Of Democracy In New England

In the year 1630 during the reign of King Charles the first, Puritans came to the New World. The first group of Puritans to land in New England, led by John Winthrop, traveled overseas to form a new, pure church and have religious freedom their way. The Puritans started out with just nine hundred people, but quickly grew to over twenty thousand. They began by settling in Boston, Massachusetts, forming the Massachusetts Bay Colony, an economically successful colony. They soon spread to form and settle Connecticut, Rhode Island, and New Hampshire. Their religious beliefs had an extreme influence on the development of New England and played its part in creating one of the first forms of democracy in the New World. John Winthrop wanted himself

and the rest of the Puritans to make a “city upon the hill” when they arrived at New England, which would be seen by the rest of the world as an example of the right way to live. The Puritans were considered giant hypocrites because they themselves left England for religious freedom but would persecute and even kill anyone who did not believe or willing convert to their beliefs. The Puritans had a major influence in New England socially, politically, and economically because of their religious beliefs, their government, and their use of the land for successful trading.
The Puritans strong belief that family was important built up many new communities throughout New England due to the amount of people in their growing population and shaped the society. The Puritans religion set the guidelines for everything. Everyone had to attend church, but not everyone was considered a member of the church. They chose who was to be their preacher and had the same religious beliefs as those in England but wanted to run their own church their own way. The Puritans believed in living in model religious communities, or “religious utopias”, by the word of God. They also believed that everyone was born sinful and they believed in the doctrine of the elect, which means they believed that only certain, predetermined people by God go to Heaven, you would know who these people by looking for people who modeled a well behaved and strong religious life. The ones thought to be part of the predetermined were also the ones who were members of the church. The Puritans were usually very well behaved people, this because of their belief that any misbehavior from people no matter the age could bring the Devil upon them and with that the wrath of God. If anyone argued or did not agree with something, no matter how small, they were forced to leave the community; in one case, a women killed because her beliefs were different than those of the Puritans and she refused to conform to their beliefs. Along with religion, being a hard worker was another important part of a Puritan society. A slacker was not wanted in the community depleting resources while not giving back to the community. These beliefs are what shaped Puritan society.
Although the Puritans were striving and successful in making a holy Theocracy, They involuntarily created one of the first forms of democracy in New England.

A Theocracy is a system of government where priests rule at the hand of God. The Puritans made their own government and a general court that represented the whole colony. The government’s main purpose was to help enforce God’s laws which were what all members of the Puritan communities had to live and breathe by. The Puritans used the purest form of democracy, they held regular town meetings where both men and women could come and speak about any issues and ways to go about obtaining and handling the necessities of the community. Along with the town meeting came the requirement to vote, however, the only people allowed to vote were the white male land owning church members. This is not exactly representing the entire community, but it was still very good for this time. Another boundary was set on the preachers, they were not allowed to hold a spot in the political office. If a preacher was to lose his job preaching, which happened very often, he would have to find another job, which could not be in the political office. The political life of the Puritans did not bend in any way for any

one.
The Puritans had a major impact on the economy in the New England colonies due to their fishing, trading, and taxation to support the church. New England had very rocky ground full of huge boulders. This caused farms to be confined to small areas because of the difficulty and time consumption of clearing and plowing the soil. The farms were small but sufficient, producing enough food to keep the family going through the winter. The winters were long, cold, and wet; this caused for a surge in fur trapping and mercantilism. The fur was sold to Europe where there was mass production of warm, water proof coats and clothing that could be sold back to the colonies. The location of New England also had a large coastline, putting the Puritans on top when it came to fishing and greatly helped in their highly successful trading. The coastline also offered a prime spot for ship building, which also helped with fishing and the ships could be sold for good money. The Puritans also believed in supporting the church and its preacher financially through taxation of the people in the community. This was the way the preacher made his living. However, this taxation also began to spark controversy as the non-members of the church who lived further away and were still required to attend church felt this taxation was unfair to them and wanted a second church closer to them so they could more easily afford the price of the taxes. New England’s economic state was highly dependent on all of the factors.
The Puritans greatly influenced New England socially, politically, and economically, and were responsible for New England’s size increasing tremendously.

New England’s society was shaped by the religious beliefs of the Puritans and their determination, good and bad, to enforce their beliefs. Politically, they lived as a large theocracy, but introduced to New England the purest form of democracy, influencing not only New England, but later the United States of America, to form and live under a democracy. They also had great influences on New England and England itself economically. They became excellent fishermen and highly skilled ship craftsmen, as well as helping not only their own economic system, but also Europe’s economy through the resources they sold to England and bought back as a much more useful resource, such as the beaver furs. The Puritans also became very successful in the trading industry and because of this they were able to come by everything it was that they needed. All of these great influences still have a part in how America lives

today.