The Puritan Mindset
The New England Colonies
Examples of Puritan Literature
Source #1:
The Twelve Good Rules of Puritan Behavior (1600’s)
John Winthrop, the leader of Massachusetts Bay Colony for twenty years, enforced
strict rules that all Puritans had to follow or they would receive harsh punishments. He
felt that the colony should be like a “city upon a hill” and serve as an example of how to
best live in an ideal Christian community. Some of the many rules enforced are listed
below.
RULES
1.
Profane no Divine ordinance.
TRANSLATION
[Never disobey God’s law.]
2. Touch no state matters.
[Obey your governors.]
3. Urge no healths.
[Predestination.]
4. Pick no quarrels.
[Don’t start any fights.]
5. Encourage no vice.
[Don’t encourage any bad behavior (or FUN…).]
6. Repeat no grievances.
[Don’t complain.]
7. Reveal no secrets.
[No gossiping or talking behind people’s backs.]
8. Maintain no ill opinions.
[Don’t hold grudges or feel superior to others.]
9. Make no comparisons.
[Especially flattering ones…]
10. Keep no bad company.
[Choose your friends carefully.]
11. Make no long meals.
[Don’t eat when you could be working or praying.]
12. Lay no wagers.
[Don’t make bets.]
The Puritan Mindset
The New England Colonies
Examples of Puritan Literature
Source #2: The New England Primer, 1691
The New England Primer was a reading book for children that introduced
them to their ABC’s through pictures and rhymes.
In Adams Fall,
Heaven to find
We sinned All.
The Bible mind.
Thy life to Mend
A dog will bite
The Idle Fool
This Book Attend.
A Thief at Night.
Is whipt at school.
Source #3:
John Robinson’s Writing on Raising Children (1600’s)
John Robinson was a pastor of the Pilgrim Fathers. He was a founder of the principles of the
church and teachings of the Pilgrims. He never made it to New England; he died in the Netherlands before he was able to make the trip over.
“Surely there is in all children...a stubbornness and stoutness of mind arising from natural
pride which must in the first place be broken and beaten down...The foundation of their education being laid in humility and tractableness, other virtues may in their time be built thereon.
For the beating and keeping down of this stubbornness, parents must provide carefully that
their children’s wills and willfulness be restrained and repressed.”