Puritanism

Puritanism is the idea of "purifying" the Church. During the English reformation, the Puritans were known as the more extreme Protestants, as they wanted to completely disconnect from the Catholic Church. They wanted to get rid of Ctholic influence in the churches of England. Puritans did not support the Anglican Church for keeping similarities with the Catholic religion. During the 1600’s, Puritanism became a religious movement, which attempted to “purify” the code of beliefs of the English Church. It began as an opposition towards the Elizabethan Religious Settlement, which was designed to solve religious conflicts in England but in the end provoked divisions. In order to preserve a straight forward and 'pure' that they felt had been lost among some of the current features of Catholicism, the rituals that were continued through the Anglican Church were expressed in its statement “ 'I believe in...the holy Catholick Church'" (Gill, 19). To be well known as being true to the Bible independent of an inherited social and cultural order, they removed from the Anglican Church in order to make it as they thought it would be right there way. This of course meant leaving the country, and they left for Holland in 1608. Influenced by Calvinism, Puritans believed that the Church of England was corruptive and was a result of political struggles and human principles. For this reason, they wanted to “purify” the church through God’s law and the bible. Although many disagreed with changing the English church model for the Presbytarian (Christian) model, James VI of Scotland became fond of the Puritans and appointed some to powerful postions.
 * Who were the Puritans?**

Many Puritans emigrated to America between 1620–1640s because they thought that the Church of England was beyond reform. The puritan migration was a migration unlike most. puritans stuck together and if one was to migrate, the family was right with him/her. A great majority of the puritans that emigrated to america settled in the new england area. From 1629 to 1643 about 21,1000 puritains emigrated to new england. Most of those going to massachusetts. During the 17th century a major group of the Puritans were the Pilgrims, who founded Plymouth Colony in 1620. The Puritans whom settled in the Americas had "strong religious impulses" in all then "colonies" lying north of the state of Virginia. {http://mb-soft.com/believe/txc/puritani.htm} John Cotton and Richard Mather held great positions within the mainstream Puritanism which would be found at Massaschusetts Bay. Thomas Hooker as well as Roger Williams are also well-noted Puritans, as they either settled Puritansm according to standards in other countries, or they broke of the initial power but lived a Puritan lifestyle. Because the Puritans within America strongly believed in uniting the government and the way in which a country was run by the will of God, they united church and state, allowing the Puritan leaders to hold great powerover each state they occupied.
 * Puritans in America:**

For the puritans they saw life as created specifically just for "man", and man was created for god. In the social order they went by it was all the same the idea that the man was superior to woman and the parents to the children, applies the same to when they saw that the masters or owners were more superior to the servants. In some places the puritan had more authority than in other areas. It was said that when there was a servant that needed to obey the master they had the right to reject the comand if the mistress didnt allow it. So they needed to get both the mans and the womans consent. Once it came to marraige everything changes in the womans life, in order to legitimize a certain marriage the couple would need to follow a certain amount of steps to be considered a married couple. If the man was found incapable of consumption the marraige was immediately terminated. If the marraige continued on the woman had to give up all her property then becoming a feme convert. She was then obligated to comply with other tasks like managing the household, educating the children and more. In a family mother are there to give tender, care, and love to da child. In a certain age parents have to learn to mantain their childs habbit and manner. In the family life style when the mother gives too much love to the child after a certain age the father has to keep in check with the mother behavior. for example when a boy turns 6 or 7 the father need to check the mother tenderness, so that the child could bring God’s authority.
 * Puritans and the Family Life:**