Paraphrasing

• According to Parr, the Puritan view of the human condition was that “humans were incapable of moral free will and that all should be justifiably consigned to eternal damnation” (Parr 1).  Parr further explains that this point of view was based on a Biblical belief that humans are inherently sinful, but through “God’s grace” can act in a manner that is perceived as good (Parr 1).  Puritanism was a radical ideology that wished to separate the Church of England from the processes and actions of the Roman Catholic church to establish a religion cleansed from corruption (“Puritan System” 1).  One type of corruption is the perception of moral free will (Parr 1).  Puritans believed that the “Covenant of Redemption”-a agreement made with God whereby the Israelites described in the Bible received the Ten Commandments- is the moral obligation of men in civil (political) matters (“Visible Saints” 4).  This pervasive process meant that the Puritans wished to devise a government according to Biblical law resulting in congruity between moral (personal) and political (social) actions.  Therefore, according to the Puritans, the human condition is directly influenced by this covenant to act according to God’s laws and the refusal to do so was sinful and illegal. Some examples of crimes that would be punishable by death in Massachusetts that are both moral and civil include: murder, sexual promiscuity and deviance, slavery, and perjury (“Visible Saints” 7).

The religious influences evident in the Puritan political values and institutions are based on the Puritanical belief that governmental laws should reflect moral laws set forth in the Bible.  Puritanism began as the Anglican church sought to distance itself from the Roman Catholic church (“Background” 1).  King Henry VIII initiated a reform that continued many of the Catholic practices, but as his successors reigned, the reforms became garbled (“Puritan System” 1).  Over a sequence of decades, the monarchy of England presented inconsistent religious leadership that prompted some (Puritans) to devise a political party system to oppose monarchal leadership (“Background” 1).  The Puritan political establishment wished to implement a policy that relied on the teachings of the Bible which caused a stir because it wasn’t congruent with the aspirations of the English monarchy (“Background” 2).  To solve the political unrest, The Toleration Act of 1689 extended religious freedom to all Christians (except of Roman Catholics and Unitarians) and eventually led to the Act of Settlement- a policy by which the Parliament would have sovereignty over the throne and permitted those aforementioned religious freedoms to extend to the colonies (“Background” 3).

One of the early Puritan leaders was John Winthrop.  Winthrop was disenchanted with the political conditions in England.  He was instrumental in establishing the Massachusetts Bay Company (“Puritan System” 2).  Winthrop writes to his wife about the condition of England as sinful and in need of God’s judgment.  The solution was to set up a joint-stock company in American where Puritans would be responsible for governing as long as those laws were in accordance with English law.  The idea to create its own government is reiterated in Parrs’s “Thoughts” that good men are responsible for doing good deeds (Parr 1).   The laws initiated in Massachusetts were devised to take advantage of the Act of Settlement to eventually create a haven for the Puritans to create a government that allowed Puritan laws to have effect.  In “Puritan System’, it’s learned that the royal charter allowed joint stock companies (investment companies that colonized America for the improvement of English economy) to have autonomy in deciding the legislation of the company it governed (2).

In “Religion of the Visible Saints”, the laws of Massachusetts are predicated on the preamble “To Our Beloved Brothers and Neighbours” (4).  In this preamble, its explained that the laws of Massachusetts would be set on the laws of the ten Commandments. To quote the preamble, “If they had walked according to that light and law of nature they …. might have enjoyed a common blessing in all their natural and civil Ordinance” (“Visible Saints” 4).  In conjunction with the belief that the human condition is a flawed and sinful one in which the only remedy is to follow God’s law set forth in the Bible, the Puritans devised a form of government that’s laws were based on the “Covenant of Redemption” (“Visible Saints” 4).  As mentioned above, these laws were strict and based on the Ten Commandments.  Furthermore, another aspect of policy was the inclusion of Ecclesiastical laws that made it so that the citizens of Massachusetts would need to be members of approved Puritan churches (“Visible Saints” 11).

The ecclesiastical laws were derived to create a harmonious community of citizens that followed the same religious teachings in order to have full liberty.  Liberty was defined by Winthrop in “Puritan System” on page five to define the natural and civil liberties of men that the Puritans adopted as their foundation for laws.  Winthrop explains that liberty is the duality of natural and civil laws (“Puritan System” 5).  Natural liberties are the sinful acts one partakes in to satiate their animalistic tendencies which leads to corruption.  Therefore, it is necessary to act in civil matters to prevent the natural liberties from creating a sinful atmosphere.  Winthrop writes that to have civil liberties, the natural liberty to be a servant of God takes precedence.  According to Winthrop, when the laws of God are followed (whereby the natural liberty to sin is rejected), civil liberties are therefore followed by proxy (“Puritan System” 5).  These laws are strict against things such as: murder, sexual promiscuity and deviance, slavery, and perjury (“Visible Saints” 7).  Furthermore, these laws are enforced by the approved churches of the state of Massachusetts (“Visible Saints” 11-12).  At the local level, ecclesiastical law is enforced. For example, local church leaders were given jurisdiction over topics such as honoring the Sabbath and holidays, and attending mass- so that governing body could be lesser burdened by civil law when civil laws are attended to by the local church community.  The religious influence here is obvious regarding Puritan values and institutors.

• “Background Information: England (Great Britain) and the Colonies.” n.d. 3.

Parr. “Introduction to Puritan New England- Thoughts.” n.d. 4.

“The Puritan System- A Due Form of Government.” Hardy, M. Readings in American Cultures. n.d. 5.

“The Religion of the Visible Saints.” Hardy, M. Readings in American Cultures. Thomson, n.d. 26.