1. Puritan Writing

2. Puritan is a broad term, referring to a number of Protestant groups that sought to “purify” the Church of England, which was corrupt and closely tied to the British government. English Puritans wished to return to the simpler forms of worship and church organization that are described in the Christian Scriptures. Puritans suffered severe persecution in England; eventually, some of them set sail for the New World.

3. For Puritans, religion was first of all a personal, inner experience. They did not believe that the clergy or the government could act as an intermediary between the individual and God. Believed that because of Adam and Eve’s sin of disobedience, most of humanity would be condemned to Hell for all eternity. Believed that God in his mercy sent his son Jesus Christ to earth to save particular people.

4. Puritans dealt with a constant uncertainty as to whether they belonged to the “elect,” (those who were chosen to be saved), or to the “unregenerate” (those who were condemned to Hell for all eternity). According to Puritan beliefs, an individual could not be saved by his or her own doing; whether or not you belonged to the “elect” was determined before birth. People were saved by the grace of God, and you could feel this grace arriving in an intensely emotional fashion. These people were “reborn,” and exhibited the arrival of God’s grace in their outward behavior. People were constantly examining their inner lives for signs of God’s grace.

5. Puritans believed that: Humans are sinful by nature. Most humans are damned for eternity. Salvation belongs to the elect, who can be identified by their virtue. Hard work and worldly success are signs of God’s grace. People should live in a thrifty, self-reliant way.

6. The Bible provided a model for Puritan writing. They viewed each individual life as a journey to salvation. They looked for direct connections between biblical events and events in their own lives. Diaries and histories were the most common forms of literary expression in Puritan society; in them writers described the workings of God. Puritans favored a plain style of writing. They admired clarity of expression and avoided complicated figures of speech.

7. Two girls in the town of Salem, Massachusetts came down with a mysterious disease that caused seizures and lesions on their skin. They began having fits and accusing unpopular people in town of witchcraft. Within the next ten months, about 150 people were accused of witchcraft and tried in special courts. Nine people were hanged and one man was crushed to death under a pile of stones.