jjares reviewed The Puritans: A Captivating Guide to the English Protestants Who Grew Discontent in the Church of England and Established the Massachusetts Bay Colony on the East Coast of America on + 3270 more book reviews
This book certainly offers extensive explanations about the Puritans and the problems they had with the English Crown. Even after they were in America, the religious instability of England spilled over into America. I was surprised to see that the Puritans were more worried about what English laws were being created than what was happening between the various settlements in America.
The way this book explains it, the English Civil Wars of the 17th-century were really Wars of Religion. Fortunately, when William of Orange came to the throne, he was too busy with British and Parliamentary matters; he allowed the British colonies to fall back into their various distinct identities (excepting Plymouth, which was absorbed into Massachusetts).
This book also clarifies just how the Puritans came to worry about witchcraft. Since the Puritans believed in the forces of good and evil, they believed that humans could be affected by evil in their midst. If they had a poor harvest, was it a divine judgment against that farmer and his family? With all the uncertainty in the world at that time, when Samuel Parris preached that there was evil in their homes, people believed. The ironic part is that false confessions were encouraged to escape punishment.
The witch trials (and convictions) continued until Governor Phips got involved and required clear evidence of wrongdoing (and not just hearsay evidence) to convict. By the time the trials ended over 20 people had been killed through this travesty of justice. But the 200 released from jail had to live lives under the shadow of the witch trials.
Amazingly, this book takes the Puritans to the present. They have undergone name changes -- to Congregationalists. The more liberal thinking Puritans have become the United Church of Christ. I enjoyed hearing about typical Puritan pursuits and how they have changed over the generations.
The way this book explains it, the English Civil Wars of the 17th-century were really Wars of Religion. Fortunately, when William of Orange came to the throne, he was too busy with British and Parliamentary matters; he allowed the British colonies to fall back into their various distinct identities (excepting Plymouth, which was absorbed into Massachusetts).
This book also clarifies just how the Puritans came to worry about witchcraft. Since the Puritans believed in the forces of good and evil, they believed that humans could be affected by evil in their midst. If they had a poor harvest, was it a divine judgment against that farmer and his family? With all the uncertainty in the world at that time, when Samuel Parris preached that there was evil in their homes, people believed. The ironic part is that false confessions were encouraged to escape punishment.
The witch trials (and convictions) continued until Governor Phips got involved and required clear evidence of wrongdoing (and not just hearsay evidence) to convict. By the time the trials ended over 20 people had been killed through this travesty of justice. But the 200 released from jail had to live lives under the shadow of the witch trials.
Amazingly, this book takes the Puritans to the present. They have undergone name changes -- to Congregationalists. The more liberal thinking Puritans have become the United Church of Christ. I enjoyed hearing about typical Puritan pursuits and how they have changed over the generations.
