2. Pilgrims Puritans A group of approximately 100 English people, primarily working class Traveled to America in 1620 on the Mayflower Settled in Plymouth, Mass. Much larger group of English immigrants, primarily middle-upper class Traveled to America 10 years after the Pilgrims Established Massachusetts Bay Colony Who were theyandwhere were they going?
3. Pilgrims Puritans Sought to purify their church Separatists given up hope of reformation within Anglican Church, wanted to separate from it and start their own churches Sought to purify their church NOT Separatists wanted to reform their church from within, Church of England continued to be the official church Why did they come to America?
4. Pilgrims Puritans What were their governments like? Mayflower Compact Members of colony = covenant Elected to office, treated as equals Similar to democracy, good of common man Elected to office, BUT once chosen believed to have divine authority (accountable to God, not the people) Similar to theocracy, religious foundations
5. Pilgrims Puritans Superior, strict, inflexible, authoritarian Gentle, tolerant, camaraderie, open-minded What were their attitudes like?
6. Puritan Poetry Vehicle of spiritual enlightenment More concerned with the message than the literary form Edward Taylor, Anne Bradstreet
8. Anne Bradstreet: Background Massachusetts Bay Colony, 1630 (only 18 at the time) Husband: Simon Puritan upbringing Raised 8 children Devoted spare time to “unladylike” writing
9. Anne Bradstreet: Female Author Wrote for herself, not publication, but her brother arranged for publication of her poems The Tenth Muse Lately Sprung Up in America, By a Gentlewoman of Those Parts 1st collection of original poetry written in colonial America Examined rights of women to learn and express themselves Moving, personal voice shone through conventional Puritanism of her themes Later works focus on feelings about joys/difficulties of everyday Puritan life “To My Dear and Loving Husband”
