Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

To: RJayneJ
Perhaps this piece could be the next Essay of the Week :P
2 posted on 10/29/2001 6:21:24 PM PST by futurepotus
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies ]


To: futurepotus
The Puritan religion was a Protestant Movement in England. It was a backlash against the Anglican Church's creed and rituals, corruption and the despotic government's lifestyle. They condemned all laxity of morals. The bible referrs to believers as Saints and to non believers as strangers. Oliver Cromwell, a Saint and puritan, actually governed England for a short time.

They were subsequently chased out of England when the population became weary of thier puritanical form of government. Most fled to Amsterdam. They were accepted there, but there was no real room for growth and they wanted more freedoms of religon and more economic mobility as well. Thinking they could achieve these things they sailed for the American Colonies. The Massachusetts Bay Co. financed the endeavor.

These strongly principaled people created a society and prospered against unimaginable odds and suffering. There are many theories as to the whys and wherefores of the Salem Witch Trials, but on the surface it would seem that a group of teenage girls, thier heads full of stories told by a caribbean slave, started something they couldn't control or stop.

There is a theory that mold on the rye they made into bread had a hallucinogenic effect on the entire population. Who knows?

The "American Way" had not yet been invented by the founders of our Consitution and in thier way they did set up a society where they all had a say in the governance, had elected heads, controlled, of course, by the Puritan religion. They were a remarkable group of people who accomplished much and should be remembered for the pioneers that they were, and the ideals they believed in, rather than for the hysteria and horror of the Witch trials. It is more a lesson in absolute power corrupting absolutely than it is in a system of government and equality and justice that had not yet been invented. Remember, England had already granted freedom to its population with the signing of the Magna Carta, so this experiment was not for political freedom, but for religious freedom from England's Anglican (High Episcopalian) church of state.

67 posted on 10/30/2001 8:19:02 AM PST by wingnuts'nbolts
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies ]

To: futurepotus
Thanks for the heads up! };^D)
95 posted on 10/31/2001 5:53:07 PM PST by RJayneJ
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies ]

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article


FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson