But, for an A.P. class, I'd have to give it a D+.
The over-all ignorance and bias towards Puritans and their philosophy is disappointing. It reads as if your research consisted of skimming the Cliff Notes to Arthur Miller's "The Crucible" while watching the "Scarlett Letter" on TV.
Here are some more specific comments:
The Puritans, who made the trip to Massachusetts in the 1630's, in order to freely attempt to purify the Anglican Church, did not represent the American way.
Translation: “Settlers in the 1630’s viewed the world differently from those who lived two hundred years afterwords.”
Brilliant thesis.
The arrogance of Puritan leaders like John Winthrop was disgusting in itself. Winthrop said, "we shall be as a city upon a hill, the eyes of all people are upon us." None of the Founding Fathers of the United States shared these sentiments.
The US was described, by the Founding Fahters, as the great motherland of liberty. What could be more "arrogant" than the Delcaration of Independence? Even today American politicans describe the US as the last great bastion of freedom on earth, with people streaming to its shores, etc., etc.
The Puritans never gave what is now known in America as a fair trial. Nineteen people were hanged as a result of predominantly hostile testimony.
Quite a generalization based on the isolated events in one city.
Incidentally, the Puritans’ courts were based on the English common law and had virtually the same procedures. What constitutes a “fair trial” evolves. The Founding Fathers didn’t practice Miranda Rights, Exclusions of Evidence, and were far far more strict when it came to hearsay. The courts in 1790 differ more from the courts of 2001, than the did the courts of 1630 differ from the courts of 1790.
The Declaration of Independence states that all men are created equal; a belief that the Puritans did not exhibit. The Puritans had the false notion that only "Saints" could receive God's grace. Reverend John Cotton said, "We teach that only Doers will be saved." If a person living in Salem was not a Doer, he or she was outcast from society, which is not the American way. The American way teaches that different is good. The Puritans were saved, somewhat, when Governor Phips stopped the witch trials.
You misunderstand the Declaration’s observation that all men are created equal. Locke’s statement had nothing to do with salvation; rather, it had to do with the equality of authority -- i.e, no man born of woman had an inherent right to rule over any other man. To the extent the Puritans were anti-royalists, they agreed with the Declaration’s statement of equality.
No outside factor was to blame for the failure of the Puritan society. The culprit was their own weak psychological state-of-mind.
Wow. You are a psychologist too?
How can a “state-of-mind” NOT be psychological?
The Puritans were religious zealots who alienated their fellow man and thought it was right. Any Puritan who wanted the gift of grace was required to go through the conversion experience. The conversion experience was often extremely humiliating, because the experience consisted of the potential member having to confess all of their sins in front of the congregation. The Puritans, in their disillusionment, were unable to see the complete and utter correctness of the beliefs belonging to Anne Hutchinson and Roger Williams. Hutchinson, who was eventually banished to Rhode Island, believed in immediate conversion by God.
And now you are a theologian...
What legitimate historian would refer to one denomination as “disillusioned zealots” and another denomination as being “complete and utter[ly] correct”?
The above-paragraph would have got you and “F” in my day.
Separation of church and state was unheard of in the Puritan way of life. The Puritans were governed by John Winthrop's Bible Commonwealth, which met where the town church did, at the town meetinghouse. A moral decision is not always correct.
Wrong. A moral decision IS always correct.
That’s the definition of a moral decision.
The only thing that Americans in the 21st century can learn from the Puritans of the 17th century is that Puritanism is exactly what should not be happening today. If the United States government were solely concerned with religious matters, nothing would get accomplished.
The Puritans were, as you say, “solely concerned with religious matters”, and they built the foundation upon which we sit to this day. I think that is quite an accomplishment.
Education is most valuable when you seek out the truth for yourself,as opposed to taking what is taught at face value.
First, the thesis. The essay question was 'Did the Puritans Represent the American Way?' Basically I had no choice in the matter of how my thesis statement should be. It was either positive or negative, and whichever road I chose I had to stay with the whole time. She wanted us to answer the question, so we had to have 'America' in it somewhere.
Second, good call on the religious paragraph. I got 5 out of 10 on that one. Needless to say, when we were allowed to rewrite a paragraph, that's the one I re-wrote.