Advanced Educational Foundations for Teachers by Sharpes Donald K.;

Author:Sharpes, Donald K.; [Donald K. Sharpes]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781135720728
Publisher: Taylor & Francis Group

The Puritans

The nonconformists or dissenters to the Anglican religion who fled from England to Holland in 1607, and thence on the Mayflower to New England in 1620, landed in Plymouth, Massachusetts Bay Colony. This pioneering settlement group are known as Pilgrims. A second wave of about 1000 arrived in 1630, and another 20,000 between 1630 and 1650 (Furnas, 1969). The Pilgrims were Puritans and followed the strict teaching of John Calvin, the Swiss Protestant reformer. They had existed in England since 1564 during the reign of Elizabeth I. They exercised strict codes in dress and liturgical practices, and in general de-emphasized all outward symbols of religious authority, although in New England, the Minister had the highest social rank (Perry, 1989). Instead, they emphasized on the authority of scripture and the community of the baptized and their intent was to establish a model religious commonwealth in the New World. Following John Calvin’s creed and dictates, they established a theocracy in colonial New England, where church and state were one, and in which schooling was a vehicle for maintaining the faith.

The Puritans were believers in education but they were not believers in democracy. From the 1640s and onward, the entire town was required to offer public education so that all children would have the ability to read and understand the principles of religion and the laws which governed them. As a result, literacy levels were the highest in the English-speaking world, higher even than in England at the time (Perry, 1989).

The word puritan was used insultingly and always in opposition to the Church of England (Morgan 1986). The characteristics of puritanism were easily defined. They included a hatred of popery, a dedication to preaching, obedience to church rules and a loathing of depravity and licentiousness. Today’s definition of a religious fundamentalist might be too liberal for a puritan, but both groups would be united in opposition to reason, science and the follies and dangers of humane and secular learning. The Puritans who arrived in New England established schools in order to avoid the expense of sending sons back to England for schooling and to become educated in the ministry.

In the limited schooling that existed in the New England colonies during the Colonial period leading up the Revolutionary War, Puritans used the legal authority of their legislatures and forced all students to conform to Puritan beliefs. For example, since Puritans believed that the child was born in sin, children needed strict discipline to control their appetites and impulses. As a result, discipline became the principal mode of controlling desires. Man is evil, Satan is present, and everyone must be vigilant about preventing satanic influences in belief or behavior. Schools were to prevent idleness among youth and to make them literate enough to study scripture.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.