The Puritan Theocracy

What is a Theocracy?

The General Effect

-The theocracy in the Massachusetts Bay Colony affected the social, political and economic lifestyles of Puritans

"Combine state and religious power to keep the community together and prevent disunity that might

open it to the destruction by material enemies"

Influenced how Puritans interacted with one

another, how they dressed and fueled suspisions (witches, as seen in The Crucible)

Social:

Political:

Economic:

-The Crucible

Religious leaders held a large role in

court rulings and other political decisions

(As seen in the Anne Hutchinson case)

People lived modest lifestyles centered

around agriculture and abtained from

flaunting their wealth

Theocracy

The Massachusetts Theocracy

-A theocracy is a society whose government is based soley around religion and God

-American society is not a theocracy because

we have "seperation of Church and State"

- The Massachusetts Bay Colony was to be an ordered community, dedicated to realizing the will of God and a "city set on a hill"

-Puritan court system was based on the Christian Bible and anyone accused of breaking God's laws was presented before a civil council of the town elders to recieve their punishment

-The church and state opperated as one: only church members were allowed to vote

-While it was a theocracy was not as theocratic as it

is often portrayed: {for example} ministers were less powerful than in Europe and did not have special priveleges

The Puritan Theocracy

Beliefs and Ethics

- Puritans believed that the Church of England was corrupt and in need of purificaiton

-Became the subjects of much persecution in England due to their beliefs -> "The Great Migration" of Puritans to America

-Had Calvinist ties: believed in Predestination

and that the life an individual lived reflected

where they where "predetermined" to end up

As Seen in

The Scarlet Letter

Examples:

Anne Hutchinson

-Wanted unity and opposed anything that

threatened their system or beliefs

Way of Life

-Believed there were greater and lesser people:

-Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlett Letter provides a good example of punishment in the Puritan Court system.

-Hester Prynne was forced to wear a letter "A" on her clothing for her crime of adultry.

-This was a common punishment in Puritan society for a variety of different offenses including adultry (A), blasphemy (B), drunkeness (D), etc.

Goodwife Mistress Master

-Had laws that limited clothing:

Limited colors & Amount of gold/ jewlery

Who Were the Puritans?

-Land was allotted for pesonal farming but people

lived in towns: godly way of life could belived only with others

-Anne Hutchinson was a religious dissenter who believed that the clergy was not qualified to preach

-She began to preach her own sermons, clearly ignoring social norms in society.

-Seen as a threat to Puritan way of life, she was presented before a civil court as well as a church council

-John Winthrop appointed himself attorney general, foreman of the jury, and chief justice of the trial.

-Hutchinson was found guilty and was banished for blasphemy.

-Life was centered around the church, fishing, agriculture, timber harvesting and the slave trade

Typical Puritan Town Layout

How did the Theocracy affect the court system?

Puritans In America

Examples:

Roger Williams

- Lead by John Winthrop in 1630, a group of religious dissenters, called the Puritans, traveled to America seeking religious freedom from persecutions in England

-Estalished the Massachusetts Bay Colony and named their principal city Boston

-Roger Williams was another religious dissenter of the time who believed that no government had the right to punish people for violating the first four commandments nor could it administer an oath to a nonbeliever.

-Williams was banished from the colony and founded Rhode Island with the belief that "no man should be molested for his conscience."

- Throughout the 1630s the colony thrived due to the "Great Migration" of English Puritans to America (2,000 new immigrants every year)