English Essay

Puritanism was a part of Protestantism. This culture had its origins in the post-Reformation England, during the reign of Elizabeth I of England. The central tenet of Puritanism was God's supreme authority over human affairs. Puritanism were a number of people who were expelled from England by religious intolerance, fleeing injustice and craved freedom, they wanted to create a new society in the new world. Initially, the Puritan was a rebel who fought against the traditions, but their descendants in the second or third generation were the product of a tradition that was consolidated. The Puritans did not need intermediaries to communicate with God. They had liturgies, nor believed in saints, nor placed images in their temples. The only certainty was that God's gaze was directed to men at all times and everywhere. The Puritan was to be a working man, methodical, sober and tenacious.

When United States was called New England, a lot people from England were coming to North America trying to find a new life "Boston was founded in 1630 by English Puritans fleeing religious persecution. On 29 March 1630 a fleet of 11 ships carrying 700 people sailed from England to Massachusetts. They were led by John Winthrop (1588-1649)." (Tim Lambert, A Short History of Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.A.) Puritanism inaugurated its reign of terror in Boston, Massachusetts during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, destroying and chasing every manifestation of art and culture. The Puritans banned three different types of activities that they considered immoral. These activities were theater, erotic poetry and music. At that time, there were many laws that forbade activities such as alcohol consumption, certain styles of haircut, adultery, theft, displays of affection in public places, etc.. But not everything in this culture was wicked. The Puritans gave to American People an important day that they celebrate all the years in November. This day is called Thanksgiving Day.

The Puritans had many punishments in their community, such as executions, bring letters on their chest and, the most popular, stand on a scaffold. "The first execution in Boston was in the fall of 1637. One year later, the next victim of the gallows was that of a Salem woman named Dorothy Talbye. She was insane, and was considered a public nuisance (http://www.celebrateboston.com). This kind of punishment was for people who did terrible things as practicing witchcraft. The rape of women over ten years and the rebellion against the community also meant the death penalty. The common form of execution were hanging or at the stake but that were depends of the offender. Furthermore, people can get a letter and forced to put its on their chest as we can see on the book of The Scarlet Letter. Hester Prynne was to wore a letter A in her bosom in sign of "Adultery". Sometimes, they were burned also on their forehead with letters such as letter "T" to people who were thief, letter "A" to people who commits adultery, letter "D" for drunkenness, letter "G" to people greedy. In addition, we have the scaffold that was the most common punishment which were used for lower class people. They need to stand on the scaffold for a period of time of sign of shame.

Finally, we have the punishments that the kids suffered. Many chastisements were the same like adult people. Nevertheless, they have a special penalty called binding out. Often children of poor families would be "bound out." "This would be the punishment for a crime that either the child or his parents committed The act of binding out is essentially a court or church decree that the child shall serve as an apprentice or slave labor for a specific amount of time to a prominent colony member, often for a number of years."(Jeremiah Blanchard, Puritan Punishments for Children, eHow Contributor).

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