Both groups believed that the Church of England had become corrupt

Puritans wanted to reform or purify the church

Pilgrims believed the Church was beyond saving and therefore wanted to separate from it completely

The King was the head of the Church Saying the Church was corrupt and in

need of reform was a direct assault on the King

Rebelling against the Church was often seen as treason

Predestination: Although everyone wants to go to

heaven, only a small number will God knows who will go to heaven and

who will go to hell We can only guess who is

predestined by their behaviors

A person who is obviously predestined for heaven will act in a way that proves it

People who deliberately sin are not necessarily predestined for hell, they can and should be taught to change their ways.

This is why punishment becomes so important to Puritans

The church is the state Any sin is views as a crime and is

subject to public prosecution Sin is also seen as a social problem

and could result in the culprit being shunned by the community

Possibly the Puritans’ most important contribution to America

Puritans believed that any work you had to do was given to you by God

So, you had to do your best to accomplish that task

They were extremely hard workers and endured great hardship without complaint

Characterized by simplicity Puritans should not do anything to

draw attention to themselves (all attention should go to God)

Clothing was plain and usually dark colored

Their goal was to always be honest and straightforward

The literature of the Puritans reflects their simple, straightforward approach to life

It is simple, direct, and meant to focus attention on God rather than the writer

To accomplish this, there are some very strict rules Puritan poetry follows

The characteristics of Puritan poetry are:

expression of religious ideas short words direct language (no figurative

language) references to ordinary objects absence of emotion or sensory

experiences