E X T E N S I O N THE PURITANS WAY OF LIFE The English Puritans felt a strong need to purify the Anglican Church. Those who migrated to New England and founded the Massachusetts Bay Colony and the town of Boston (1630) left in family groups, rather than as isolated individuals and were motivated above all by the desire to practice their Puritan religion freely. The migrants of the so-called Great Migration (1630-1640) had very strong religious motives, even though capitalism the desire for material improvement was part of their culture. John Winthrop That is why Puritans believed that if one worked hard, one pleased God and could be successful in this life; so prosperity was seen as a good thing, a sign of God s favour. Their leader, John Winthrop, wanted to create the city on a hill , that is, a shining example of a Godly1 society for the entire world. Instead, they created a society just as intolerant as the one they had left. The Puritan way of life consisted of a mixture of religion and politics based on principles called the New England Way. First, New England Puritans believed in both personal and collective autonomy, so each village or settlement had local control over both religious and political matters. The system known as New England Town Meeting was a form of self-government and democracy. They believed in individualism, so they recognized no higher authority than the Bible. As a consequence, everyone had to be able to interpret the Bible for himself or herself. This had an obvious effect on education and literacy2: in order to interpret the Bible, one had to be able to read it. Teaching Puritan children to read was the mother s job, which in turn3 gave women a strong voice in family matters. Second, while the principles mentioned above might suggest that Puritans enjoyed religious freedom, that freedom was actually very limited. Those believers, whose interpretation of the relationship with God or of the Bible was different from the accepted Puritan orthodoxy, could be severely punished or banned4 from the community. In modern usage, the word puritan is often used to describe someone 1. Godly: very religious. 2. literacy: being able to read and write. 3. in turn: as a consequence. 4. banned: sent away. 37