Early Settlers

Back then Early Settlers had big religious beliefs and dominant philosophical ideas. The puritans believed that the world has fallen and that people were sinners who could be only redeemed through the grace of god. Puritans wanted to “purify” the Church of England. Puritans also believed that people should enter freely into agreements concerning their government. To the Early settlers, puritanism was really important to them along with religion, hope and faith, and Rationalism in American society today.

First of all, religion was a really major key to all of the settlers that had lived in that time. They knew that only the sinners were the only ones that god would grace. In the story, from Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, by Jonathan Edwards. It talked about how all the bad things that people did, that they were going to go to hell. They were scaring them so that they can’t do bad things and so that they can change their religion and become better people. In the text, “The god holds you over the pit of hell, much as one holds a spider, or some loathsome insect over the fire,…..” This quote from the story explains how god is the god almighty and how he’s comparing the sinners of god to a spider and some insect.

Second, hope and faith were exclusively important to these people. When times were rough and they couldn’t do much about it, they had to stay strong and have hope and believe and pray to god to help them. God revolved around every single person back in these days. In the poem Burning of our House, by Anne Bradstreet. Her house burnt down, it was a really devastating moment in her life, because all of her belongings and memories just burned away in her house. In the text, “My pleasant things in ashes lie, And them behold no more shall I.” She has lost all of her things that really mattered to her and now she has nothing. She had to worship her god and pray to him so that she can still have hope that everything would be alright.

In American Society today, Rationalism plays more of the role today in our world. They believed that the universe was basically good and that “good” for others was the best way to worship god. Puritanism led to