Saints and Simplicity Essay

Submitted By Vmabball2013
Words: 311
Pages: 2

The struggle for the Puritans was sin and the devil. There was also another religious group known as the Shakers. The Shakers went further in sin then the Puritans did. For the Shakers, they believed that the root of all evil was sex, if you didn't do it, married or not, you could possibly gain salvation.

Mother Ann Lee Stanley was the founder of the Shakers. She came from England in 1774. She was married to a blacksmith and had 4 children. She was near death for several hours with her 4th child. After recovering, she said that she would never have kids again

The Shakers believed that Jesus would come back to life as a woman. Mother Ann Lee Stanley left and went to America and said that God had chosen people in America. She had many converts in America. She also encouraged separation of the sexes, ownership of good in common, and obedience.

The Puritans and Shakers both work hard, live simple, and warn against pride in appearance and possessions. The Shakers worship in the form of dancing. The men are together at one end, and the women are together at the other end. Both the men and women march or dance towards each other making a circle. The woman would be in the inner part of the circle, while the men were in the outer circle. The Puritans also thought that they were stomping away sin.

The Shakers on the other hand,would write down messages and then they would then me illustrated by the Shaker artists. The Shaker communities were very happy. Visitors were