AMERICA

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AMERICA

• 1620 1820

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• The first migration to the Americas was not by
  the British.
• The first migration occurred 20 40,000 years
  ago when Ice Age Hunters traveled from Siberia to
  Alaska.
• Slowly these people and their descendents
  migrated south. When European exploration began,
  these were the people who were living in the New
  World.

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• In 1492, Columbus discovered America. Taking
  Native Americans with him to Spain, stories began
  to circulate about the wonders of the New World,
  about its exoticism and bountifulness.

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• Spanish and French explorers wrote about this new
  world in over-exaggerated styles, praising its
  beauty, making it appear as Al Dorado (the place
  of hopes and dreams). America was viewed as the
  land of plenty, the land of peace and
  hospitality, the land of riches

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• This brought hope for those who were being
  prosecuted across the world.
• When Europeans began voyaging to this world, they
  unleashed diseases such as smallpox, measles,
  typhus, and so on, on the Natives, who were also
  enslaved and mistreated.
• In the face of this, Native American population
  began to decline rapidly, and thus, Spain
  introduced African slavery in 1501

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• Native Americans spoke hundred of languages and
  had different political and economical systems.
  They also had diverse religious and mythological
  beliefs.

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• They did not rely on a written alphabet rather
  they relied on oral communication.

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• The period of European exploration brought with
  it a huge body of literature that is referred to
  as a literature of witness. The early settlers
  brought with them their knowledge of written
  communication with its particular style and
  content. They wrote about their new experiences
  in forms that were familiar to them letters,
  factual records, sermons, and poems.

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• In 1517, Martin Luther wrote The Ninety-Five
  Thesis, a list that attacked the existing
  Catholic Church as corrupt. Luther stated that
  salvation must come from within, through faith,
  not through good works. This paved the way for
  the reformation and Protestantism.

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• When King Henry the 8th wanted to divorce his
  queen and the Pope refused, he declared himself
  Supreme Head of the Anglican Church. This church
  maintained many of the practices criticized in
  Catholicism, and thus, many became disillusioned

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• In 1560, a group (Puritans) wanted to purify the
  Church of England. They claimed the Church had
  been inseparable from the government, and
  worshippers wanted a simpler way to worship.

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• The Puritans believed
• neither the clergy nor the government has the
  right to act as intermediary between man and God.
  
• Because of this, many Puritans were persecuted,
  put in jail, tortured, and even killed.

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Religious warfare raged in Europe, civil war was
on the brink of eruption.
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• In 1620, William Bradford led a small group to
  the New World, which was viewed as the second
  Paradise, a land gifted by God to establish a
  society patterned after His word.

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• They wanted to purify Christian faith they
  believed that a complete separation from the
  corrupt Church of England was best.
• They first escaped to the Netherlands, where they
  felt isolated because of the language and the
  culture.
• Thus, they voyaged to the New World on the
  Mayflower and established Plymouth Plantation.
  Half of the Mayflower Pilgrims were dead.

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• Remember
• This passage to the New World was filled with
  memories of the violence of the old country and
  the fear of the unknown terrors of the new one
  the loss of home, of kinship (relationships,
  connections), of worldly possessions, of cultural
  and personal identity

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THE PURITANS

• The Puritans believed they must set an example
  their behavior was extremely important there
  would be serious consequences if they did not
  live up to their beliefs.

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• The Puritans believed Adam had broken the
  Covenant of Works (agreement with God that Adam
  would remain immortal and live in Paradise if he
  would obey God and His commandments).
• This first sin caused all of humanity to be
  damned.

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• God was gracious enough to bestow a reprieve with
  the Covenant of Grace (agreement with Christ with
  all those who believe in Him, which he sealed
  with His crucifixion, promising eternal life).

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• God chooses an elect few to save from eternal
  damnation.
• One never knows if he/she belongs to the damned
  or the elect group. Salvation comes from Gods
  grace.
• If God chooses to bestow this gift, then it will
  be reflected in behavior self-reliance,
  industriousness (seriousness), temperance
  (self-restraint), and simplicity

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• Puritans entered into a contract with God to
  create a society governed by the scriptures.
  Everyone worked together for the common good.
  Puritan lifestyle demanded strict conformity.
  Dissenters were often flogged, banished, or even
  sometimes put to death. The Will of God directs
  and guides the universe.

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The Puritan Credo (philosophy)

• Belief in the literal authority of the Bible,
  which served as a model for their own lives.
• Predestination God has already decided who is to
  be saved and who is to be damned.
• Human beings are sinful by nature.
• Salvation comes only to the elect.

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• Hard work and success are signs of Gods grace.
  The arrival of Gods grace was demonstrated by
  saintly behavior.
• Education is essential in order to read the Word
  of God.
• A person should be thrifty, modest, and simple.
  Emphasis on individual responsibility, on a
  direct and personal relationship with God.
• Society should be ruled by covenants that
  parallel Gods covenant with his people.

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Characteristics of Puritan Writings

• The Bible was a great influence. Puritan
  literature concerns life as a journey to
  salvation. Everything is connected to salvation.
• Literature was considered to be a tool to explore
  faith and to meditate upon God and salvation.
• Literature mostly consisted of Diaries and
  histories describing Gods work.

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• The language was very plain, clear, with no
  figures of speech or flowery/lavish description.
  
• Strong imagery and inversion the reversal of
  the usual word order of a sentence were used
  for emphasis and variety.

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• Literature included allusions (references to
  someone from history, literature, religion,
  politics) to people and incidents from the
  Bible. Biblical metaphors were often used to
  explain the Puritan condition.
• Puritans often refer to themselves as the
  Israelites and to the New World as Canaan.
• The use of symbols (a person, place, or thing
  that has meaning in itself and that also stands
  for something more than itself) was also very
  popular.