Puritanism was the movement arising within the Church of England in the latter part of the 16th century that sought to purify, or reform, that church and establish a middle course between Roman Catholicism and the ideas of the Protestant reformers. It had a continuous life within the church until the Stuart Restoration (1660). Puritanism reached North America with the English settlers who founded Plymouth Colony in 1620. It remained the dominant religious force in New England throughout the 17th and 18th centuries.
The term Puritanism is also used in a broader sense to refer to attitudes and values considered characteristic of the Puritans. Thus, the Separatists in the 16th century, the Quakers in the 17th century, and Nonconformists after the Restoration may be called Puritans, although they were no longer part of the established church. The founders of New England, for whom immigration to America constituted withdrawal from the mother church, are also commonly called Puritans. Finally, the word puritanism has often been used as a term of abuse in a way that does scant justice to historical Puritanism-for instance, when a rigid moralism, the condemnation of innocent pleasure, or religious narrowness is stigmatized as puritanical.( Porterfield, Amanda)
The task of puritan writers was to transform a mysterious God, mysterious because he is separate from the world, to make him more relevant to the universe and to glorify God. American writing began with the work of English adventurers and colonists in the New World chiefly for the benefit of readers in the mother country.
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