who were the puritants, what motivated them, and what were their settlements like?

Answer 1

" The Puritans were a group of people who grew discontent in the Church of England and worked towards religious, moral and societal reforms. The writings and ideas of John Calvin, a leader in the Reformation, gave rise to Protestantism and were pivotal to the Christian revolt. They contended that The Church of England had become a product of political struggles and man-made doctrines. The Puritans were one branch of dissenters who decided that the Church of England was beyond reform. Escaping persecution from church leadership and the King, they came to America."

"It was because the Puritan mode of interpretivity--with its readings of providence and secondary causes--could reach such extremes that the Salem witch-trials broke out. Of course, as Thomas H. Johnson writes, the belief in witches was generally questioned by no one--Puritan or otherwise--"and even as late as the close of the seventeenth century hardly a scientist of repute in England but accepted certain phenomena as due to witchcraft." But the Puritan cosmology held a relentless imaginative power, especially demonstrated in narratives wherein Providence was shown to be at work through nature and among human beings. The laity read and took in such readings or demonstrations of Providence, and the ministry felt compelled by a sense of official responsibility to offer their interpretations and explain the work of God in the world (Miller, II: 734-35)."'


Hope that helps, at least a little.

Answer 2

see:Name given in the 16th century to the more extreme Protestants within the Church of England who thought the English Reformation had not gone far enough.
Category: Europe > Christianity > History > Reformation
mb-soft.com/believe/txc/puritani.htm

Answer 3

ya know, I was gonna answer that , but I like her answer above me better... yeah, " what she said" lol, In truth, what she said covers all your bases... not to mention, they were very strict and prim and grim.