Religion in Colonial American Literature

RELIGION IN COLONIAL AMERICAN LITERATURE                                        1

RELGION IN COLONIAL AMERICAN LITERATURE

                        JUDY HEADLEE

                        UOP ENG/491

                        RATHI KRISHNAN

                        AUGUST 29, 2015

RELIGION IN COLONIAL AMERICAN LITERATURE                                        2

Religion was an important part of the Colonial American Literature mainly due to the fact that many people fled England looking for religious freedom. They were looking for a place where they could practice whatever religion they liked without having to answer to the big bad country that wanted everyone to conform to their religious beliefs. It was an awakening to freedoms not found before the colonialist came to America.

Religion was one of the reasons many migrated from Europe to the unknown lands of America. It was also the foundation of the early Colonial American Puritan writings. Many of the early settlers fled Europe to come to this “new land” where they felt they could worship the way they wanted without fear of persecution. They brought with them their religious beliefs and ideas. This is evident in Colonial American literature.  

William Bradford (1590-1657)

The colonists believed that God should be worshiped often. They also believed that God was involved in their daily life.  William Bradford wrote how God interceded when the sailors would mistreat the pilgrims, on their voyage to the New World. The sailors would be punished with sickness or death. He wrote “There was a proud and very profane man, one of the seaman, of a lusty, able body, which made him the more haughty, he would always be contemning the poor people in their sickness, and cursing them daily with grievous execrations, and did not let to tell them, that he hoped to help to cast them overboard before they came to their journey’s end, and to make merry with what they had; and if he were by any gentle reproved, he would curse and swear most bitterly.  But it please God before they came half seas over, to smite this young man with a grievous disease, of which he died in a desperate manner, and so was himself the first that was thrown overboard.” (Baym, 2008, p. 131)

John Winthrop (1588-1649)

John Winthrop wrote “A Model of Christian Charity” as a reminder to the people of their covenant with God. He talked about there being two rules, justice and mercy. These rules kept them walking one towards another according to Winthrop. He wrote about how God made people different. He stated some were rich while others were poor, some had power and some were mean but they were all there to serve God. These writings were examples of the Puritan beliefs. John believed that people could worship in their own way as long as they still upheld their obligation to God. He preached about how the people existed to serve God. He said good can be accomplished through hard work and sacrifice. This was a way to show how much they believed in God and his word no matter what religion the people followed.

...