Editing Puritans (section)

== History ==
{{Main|History of the Puritans}}
Puritanism had a historical importance over a period of a century, followed by fifty years of development in New England. It changed character and emphasis nearly decade by decade over that time.

=== Elizabethan Puritanism ===
{{further|History of the Puritans under Elizabeth I}}
The [[Elizabethan Religious Settlement]] of 1559 established the Church of England as a Protestant church and brought the [[English Reformation]] to a close. During the reign of [[Elizabeth I|Elizabeth&nbsp;I]] (r. 1558–1603), the Church of England was widely considered a [[Reformed tradition|Reformed]] church, and Calvinists held the best [[bishopric]]s and [[Deanery|deaneries]]. Nevertheless, it preserved certain characteristics of medieval [[Catholicism]], such as cathedrals, [[church choir]]s, a formal [[liturgy]] contained in the ''[[Book of Common Prayer]]'', traditional clerical [[vestment]]s, and [[episcopal polity]].{{sfn|Coffey|Lim|2008|pp=3–4}}

Many English Protestants—especially those former [[Marian exiles]] returning to England to work as clergy and bishops—considered the settlement merely the first step in reforming England's church.{{sfn|Craig|2008|p=36}} The years of exile during the [[English Reformation#Marian Restoration|Marian Restoration]] had exposed them to the practices of the [[Continental Reformed Protestantism|Continental Reformed churches]]. The most impatient clergy began introducing reforms within their local parishes. The initial conflict between Puritans and the authorities included instances of nonconformity, such as omitting parts of the liturgy to allow more time for the sermon and singing of [[Metrical psalter|metrical psalms]]. Some Puritans refused to bow on hearing the name of Jesus, or to make the [[sign of the cross]] in baptism, or to use [[wedding ring]]s or the organ. 

Yet, the main complaint Puritans had was the requirement that clergy wear the white [[surplice]] and [[Canterbury cap|clerical cap]].{{sfn|Craig|2008|p=37}} Puritan clergymen preferred to wear [[Geneva gown|black academic attire]]. During the [[vestments controversy]], church authorities attempted and failed to enforce the use of clerical vestments. While never a mass movement, the Puritans had the support and protection of powerful patrons in the aristocracy.{{sfn|Craig|2008|pp=43–44}}

In the 1570s, the primary dispute between Puritans and the authorities was over the appropriate form of church government. Many Puritans believed that the Church of England should follow the example of Reformed churches in other parts of Europe and adopt [[presbyterian polity]], under which government by [[bishop]]s would be replaced with government by [[Presbyterian polity#Elder|elders]].{{sfn|Craig|2008|pp=39–40}} But all attempts to enact further reforms through [[Parliament of England|Parliament]] were blocked by the Queen. Despite such setbacks, Puritan leaders such as [[John Field (Puritan)|John Field]] and [[Thomas Cartwright (theologian)|Thomas Cartwright]] continued to promote presbyterianism through the formation of unofficial clerical conferences that allowed Puritan clergymen to organise and network. This covert Puritan network was discovered and dismantled during the [[Marprelate controversy]] of the 1580s. For the remainder of Elizabeth's reign, Puritans ceased to agitate for further reform.{{sfn|Craig|2008|p=42}}

=== Caroline Puritanism ===
{{further|History of the Puritans under Charles I}}
{{Expand section|with=a summary of the main article on this sub-topic|date=October 2024}}

=== Jacobean Puritanism ===
{{further|History of the Puritans under James I}}

The accession of [[James VI and I|James&nbsp;I]] to the English throne brought the [[Millenary Petition]], a Puritan [[manifesto]] of 1603 for reform of the English church, but James wanted a religious settlement along different lines. He called the [[Hampton Court Conference]] in 1604, and heard the teachings of four prominent Puritan leaders, including [[Laurence Chaderton]], but largely sided with his bishops. He was well informed on theological matters by his education and Scottish upbringing, and he dealt shortly with the peevish legacy of Elizabethan Puritanism, pursuing an [[eirenic]] religious policy, in which he was arbiter.

Many of James's episcopal appointments were Calvinists, notably [[James Montague (bishop)|James Montague]], who was an influential courtier. Puritans still opposed much of the Roman Catholic summation in the Church of England, notably the ''Book of Common Prayer'', but also the use of non-secular vestments (cap and gown) during services, the sign of the Cross in baptism, and kneeling to receive Holy Communion.<ref>{{cite book |last=Neil |first=Daniel |date=1844 |title=The History of the Puritans, Or Protestant Noncomformists: From the Reformation in 1517, to the Revolution in 1688; Comprising an Account of Their Principles; Their Attempts for a Farther Reformation in the Church; Their Sufferings; and the Lives and Characters of Their Most Considerable Divines |volume=1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=72gPAAAAYAAJ |page=246 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160504131815/https://books.google.com/books?id=72gPAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_v2_summary_r&cad=0 |archive-date=4 May 2016 |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref> Some of the bishops under both Elizabeth and James tried to suppress Puritanism, though other bishops were more tolerant. In many places, individual ministers were able to omit disliked portions of the [[Book of Common Prayer (1604)|revised ''Book of Common Prayer'']].{{cn|date=December 2022}}

The Puritan movement of Jacobean times became distinctive by adaptation and compromise, with the emergence of "semi-separatism", "moderate puritanism", the writings of [[William Bradshaw (Puritan)|William Bradshaw]] (who adopted the term "Puritan" for himself), and the beginnings of [[Congregationalist polity|Congregationalism]].{{sfn|Spurr|1998|loc=Chapter 5}} Most Puritans of this period were non-separating and remained within the Church of England; Separatists who left the Church of England altogether were numerically much fewer.

=== Fragmentation and political failure ===
{{further|History of the Puritans from 1649}}
[[File:Assertion of Liberty of Conscience by the Independents of the Westminster Assembly of Divines, 1644.jpg|thumb|left|The [[Westminster Assembly]], which saw disputes on Church polity in England (Victorian history painting by [[John Rogers Herbert]])]]
The Puritan movement in England was riven over decades by emigration and inconsistent interpretations of Scripture, as well as some political differences that surfaced at that time. [[Fifth Monarchists|The Fifth Monarchy Men]], a radical millenarian wing of Puritanism, aided by strident, popular clergy like [[Vavasor Powell]], agitated from the right wing{{what|reason=Next we'll be speaking of the right and left wing of the Roman Senate|date=May 2025}} of the movement, even as sectarian groups like the [[Ranter]]s, [[Levellers]], and [[Quakers]] pulled from the left.{{sfn|Milton|1997}}{{sfn|Hill|1972}} The fragmentation created a collapse of the centre and, ultimately, sealed a political failure, while depositing an enduring spiritual legacy that would remain and grow in English-speaking Christianity.{{sfn|Kelly|1992}}

The [[Westminster Assembly]] was called in 1643, assembling clergy of the Church of England. The Assembly was able to agree to the [[Westminster Confession of Faith]] doctrinally, a consistent Reformed theological position. The ''[[Directory of Public Worship]]'' was made official in 1645, and the larger framework (now called the [[Westminster Standards]]) was adopted by the [[Church of Scotland]]. In England, the Standards were contested by Independents up to 1660.{{sfn|Benedetto|McKim|2010|pp=521–522}}

The [[List of the Westminster Divines|Westminster Divines]], on the other hand, were divided over questions of [[church polity]] and split into factions supporting a reformed [[episcopal polity|episcopacy]], [[Presbyterian polity|presbyterianism]], [[Congregationalist polity|congregationalism]], and [[Erastianism]]. The membership of the Assembly was strongly weighted towards the Presbyterians, but [[Oliver Cromwell]] was a [[Nonconformist]] Puritan and an [[Independent (religion)|Independent Congregationalist]] who imposed his doctrines upon them. The Church of England of the [[Interregnum (1649–60)]] was run along Presbyterian lines but never became a national Presbyterian church, such as existed in Scotland. England was not the theocratic state which leading Puritans had called for as "godly rule".{{sfn|Lamont|1969}}

{{Anchor|Great Ejection}}

=== Great Ejection and Dissenters ===
{{further|History of the Puritans from 1649}}
At the time of the [[English Restoration]] in 1660, the [[Savoy Conference]] was called to determine a new religious settlement for England and Wales. Under the ''[[Act of Uniformity 1662]]'', the Church of England was restored to its pre-[[English Civil War|Civil War]] constitution with only minor changes, and the Puritans found themselves sidelined. A traditional estimate of historian [[Edmund Calamy (historian)|Edmund Calamy]] is that around 2,400 Puritan clergy left the Church in the "[[Great Ejection]]" of 1662.<ref name = Calamy>{{Cite DNB|wstitle=Calamy, Edmund (1671-1732)|display=Calamy, Edmund (1671–1732) |volume=51 |pages=63–65}}</ref> At this point, the term "[[English Dissenters|Dissenter]]" came to include "Puritan", but more accurately described those (clergy or lay) who "dissented" from the [[Book of Common Prayer (1662)|1662 ''Book of Common Prayer'']].{{Sfn|Leighton|2004|p=196}}

The Dissenters divided themselves from all other Christians in the Church of England and established their own Nonconformist congregations in the 1660s and 1670s. An estimated 1,800 of the ejected clergy continued in some fashion as ministers of religion, according to [[Richard Baxter]].<ref name = Calamy/> The government initially attempted to suppress these schismatic organisations by using the [[Clarendon Code]]. There followed a period in which schemes of "comprehension" were proposed, under which Presbyterians could be brought back into the Church of England, but nothing resulted from them. The [[Whig (British political faction)|Whigs]] opposed the court religious policies and argued that the Dissenters should be allowed to worship separately from the established Church. This position ultimately prevailed when the [[Act of Toleration 1689|''Toleration Act'']] was passed in the wake of the [[Glorious Revolution]] in 1689. This permitted the licensing of Dissenting ministers and the building of chapels. The term "[[Nonconformist (Protestantism)|Nonconformist]]" generally replaced the term "Dissenter" from the middle of the 18th century.

=== Puritans in North America ===
{{Further|History of the Puritans in North America}}
[[File:InteriorOldShip.jpg|thumb|right|Interior of the [[Old Ship Church]], a Puritan [[meetinghouse]] in [[Hingham, Massachusetts]]. Puritans were [[Calvinists]], so their churches were unadorned and plain.]]
Some [[Puritan migration to New England (1620–40)|Puritans left for New England]], particularly from 1629 to 1640 (the [[Personal Rule|Eleven Years' Tyranny]] under [[Charles I of England|King Charles I]]), supporting the founding of the [[Massachusetts Bay Colony]] and other settlements among the northern colonies. The large-scale Puritan migration to New England ceased by 1641, with around 21,000 persons having moved across the Atlantic. This English-speaking population in the United States was not descended from all of the original colonists, since many returned to England shortly after arriving on the continent, but it produced more than 16&nbsp;million descendants.{{sfn|Fischer|1989}}<ref>"[http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/english/melani/english2/puritans_intro.html The Puritans: A Sourcebook of Their Writings] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100116020829/http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/english/melani/english2/puritans_intro.html |date=16 January 2010 }}". Perry Miller and Thomas H. Johnson.</ref> This so-called "Great Migration" is not so named because of sheer numbers, which were much less than the number of English citizens who immigrated to [[Virginia]] and the [[Caribbean]] during this time, many as indentured servants.<ref>"[http://www.virtualjamestown.org/essays/horn_essay.html Leaving England: The Social Background of Indentured Servants in the Seventeenth Century] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090106140842/http://www.virtualjamestown.org//essays/horn_essay.html |date=6 January 2009 }}", The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation.</ref> The rapid growth of the New England colonies (around 700,000 by 1790) was almost entirely due to the high birth rate and lower death rate per year. They had formed families more rapidly than did the southern colonies.<ref>{{cite book |first=Francis J. |last=Bremer |title=The Puritan Experiment: New England Society from Bradford to Edwards |date=1995}}</ref>

[[File:New England death Head (c).jpg|upright=1.0|left|thumb|Death's head, [[Granary Burying Ground]]. A typical example of early [[Funerary art in Puritan New England]]]]
Puritan hegemony lasted for at least a century. That century can be broken down into three parts: the generation of [[John Cotton (minister)|John Cotton]] and [[Richard Mather]], 1630–1662 from the founding to the Restoration, years of virtual independence and nearly autonomous development; the generation of [[Increase Mather]], 1662–1689 from the Restoration and the [[Half-Way Covenant|Halfway Covenant]] to the Glorious Revolution, years of struggle with the British crown; and the generation of [[Cotton Mather]], 1689–1728 from the overthrow of [[Edmund Andros]] (in which Cotton Mather played a part) and the new charter, mediated by Increase Mather, to the death of Cotton Mather.{{Sfn|Carpenter|2003|p=41}} Puritan leaders were political thinkers and writers who considered the church government to be God's agency in social life.<ref>{{cite journal | url=https://doi.org/10.2307/2139228 | doi=10.2307/2139228 | jstor=2139228 | title=The Political Ideas of the Puritans | last1=Osgood | first1=Herbert L. | journal=Political Science Quarterly | date=7 August 1891 | volume=6 | issue=1 | pages=1–28 }}</ref>

The Puritans in the Colonies wanted their children to be able to read and interpret the Bible themselves, rather than have to rely on the clergy for interpretation.<ref>{{cite book |first=James |last=Axtell |title=The School upon a Hill: Education and Society in Colonial New England |date=1976}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=McCullough |first=David |title=John Adams |date=22 May 2001 |page=223 |location=New York |publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]] |isbn=0-684-81363-7}}</ref>{{sfn|Bremer|2009|pp=81–82}}{{sfn|Fischer|1989|pp=132–134}} In 1635, they established the Boston Latin School to educate their sons, the first and oldest formal education institution in the English-speaking New World. They also set up what were called dame schools for their daughters, and in other cases taught their daughters at home how to read. As a result, Puritans were among the most literate societies in the world. 

By the time of the American Revolution there were 40 newspapers in the United States (at a time when there were only two cities—New York and Philadelphia—with as many as 20,000 people in them).{{sfn|Fischer|1989|pp=132–134}}<ref>{{cite book |last=Copeland |first=David A. |title=Debating the Issues in Colonial Newspapers |page=viii |publisher=[[Greenwood Press]] |location=Westport, Connecticut |date=2000 |isbn=0-313-30982-5}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Burns |first=Eric |date=2006 |url=https://archive.org/details/infamousscribble00burn |title=Infamous Scribblers: The Founding Fathers and the Rowdy Beginnings of American Journalism |pages=6–7 |location=New York |publisher=Public Affairs |isbn=978-1-58648-334-0}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Wroth |first=Lawrence C. |date=1965 |title=The Colonial Printer |pages=230–236 |location=New York |publisher=Dover Publications, Inc. |isbn=0-486-28294-5}}</ref> The Puritans also set up a college (now [[Harvard University]]) only six years after arriving in Boston.{{sfn|Fischer|1989|pp=132–134}}<ref>{{cite book |last=Rudolph |first=Frederick |title=The American College and University |page=3 |publisher=[[University of Georgia Press]] |date=1961 |isbn=0-8203-1285-1}}</ref>