Although Puritans were much different than today's average American, there are definitely some things in our society that seem to be influenced by their way of life. First of all, the Puritans were obviously very devoted to God which has carried on to some people today. Most of these people aren't quite as intense in their love of God as the early Boston settlers were, but their religion has still been carried throughout American history.
Another thing we have in common with the Puritans is the idea that hard work pays off. Much of their society was built around working hard in order to get ahead in life which can often be applied today. In our capitalistic society, we allow people to reach higher levels of wealth than others based on the amount of work they put in. Without this belief bestowed upon us by early American Puritans, we might be a communist society today.
Finally, I think this quote by John Winthrop still hold true to this day: "We must delight in each other, make other's conditions our own, rejoice together, mourn together, labor and suffer together, always having before our eyes our commission and community in the work, our community has members of the same body." By saying this, John Winthrop means that all of the people need to take others into consideration rather than just living for yourself. This is applied today by people donating to charities, donating their time, and by just plain caring about other people.
Eli,
ReplyDeleteYou make some good points. The Puritan's way of life impacted our lives today. We are hard-working, determined, hopeful, and strong in our beliefs and that is because of the ways of our ancestors. I really like the quote that you chose, I feel like you're right that it does hold true today. Nice job supporting your thoughts!
Although capitalism often allows for people who put the most work in to succeed, some people are robbed of their opportunities just because of their socio-economic class. Our capitalistic economy allows for some people to stay privileged, and others to never have the opportunity to be privileged.
ReplyDeleteEli,
ReplyDeleteThere are the outlines of some good insights in this post. Develop them - take your statement and develop it with specific information and details - an basic example is Chase's comment above. He takes the idea of our societies emphasis on capitalism and extends it.