Puritanism | Definition, History, Beliefs, & Facts

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border-left-sm open"> <div class="drawer d-flex flex-column open"> <div class="left-rail-section-content"> <div class="topic-left-rail-header text-truncate bg-gray-50 position-relative text-right d-flex align-items-center"> <div class="tlr-title px-20 py-15 text-left"> <em class="material-icons text-gray-400 d-lg-none" data-icon="toc"></em> <a class="font-serif font-weight-bold text-black link-blue" href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Puritanism">Puritanism</a> </div> <button aria-label="Close" class="js-sections-close-button btn-link btn-sm btn d-lg-none position-absolute top-0 p-10 right-0" > <em class="material-icons font-26" data-icon="close"></em> </button> </div> <div class="section-content pl-10 pr-20 pl-sm-50 pr-sm-60 pl-lg-5 pr-lg-10 pt-10 pt-lg-0 bg-gray-50 clear-catfish-ad"> <div class="toc mb-20"> <div class="font-serif font-14 font-weight-bold mx-15 mb-15 mt-20"> Table of Contents </div> <ul class="list-unstyled my-0" data-level="h1"><li data-target="#ref1"><div class="pl-25"><a class="link-gray-900 w-100" href="/topic/Puritanism">Introduction</a></div><div class="ml-40 toc-drawer sub-toc-drawer"></div></li><li data-target="#ref340951"><div class="d-flex align-items-center"><div class="ml-25"></div><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Puritanism#ref340951">Theology</a></div><div class="ml-40 toc-drawer sub-toc-drawer"></div></li><li data-target="#ref340952"><div class="d-flex align-items-center"><button class="h1-link-drawer-button btn btn-xs btn-circle d-flex rounded" type="button" aria-label="Toggle Heading"><em class="material-icons font-18" data-icon="keyboard_arrow_right"></em></button><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Puritanism#ref340952">History of Puritanism</a></div><div class="ml-40 toc-drawer sub-toc-drawer"><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref340953"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Puritanism#ref340953">Origins and development in England</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref340954"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Puritanism#ref340954">In the American colonies</a></li></ul></div></li></ul> <a class="toc-extra-link link-gray-900" href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Puritanism/additional-info">References & Edit History</a> <a class="toc-extra-link link-gray-900" href="/facts/Puritanism">Quick Facts & Related Topics</a> </div> <div class="tlr-media-slider pb-10 mb-30"> <a class="section-header link-gray-900 font-serif font-14 font-weight-bold mb-10 mx-10" href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Puritanism/images-videos">Images & Videos</a> <div class="slider js-slider position-relative d-inline-flex align-items-center mw-100 "> <div class="slider-container js-slider-container overflow-hidden d-flex overflow-hidden text-nowrap ml-15"> <a href="https://cdn.britannica.com/74/94574-050-C0CFCF7A/Depiction-family-Puritan-English.jpg" data-href="/media/1/484034/108432" class="media-overlay-link d-inline-block mr-5"> 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Puritans became noted in the 17th century for a spirit of <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="moral" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/moral" data-type="MW">moral</a> and religious earnestness that informed their whole way of life, and they sought through <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/church-architecture" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">church</a> reform to make their lifestyle the pattern for the whole nation. Their efforts to transform the nation contributed both to civil war in <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/England" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">England</a> and to the founding of colonies in America as working models of the Puritan way of life.</p><span class="marker MOD1 mod-inline"></span></section> <span class="marker h2"></span><section data-level="1" id="ref340951"><h2 class="h1">Theology</h2> <span class="marker PREMOD2 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">Puritanism may be defined primarily by the intensity of the religious experience that it fostered. Puritans believed that it was necessary to be in a <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="covenant" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/covenant" data-type="MW">covenant</a> relationship with God in order to be redeemed from one’s sinful condition, that God had chosen to reveal <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/salvation-religion" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">salvation</a> through preaching, and that the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Holy-Spirit" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Holy Spirit</a> was the energizing instrument of salvation. <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Calvinism" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Calvinist</a> theology and polity proved to be major influences in the formation of Puritan teachings. This naturally led to the rejection of much that was characteristic of Anglican ritual at the time, these being viewed as “popish idolatry.” In its place the Puritans emphasized preaching that drew on images from <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/scripture" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">scripture</a> and from everyday experience. Still, because of the importance of preaching, the Puritans placed a premium on a learned ministry. The moral and religious earnestness that was characteristic of Puritans was combined with the doctrine of <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/predestination" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">predestination</a> inherited from <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Calvinism" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Calvinism</a> to produce a “covenant theology,” a sense of themselves as the <span id="ref540276"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/the-elect" class="md-crosslink ">elect</a> chosen by God to live godly lives both as individuals and as a <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="community" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/community" data-type="MW">community</a>.</p><span class="marker MOD2 mod-inline"></span></section> <span class="marker h3"></span><section data-level="1" id="ref340952"><h2 class="h1">History of Puritanism</h2> <section data-level="2" id="ref340953"><h2 class="h2">Origins and development in England</h2> <span class="marker PREMOD3 mod-inline"></span><div class="assemblies"><div class="w-100"><figure class="md-assembly m-0 mb-md-0 card card-borderless print-false" data-assembly-id="146670" data-asm-type="image"><div class="md-assembly-wrapper card-media " data-type="image"><a href="https://cdn.britannica.com/45/135245-050-90E5B66B/Page-edition-The-Book-of-Martyrs-woodcut-1641.jpg" class="gtm-assembly-link position-relative d-flex align-items-center justify-content-center media-overlay-link card-media" data-href="/media/1/484034/146670"><picture><source media="(min-width: 680px)" srcset="https://cdn.britannica.com/45/135245-050-90E5B66B/Page-edition-The-Book-of-Martyrs-woodcut-1641.jpg?w=300"><img src="https://cdn.britannica.com/45/135245-050-90E5B66B/Page-edition-The-Book-of-Martyrs-woodcut-1641.jpg?w=300" alt="John Foxe: The Book of Martyrs" data-width="1154" data-height="1600" loading="eager"></picture><button class="magnifying-glass btn btn-circle position-absolute shadow btn-white top-10 right-10" aria-label="Zoom in"><em class="material-icons link-blue" data-icon="zoom_in"></em></button></a></div><figcaption class="card-body"><div class="md-assembly-caption text-muted font-14 font-serif line-clamp"><span><a class="gtm-assembly-link md-assembly-title font-weight-bold d-inline font-sans-serif mr-5 media-overlay-link" href="https://cdn.britannica.com/45/135245-050-90E5B66B/Page-edition-The-Book-of-Martyrs-woodcut-1641.jpg" data-href="/media/1/484034/146670">John Foxe: <em>The Book of Martyrs</em></a><span>Page from the eighth edition of <em>The Book of Martyrs</em>, by John Foxe, woodcut depicting (top) zealous reformers stripping a church of its Roman Catholic furnishings and (bottom) a Protestant church interior with a baptismal font and a communion table set with a cup and paten, published in London, 1641; in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.</span><button class="js-more-btn d-none btn btn-unstyled font-12 bg-white js-content" aria-label="Toggle more/less fact data"><span class="link-blue">(more)</span></button></span></div></figcaption></figure></div></div><p class="topic-paragraph">King <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Henry-VIII-king-of-England" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Henry VIII</a> separated the Church of <span id="ref223778"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/England" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">England</a> from the Roman Catholic Church in 1534, and the cause of <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Protestantism" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Protestantism</a> advanced rapidly under <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Edward-VI" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Edward VI</a> (reigned 1547–53). During the reign of Queen <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Mary-I" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Mary</a> (1553–58), however, England returned to Roman Catholicism, and many Protestants were forced into exile. Many of the exiles found their way to <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Geneva-Switzerland" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Geneva</a>, where <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-Calvin" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">John Calvin</a>’s church provided a working model of a <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="disciplined" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/disciplined" data-type="MW">disciplined</a> church. Out of this experience also came the two most popular books of Elizabethan England—the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Geneva-Bible" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Geneva Bible</a> and <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-Foxe" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">John Foxe’s</a> <em>Book of Martyrs</em>—which provided <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/justification-Christianity" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">justification</a> to English Protestants to view England as an elect nation chosen by God to complete the work of the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/event/Reformation" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Reformation</a>. Thus, Elizabeth’s accession in 1558 was enthusiastically welcomed by these Protestants; but her early actions while reestablishing Protestantism disappointed those who sought extensive reform, and this faction was unable to achieve its objectives in the <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="Convocation" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Convocation" data-type="MW">Convocation</a>, the primary governing body of the church.</p><a class="link-module shadow-sm d-block qa-quiz-module" href="/quiz/christianity-quiz" data-link-module-iframe-link=""> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/67/160167-131-98582C51/Easter-Valladolid-Procession-cross-Nazarenos-Spain-Semana.jpg" alt="Holy week. Easter. Valladolid. Procession of Nazarenos carry a cross during the Semana Santa (Holy week before Easter) in Valladolid, Spain. Good Friday" class="rounded-sm mr-15" width="70" /> <div class="line-clamp clamp-5"> <div class="module-title bg-green">Britannica Quiz</div> <div class="font-weight-semi-bold mt-5">Christianity Quiz</div> </div> </a><span class="marker MOD3 mod-inline"></span> <span class="marker PREMOD4 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">Many of these Puritans—as they came to be known during a <span id="ref894323"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Vestiarian-controversy" class="md-crosslink ">controversy over vestments</a> in the 1560s—sought parliamentary support for an effort to institute a <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/presbyterian" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">presbyterian</a> form of polity for the Church of England. Other Puritans, concerned with the long delay in reform, decided upon a “reformation without tarrying for any.” These <span id="ref223779"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Separatists" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">“Separatists”</a> <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="repudiated" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/repudiated" data-type="MW">repudiated</a> the state church and formed voluntary congregations based on a covenant with God and among themselves. Both groups, but especially the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Separatists" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Separatists</a>, were repressed by the establishment. Denied the opportunity to reform the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/established-church" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">established church</a>, English Puritanism turned to preaching, pamphlets, and a variety of experiments in religious expression and in social behaviour and organization. Its successful growth also owed much to patrons among the nobility and in <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Parliament" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Parliament</a> and its control of colleges and professorships at <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/University-of-Oxford" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Oxford</a> and <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/University-of-Cambridge" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Cambridge</a>.</p><span class="marker MOD4 mod-inline"></span> <span class="marker PREMOD5 mod-inline"></span><div class="assemblies"><div class="w-100"><figure class="md-assembly m-0 mb-md-0 card card-borderless print-false" data-assembly-id="202919" data-asm-type="video"><div class="md-assembly-wrapper card-media " data-type="video" video-id="185964"><a data-id="185964" class="gtm-assembly-link d-flex justify-content-center" style="--aspect-ratio: 16/9" href="/video/Thomas-Edwards-introduction-Gangraena-positions-Puritan/-202919"><img src="https://cdn.britannica.com/64/185964-138-79000436/Thomas-Edwards-introduction-Gangraena-positions-Puritan.jpg?w=800&h=450&c=crop" alt="Hear about Gangraena by Thomas Edwards, a book attacking the religious division in the city of London after the English Civil War" loading="lazy"><script type="application/json"> { "sources": [ { "file" : "//content.jwplatform.com/manifests/f6zFMMVe.m3u8" } ], "image": "https://cdn.britannica.com/64/185964-138-79000436/Thomas-Edwards-introduction-Gangraena-positions-Puritan.jpg" ,"tracks": [ { "file" : "//assets-jpcust.jwpsrv.com/tracks/vVDFDHOp", "label": "English" } ] ,"adfile": "//content.jwplatform.com/manifests/pcDnv0r7.m3u8" } </script><div class="btn btn-xl btn-white btn-circle position-absolute shadow" style="top: 50%; transform: translateY(-50%)"><em class="material-icons" data-icon="play_arrow"></em></div></a></div><figcaption class="card-body"><div class="md-assembly-caption text-muted font-14 font-serif line-clamp"><span><span class="md-assembly-title font-weight-bold mr-5 d-inline font-sans-serif md-video-caption" video-control="185964">Hear about Gangraena by Thomas Edwards, a book attacking the religious division in the city of London after the English Civil War</span><span>An introduction to <em>Gangraena</em> (1646) by Thomas Edwards, a Puritan clergyman who was sharply critical of those whose theological positions differed from his own.</span><button class="js-more-btn d-none btn btn-unstyled font-12 bg-white js-content" aria-label="Toggle more/less fact data"><span class="link-blue">(more)</span></button></span></div><a class="font-14 mt-10 d-inline-block" href="/topic/Puritanism/images-videos">See all videos for this article</a></figcaption></figure></div></div><p class="topic-paragraph">Puritan hopes were again raised when the Calvinist James VI of Scotland succeeded Elizabeth as <span id="ref223780"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/James-I-king-of-England-and-Scotland" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">James I</a> of England in 1603. But at the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/event/Hampton-Court-Conference" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Hampton Court Conference</a> in 1604 he dismissed the Puritans’ <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off eb" data-term="grievances" href="https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/grievances" data-type="EB">grievances</a> with the phrase “no bishop, no king.” Puritans remained under pressure. Some were deprived of their positions; others got by with minimal conformity; and still others, who could not accept compromise, fled England. The pressure for conformity increased under <span id="ref290273"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Charles-I-king-of-Great-Britain-and-Ireland" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Charles I</a> (1625–49) and his archbishop, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/William-Laud" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">William Laud</a>. Nevertheless, the Puritan spirit continued to spread, and when civil war broke out between Parliament and Charles in the 1640s, Puritans seized the opportunity to urge Parliament and the nation to renew its covenant with God. Parliament called together a body of <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/clergy-Christianity" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">clergy</a> to advise it on the government of the church, but this body—the <span id="ref894314"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/event/Westminster-Assembly" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Westminster Assembly</a>—was so badly divided that it failed to achieve reform of church government and <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="discipline" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/discipline" data-type="MW">discipline</a>. Meanwhile, the <span id="ref290274"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/New-Model-Army" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">New Model Army</a>, which had defeated the royalist forces, feared that the Assembly and Parliament would reach a compromise with King Charles that would destroy their gains for Puritanism, so it seized power and turned it over to its hero, <span id="ref290275"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Oliver-Cromwell" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Oliver Cromwell</a>. The religious settlement under Cromwell’s Commonwealth allowed for a limited <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="pluralism" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pluralism" data-type="MW">pluralism</a> that favoured the Puritans. A number of radical Puritan groups appeared, including the <span id="ref290276"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/event/Leveler-English-history" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Levelers</a>, the <span id="ref290277"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/event/Digger" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Diggers</a>, the <span id="ref290278"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/event/Fifth-Monarchy-Men" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Fifth Monarchy Men</a>, and the <span id="ref290279"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Society-of-Friends" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Quakers</a> (the only one of lasting significance).</p><span class="marker MOD5 mod-inline"></span> <span class="marker PREMOD6 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">After Cromwell’s death in 1658, <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="conservative" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/conservative" data-type="MW">conservative</a> Puritans supported the restoration of King <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Charles-II-king-of-Great-Britain-and-Ireland" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Charles II</a> and a modified episcopal polity. However, they were outmaneuvered by those who reinstituted Laud’s strict episcopal pattern. Thus, English Puritanism entered a period known as the <span id="ref290280"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Great-Persecution" class="md-crosslink ">Great Persecution</a>. English Puritans made a final unsuccessful attempt to secure their ideal of a <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="comprehensive" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/comprehensive" data-type="MW">comprehensive</a> church during the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/event/Glorious-Revolution" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Glorious Revolution</a>, but England’s religious solution was defined in 1689 by the <span id="ref290281"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/event/Toleration-Act-Great-Britain-1689" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Toleration Act</a>, which continued the established church as episcopal but also tolerated dissenting groups.</p><span class="marker MOD6 mod-inline"></span></section> <section data-level="2" id="ref340954"><h2 class="h2">In the American colonies</h2> <span class="marker PREMOD7 mod-inline"></span><div class="assemblies"><div class="w-100"><figure class="md-assembly m-0 mb-md-0 card card-borderless print-false" data-assembly-id="216172" data-asm-type="image"><div class="md-assembly-wrapper card-media " data-type="image"><a href="https://cdn.britannica.com/17/184717-050-433CCF56/Puritans-church-snow-Massachusetts-Bay-Colony.jpg" class="gtm-assembly-link position-relative d-flex align-items-center justify-content-center media-overlay-link card-media" data-href="/media/1/484034/216172"><picture><source media="(min-width: 680px)" srcset="https://cdn.britannica.com/17/184717-050-433CCF56/Puritans-church-snow-Massachusetts-Bay-Colony.jpg?w=300"><img src="https://cdn.britannica.com/17/184717-050-433CCF56/Puritans-church-snow-Massachusetts-Bay-Colony.jpg?w=300" alt="Puritans" data-width="1600" data-height="879" loading="eager"></picture><button class="magnifying-glass btn btn-circle position-absolute shadow btn-white top-10 right-10" aria-label="Zoom in"><em class="material-icons link-blue" data-icon="zoom_in"></em></button></a></div><figcaption class="card-body"><div class="md-assembly-caption text-muted font-14 font-serif line-clamp"><span><a class="gtm-assembly-link md-assembly-title font-weight-bold d-inline font-sans-serif mr-5 media-overlay-link" href="https://cdn.britannica.com/17/184717-050-433CCF56/Puritans-church-snow-Massachusetts-Bay-Colony.jpg" data-href="/media/1/484034/216172">Puritans</a><span>Puritans of the Massachusetts Bay Colony walking to church in the snow.</span><button class="js-more-btn d-none btn btn-unstyled font-12 bg-white js-content" aria-label="Toggle more/less fact data"><span class="link-blue">(more)</span></button></span></div></figcaption></figure></div></div><p class="topic-paragraph">The Puritan ideal of realizing the Holy Commonwealth by the establishment of a <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="covenanted" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/covenanted" data-type="MW">covenanted</a> community was carried to the <span id="ref894318"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/American-colonies" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">American colony</a> of <span id="ref290282"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Virginia-state" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Virginia</a> by Thomas Dale, but the greatest opportunity came in <span id="ref290283"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/New-England" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">New England</a>. The original pattern of church organization in the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Massachusetts-Bay-Colony" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Massachusetts Bay colony</a> was a “middle way” between presbyterianism and Separatism, yet in 1648 four New England Puritan colonies jointly adopted the <span id="ref290284"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Cambridge-Platform" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Cambridge Platform</a>, establishing a congregational form of church government.</p><div class="module-spacing"> <DIV class="marketing-INLINE_SUBSCRIPTION marketing-content" data-marketing-id="INLINE_SUBSCRIPTION"><style> .student-promo-banner-wrapper { container-type: inline-size; margin-bottom: 15px; } @container (min-width: 475px) { .student-promo-banner { flex-direction: row; } .student-promo-banner-img-wrapper { margin-bottom: 0; margin-right: 10px; justify-content: flex-start; } .student-promo-banner-text-wrapper { text-align: left; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 10px; } .student-promo-banner-button-wrapper { margin-right: 0; } }</style> <div class="student-promo-banner-wrapper"> <div class="student-promo-banner d-flex flex-column align-items-center bg-blue rounded p-20"> <div class="student-promo-banner-img-wrapper mb-20 mr-0 d-flex justify-content-center"> <img class="rounded" style="max-width: 100px; min-width: 80px" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/marketing/BlueThistle.webp" /> </div> <div class="student-promo-banner-text-wrapper ml-0 mb-10 text-center text-white"> <div class="h2 mb-10">Get Unlimited Access</div> <div class="h4 font-weight-semi-bold">Try Britannica Premium for free and discover more.</div> </div> <div class="student-promo-banner-button-wrapper d-flex justify-content-center align-items-center ml-auto mr-auto"> <a class="btn btn-m btn-orange" href="https://premium.britannica.com/premium-membership/?utm_source=premium&utm_medium=inline-cta&utm_campaign=black-friday-2024">Subscribe</a> </div> </div> </div> </DIV></div><div class="one-good-fact-module"> </div><span class="marker MOD7 mod-inline"></span> <span class="marker PREMOD8 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">The New England Puritans fashioned the civil commonwealth according to the framework of the church. Only the elect could vote and rule. When this raised problems for second-generation residents, they adopted the <span id="ref290285"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/event/Half-Way-Covenant" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Half-Way Covenant</a>, which permitted <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/baptism" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">baptized</a>, moral, and orthodox persons to share the privileges of church membership. Other variations of the Puritan experiment were established in <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Rhode-Island-state" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Rhode Island</a> by <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Roger-Williams-American-religious-leader" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Roger Williams</a>, who was banished from the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Massachusetts-Bay" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Massachusetts Bay</a> colony, and in <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Pennsylvania-state" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Pennsylvania</a> by the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Quaker" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Quaker</a> <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/William-Penn-English-Quaker-leader-and-colonist" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">William Penn</a>.</p><span class="marker MOD8 mod-inline"></span><span class="md-signature"><a href="/editor/The-Editors-of-Encyclopaedia-Britannica/4419">The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica</a></span> </section></section> <span class="md-signature">This article was most recently revised and updated by <a href="/editor/Melissa-Petruzzello/9400228">Melissa Petruzzello</a>.</span><span class="marker end-of-content"></span><span class="marker after-article"></span></div> <div id="chatbot-root"></div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="ai-dialog-placeholder"></div> </div> </div> <aside class="col-md-da-320"></aside> </div> </div> </div> </div> </article></div> </div></div> </div> </main> <div id="md-footer"></div> <noscript><iframe src="//www.googletagmanager.com/ns.html?id=GTM-5W6NC8" height="0" width="0" style="display:none;visibility:hidden"></iframe></noscript> <script type="text/javascript" id="_informizely_script_tag"> var IzWidget = IzWidget || {}; (function (d) { var scriptElement = d.createElement('script'); scriptElement.type = 'text/javascript'; scriptElement.async = true; scriptElement.src = "https://insitez.blob.core.windows.net/site/f780f33e-a610-4ac2-af81-3eb184037547.js"; var node = d.getElementById('_informizely_script_tag'); node.parentNode.insertBefore(scriptElement, node); } )(document); </script>  <script> window.ap3c = window.ap3c || {}; var ap3c = window.ap3c; ap3c.cmd = ap3c.cmd || []; ap3c.cmd.push(function() { ap3c.init('ZO4siT4cLwnykPnzZWJtd3Byb2Q', 'https://engage.email.britannica.com/'); ap3c.track({v: 0}); }); ap3c.activity = function(act) { ap3c.act = (ap3c.act || []); ap3c.act.push(act); }; var s, t; s = document.createElement('script'); s.type = 'text/javascript'; s.src = "https://engage.email.britannica.com/app.js"; t = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; t.parentNode.insertBefore(s, t); </script> <script class="marketing-page-info" type="application/json"> {"pageType":"Topic","templateName":"DESKTOP","pageNumber":1,"pagesTotal":1,"pageId":484034,"pageLength":1051,"initialLoad":true,"lastPageOfScroll":false} </script> <script class="marketing-content-info" type="application/json"> [] </script> <script src="https://cdn.britannica.com/mendel-resources/3-130/js/libs/jquery-3.5.0.min.js?v=3.130.14"></script> <script type="text/javascript" data-type="Init Mendel Code Splitting"> (function() { $.ajax({ dataType: 'script', cache: true, url: 'https://cdn.britannica.com/mendel-resources/3-130/dist/topic-page.js?v=3.130.14' }); })(); </script> <script class="analytics-metadata" type="application/json"> {"leg":"A","adLeg":"A","userType":"ANONYMOUS","pageType":"Topic","pageSubtype":null,"articleTemplateType":"LARGE","gisted":false,"pageNumber":1,"hasSummarizeButton":false,"hasAskButton":false} </script> <script type="text/javascript"> EBStat={accountId:-1,hostnameOverride:'webstats.eb.com',domain:'www.britannica.com', json:''}; </script> <script type="text/javascript"> ( function() { $.ajax( { dataType: 'script', cache: true, url: '//www.britannica.com/webstats/mendelstats.js?v=1' } ) .done( function() { try {writeStat(null,EBStat);} catch(err){} } ); })(); </script> <div id="bc-fixed-dialogue"></div> </body> </html>

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Puritanism | Definition, History, Beliefs, & Facts | Britannica