The Puritan Dream

          The Puritans were the people who started the American dream. They came to the new world and had to start all over. They had to have a plan and a dream of what this plan would eventually look like when it was fulfilled. John Winthrop said that “We must delight in each other, make others’ condition our own, rejoice together, mourn together, labor and suffer together.” If anything good was going to happen, the puritans would all have to work together.

          It is misunderstood that all puritans separated from the Church of England. Some puritans such as the ones who founded the Massachusetts Bay colony did not separate. The Massachusetts puritans did eventually form their own separate church, but overall were not as radical as the Pilgrims. There were many types of Puritans, but every type thought that the world could be reformed. The American Dream is all about change, and Puritans believed that the world needed to be changed. The puritans did not leave England for themselves; they left because of their children. They believed that in England, their children would be corrupted. They thought their children would have a better life elsewhere. The American Dream is also based upon the idea that children could have a better life.

          I do not believe the puritans deserve the reputation they have gotten. People have strong feeling against the Puritans, which I do not agree with. The puritans were a group of people who risked a lot by making the journey across the Atlantic Ocean. They did it to make a statement that there needs to be change in the world and the change should start in the English church. There were many different types of people under the Puritan label including a founding father of the United States. Since people hate puritans they also hate John Adams who became the second president of the United States. People are upset at the puritans for the killings of Native Americans. It has to be noted that they were not the only ones to kill the natives; however they receive the most criticism for it. People also called them puritans because they thought they were better than everyone else. In the present day almost everyone thinks they are better than everyone else, and I feel that it was not much different back then.