Puritans

            Beginning in the seventeenth century, there were many attempts to create unified and stable societies. One of these attempts was made by the Puritans, who had a strong desire to create a model society based on their beliefs. Whether or not the Puritans were successful in their quest for what they believed was perfection has been debated for many years. It is clear that many Puritans aspirations were, indeed, fulfilled, yet some were not.
             ?Puritanism? is defined as the religious philosophy and intellectual view that influenced New England's first inhabitants. Numerous historians believe Puritans had a direct effect on the rapid and successful development of American civilization. Because of its unique and unfamiliar style of ruling, many people were unsure of whether or not Puritans would be successful. Using a mixture of their unique religious beliefs, outgoing and adventurous spirit, and intellectual personalities, Puritans were able to come up with many desires of what they wanted the colony of Massachusetts to become. Also, they had many hopes of how they would go about building their ideal society.
             Puritans were very intellectual beings. Because of their belief that education was incredibly important, they were critical thinkers. They were very sagacious, yet sometimes intolerant. One of the Puritan's aspirations was to set up and found many elementary schools, grammar schools, and universities. In fact, the first college and public school system in America was founded by Puritans. They were extremely interested in contempory english literature and the most recent scientific theories. So, this aspiration was obviously fulfilled.
             In the model society that Puritans wished to create, they wanted certain aspects of culture and religion to be practiced by everyone. Puritan's contained, in their culture, many aspects from the Renaissance, or a time period in which there were many new ideas nd theories, including Humanism and a newfound popularity of art and music.