Notes: The Puritan Tradition
Puritan literature tells us about their beliefs, but not about their daily lives. For that we must assemble bits and pieces from court record, estate inventories, diaries, portraits, etc.
Life and death
Infant mortality rate was high; those who were fortunate enough to live were baptized right away. Puritan families were large--they typically had several children (15?) primarily because of the mortality rates and because a workforce was often necessary to tend whatever land there was.
John Cotton (Puritan minister) said that children were entitled to "7 years of bliss." We can see how this concept translates into our society, roughly the end of kindergarten. After age 7, Puritan children's lives changed with some rigorous discipline. By age 16, children were held legally responsible for their actions. Again, we see how this idea of legal responsibility is reflected in our modern society.
A funeral was often the greatest holiday the Puritans celebrated. The funeral ceremony was followed by a great feast, the deceased's possessions were inventoried. Even today we have difficulty identifying some of those items that appear on the inventories.
Law and order
Puritan discipline was strong and swift. It addressed infractions such as eavesdropping, dancing with members of the opposite sex, picking peas on Sunday, etc. Remember, this was a theocracy. Religious laws and infractions were enforced by civil authorities.
In 1692 there were 20 people executed for witchcraft. While this incident occupies a very short time in history (months), it had a profound impact on our society, up to modern times with the age of McCarthyism, a travesty of justice which caused Arthur Miller (also accused) to write the play The Crucible.
Gender inequalities
In Puritan society, men's and women's roles were not equal. Women couldn't work outside the home, could not vote, or go to college. But, despite the apparent repression, this regulation was also a means of protection. There were laws against men being unkind to their wives, speaking sharply to them, and so on.
The man was often the only one in the family who had a chair. This is how we get the term "chairman."