Who Were the Puritans?

J. Glenn Ferrell

H. L. Mencken (1880-1956) described Puritanism as The haunting fear that someone, somewhere, may be happy. Puritanical has come to mean prudish, judgmental, anti-intellectual, regarding pleasure as sin. Many believe the Puritans came to America on the Mayflower; lived dreary, guilt-ridden lives; executed innocent people as witches; hated fun; hated sex; and worshiped a harsh and distant God, who roasted sinners over the fires of hell.

Were Puritans puritanical? Our misunderstanding is based on common myths and literature we read in school. Who were the Puritans?

The English Reformation steered a course between Roman Catholicism and Protestantism, without satisfying either. Puritans were those in the 16th and 17th centuries, who remained within the English Church, wanting to purify her of non-Biblical practices.

The Pilgrims came on the Mayflower, not the Puritans. These were Separatists, who left the Church of England to start independent congregations. They settled at Plymouth in 1620.

The more numerous Puritans remained in England and Scotland rather than emigrate. A fraction of them came to New England after the Pilgrims. They founded Massachusetts Bay Colony, which later absorbed Plymouth.

Read more