History 2301E Lecture Notes - Lecture 36: Protestant Work Ethic, From Day 1, Safety Valve
2 May 2018
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September 14th, 2017
The Thirteen Colonies
➢ Massachusetts
o Puritan Ideology and Persecution
o The Pilgrims, 1620
o Puritan Migration, 1630s-1640s
o John Winthrop, Roger Williams and Anne Hutchison
➢ The Salem Witchcraft Trials
➢ Pennsylvania and the Quakers, 1681
o William Penn and the Society of Friends
Virginia:
An economic colony — survived because of tobacco which introduced slavery
Themes
1. American and the American frontier
a. Safety valve
i. Those that have a conflict with the elite are allowed to leave and set up their own
utopia (America)
ii. See different conflicts than those in Europe
2. Individual freedom versus control by the majority
a. Dealing with dissent
i. From day 1 there is conflict: who decides what is acceptable speech, who had power
and what is actually freedom
3. Gender
a. Rugged individualism
i. An ideal man persona that defines the U.S. (rags to riches)
ii. A cowboy a cultural symbol of the U.S.
b. Women
i. Their treatment by men and other women
ii. Femininity between feminism and other forms of how women are supposed to
behave
4. American exceptionalism
a. God’s chosen people, everyone else should follow
i. Plays a role in taking over land and in politics
Puritan ideology: England
The first pilgrims
- Religious reform
o Greater purity
▪ Believed that English society was too catholic and wanted to purify England with any
last remnants of Catholicism
o Looking at broader English society
- Social reform
o Modernization and social order
o Individuals
o Urbanization
o Society becoming too secular and individualistic
▪ Not respecting the authority of the church
o Losing the spiritual component and instead focusing on money
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▪ What happened to the common good that existed ?
Puritans
Want a utopia of what England should look like
- Ideology
o Work and industry
▪ Protestant work ethic
▪ Day to day
• A core central value to how Americans look at poverty. If you are poor it is
your fault, not the system because you are not working hard enough. Always
more that can be done.
▪ Poverty
o Work together
▪ Work together for the collective good of the group.
▪ See the conflict come into play: only works if you have a strong leadership
o Control
▪ Decides what is good for the colony
▪ An authoritarian element
Pilgrims, 1620
Holland, 1607
- Initially set off for Holland
- Dutch initially accepted this ideology
- However, the Dutch was very rooted in economic forces
o Left once they realized how corrupt the Dutch were
Mayflower and Plymouth Rock, 1620
- The creation of the colony state
- America is the new free land, a utopia
o A land of opportunity
The Mayflower Compact, November 1620
- Social contract
o Sets up a top down and bottom up form of government
▪ There is set out that there are leaders who have control
▪ Bottom up: from the people
• We as free individuals come together in a collective sense are willing to give
up some of our freedoms for other rights.
o Very unique
o One of the first governing documents that is written down
o Becomes a living document as opposed that it was decided
▪ can be edited, read, etc.
▪ Not static: as time went by, they can update and reinterpret it
- Model for the future constitution
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Massachusetts: puritan ideology and persecution, the pilgrims, 1620, puritan migration, 1630s-1640s. Pennsylvania and the quakers, 1681: william penn and the society of friends. An economic colony survived because of tobacco which introduced slavery. Religious reform: greater purity, believed that english society was too catholic and wanted to purify england with any last remnants of catholicism, looking at broader english society. Want a utopia of what england should look like. Ideology: work and industry, protestant work ethic, day to day, a core central value to how americans look at poverty. If you are poor it is your fault, not the system because you are not working hard enough. However, the dutch was very rooted in economic forces: left once they realized how corrupt the dutch were. America is the new free land, a utopia: a land of opportunity. Pilgrim existence: barely survived during the winter but half did because of the natives.
