Hist 2010 1st Edition Lecture 9Current LectureImportance of EducationParents were expected to teach their children in religious matters. They often used catechisms, simple question and answer summaries of religious beliefs. Some parents, however, grew lax in their instructional responsibilities, so in 1647 the colony passed the Old Deluder Act. This act stipulated that every town in the colony that had 50 or more households appoint a father to whom all children would gofor religious instruction. Towns with 100 or more households were to establish a grammar school and employ a teacher capable of instructing students. The law’s name derived from the belief that Satan, theOld Deluder, kept people from the knowledge of the Scriptures by encouraging ignorance. The significance of this act was that it represented New England’s first step toward public education. In order to produce learned ministers, Massachusetts chartered Harvard College in 1636. Harvard’s insistence on high standards led Oxford University in 1648 to recognize Harvard degrees as equivalent to its own. Puritan SocietyPuritan society was a patriarchal one, which means that the father was the leader of his family and that men were leaders of their community. Fathers wanted their sons to stay on the It was common practice, therefore, for Puritan fathers to withhold land from their sons until their labor was no longer needed. Therefore, Puritan sons often got married relatively late in life (age 27). Fathers often used this leverage over their sons to dictate where their sons would live, that they married devout Puritan women, and that they remained part of the Puritan Church. This practice also ensured that one of the sons took care of his parents in their old age. Sons tolerated this control because they needed their father’s help in establishing a household of their own.Role of WomenIn Puritan society, women were considered their husband’s helpmate, not his equal. Her role was to be the master of the home and caretaker of the family. She had few rights. In fact, she could not hold elected office, speak out in church, or enter into contracts on her own. The Puritans believed that the Bible taught that women should be submissive.Importance of MoralityThe Puritans believed that they had entered into an agreement (covenant) with God. He would lead them to America and bless them while there and the Puritans were to establish a religious community and ensure that the settlement adhered to God’s teachings. Everyone in the colony was expected to follow the teachings of Christ. Puritans believed they had a responsibility to observe their neighbors to ensure that they acted in a Godly way. They also believed that they had an obligation to intervene if someone in the community had strayed. Puritans feared that if someone was behaving inappropriately, they were violating the covenant and the entire settlement was at risk of God’s judgment. Puritan towns had tithingmen, who were leaders assigned to 10-12 homes to observe and make sure that harmonious relations existed within the home. If there was a problem between husband and spouse or between parents and children, the authorities would intervene.Puritan authorities had all sorts of punishments to ensure that everyone in their community was subject to if they violated the rules. Fines, stocks, brandings, the dunking chair, and even execution were employed as punishments. Puritans and the Native Americans-As godly people, the Puritans felt obliged to justify their intrusion into the Indians’ domain and onto their land. One answer was provided by a smallpox epidemic that broke out among the Indians soon after the Puritans arrived. Puritans leaders interpreted the disaster as a mark of divine favor: “If God were not pleased with our inheriting these parts . . . Why doth he still make roome for us by diminishing them as we increase?” The Puritans also turned to the Scripture for justification. They believed that as long as they left enough land for the natives, “we may lawfully take the rest.”John Eliot and Praying TownsSurprisingly, the Puritans, overall, exhibited little interest in winning the Indians to Christ. As settlers, they saw the Indians as obstacles—holding the land that Puritans wanted. One exception to this was Puritan minister John Eliot. He translated the Bible into the Indians’ language and ministered to them. Those who converted to Christianity were housed in Praying Towns, which were small communities in Massachusetts where the Praying Indians would be isolated from outside influences and could become more European. Like other Europeans, the Puritans thought the Indians should become civilized in addition to accepting Christ. They were forced to dress like Puritans, work like Puritans (men as farmers, women as housewives), and giving up their old Indian religious beliefs. There were 14 of these Praying Towns at their height. But, as with other European attempts to reach the natives for Christ, the Puritans enjoyed marginal success. Pequot War (1637)When the Puritans began to push into present-day Connecticut, the Pequot Indians resisted the intrusion. In 1637, Puritan militiamen led a surprise attack on a Pequot village and massacred about 500 men, women, and children. They hunted down the rest (about 1,500) and sold them into slavery in the Caribbean. The Total War tactics of the Puritans shocked the Indians. When utilizing Total War tactics, the attackers kill everyone (including women and children), destroy their villages and crops, and slaughter their animals. If you recall, the Indians prior to contact fought very limited engagements that sought to limit casualties.-King Philip’s War (1675-76)Tensions remained high as whites continued to intrude on traditional lands. In 1675, the Indian (Wampanoags) leader Metacomet, called King Philip, organized most of the Indian tribes remaining in New England and raided 52 (out of 90) New England towns, totally destroying 12, and slaughtered thousands of cattle and massacred 600 colonists. Despite his initial success, the whites eventually defeated King Philip, but the war had reduced the region’s Indian population by almost 40% and eliminated Indian resistance to white expansion in New England. The significance of this war is that by this time, the Indians had adopted the Europeans’ Total War tactics.Dissent in the Puritan ParadiseRoger WilliamsWilliams was a