Religion in Colonial American Literature

Religion in Colonial American Literature

The first Puritan colonists who settled in New England exemplified the seriousness of Reformation Christianity. Known as the "Pilgrims," they were a small group of believers who had migrated from England to Holland in 1608, during a time of persecutions. They took the Bible literally. They read and acted on the text of the Second Book of Corinthians -- "Come out from among them and be ye separate, saith the Lord." "Separatists" formed underground "covenanted" churches that swore loyalty to the group instead of the king. Seen as traitors to the king, they were often persecuted. Their separation took them ultimately to the New World. For the Puritans of the Colonial Period, literature was connected to and reflective of their religious beliefs.

William Bradford (1590-1657)

William Bradford was elected governor of Plymouth in the Massachusetts Bay Colony shortly after the Separatists landed. He was a deeply religious, self-educated man who had learned several languages, including Hebrew, in order to "see with his own eyes the ancient oracles of God in their native beauty." His partaking in the migration to Holland and the Mayflower voyage to Plymouth, and his obligations as governor, made him well suited to be the first historian of his colony. His description, Of Plymouth Plantation (1651), is a clear and compelling account of the colony's beginning. His description of the first view of America is justly famous:

"Being thus passed the vast ocean, and a sea of troubles...they had now no friends to welcome them nor inns to entertain or refresh their weather beaten bodies; no houses or much less towns to repair to, to seek for succor...savage barbarians...were readier to fill their sides with arrows than otherwise. And for the reason it was winter, and they that know the winters of that country know them to be sharp and violent, and subject to cruel and fierce storms...all stand upon them with a weather beaten face, and the whole country, full of woods and thickets, represented a wild and savage hue."

Bradford also recorded the first document of colonial self-governance in the English New World, the "Mayflower Compact," written while the Pilgrims were still on board ship. The compact was a sign of the Declaration of Independence to come a century and a half later. Puritans disapproved of such nonspiritual enjoyments as dancing and card-playing, which were associated with ungodly peers and immoral living. Reading or writing "light" books also fell into this category. Puritan minds poured their tremendous energies into nonfiction and religious genres: poetry, sermons, theological areas, and histories. Their intimate diaries and reflections record the rich inner lives of this passionate people.

Anne