Welcome back to class! ●When you come in… o Get out your SSR book, your composition notebook, and take a seat. ●Today we are… o Collecting our handout.
Post on 25-Dec-2015
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Welcome back to class!● When you come in…
o Get out your SSR book, your composition notebook, and take a seat.
● Today we are…o Collecting our handout from Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, after talking about the
tone of the time period. This will help us better understand the cultural context of the plot of The Crucible.
● Activities…o SSRo Watch opening scene and then read Act I
● When you leave you should be able to…o Begin to understand how the events of the Salem Witch Trials were influenced by the
cultural implications of the time period in which The Crucible occurs. (late 17th century colonial Massachusetts) This is imperative for understanding later “witch hunts” of the 1950s and present.
● Homework…o Did you turn in your handout? Do you need to complete Vocabulary corrections?o READ a book! o Study for the upcoming SAT
The Crucibleby Arthur Miller
Background InformationPuritans/Salem Witch Trials
Important Background Information• This is a time period where a
country’s government often adopted one specific religion or faith for all its citizens.
• Unlike the present US Constitution, in England there was no freedom to choose your own faith, religion, or beliefs.
Why did the Puritans want to break away from the Church of England?
• They felt the Anglican Church of England was too similar to the Roman Catholic Church.
• …which the Puritans thought had too much BLING!
Why did the Puritans want to break away from the Church of England?
Reason 1: They felt the Anglican/Catholic form of worship strayed too far from the simplicity of worship dictated by the New Testament of the Bible.
Puritan style church
Why did the Puritans want to break away from the Church of England?
Reason 2: They didn’t believe there needed to be a Pope or hierarchy that
controlled churches.
Instead…“Every congregation or assembly of men, ordinarily joining together in the worship of God, is a true, visible worship of Christ”
~Daniel Neale, The History of the Puritans
Why did the Puritans want to break away from the Church of England?
Reason 3: Bishops appointed ministers. They felt ministers should be elected
by members of the congregation.
Why Did the Puritans Come to America? Reason 4: They believed religion to be a personal inner experience--that one
did not need a priest or bishop or the government to be a “middle man” to God.
Consequences of their disagreement with the Church of England
• They suffered persecution in England because of their Protestant beliefs.
• Some were put in jail and whipped, their noses slit and their ears lopped off.
As a result…they came to America in 1620
Puritan BeliefsCertainties:• Adam and Eve sinned; therefore,
most of humanity would be damned for eternity. (The Fall)
• God decides whether a person is one of the “elect”—going to heaven—before he or she is even born.
Doubts:• Am I one of the “elect” (saved) or
one of the damned?• How do you know if you’re saved
or damned?
Even the youngest child was thought to be touched by sin.
“…their Hearts naturally, are a meer nest, root, fountain of Sin, and wickedness.”
~Puritan Leader, Benjamin Wadsworth on the nature of young children
The State of the SoulThere were two ways to uncover the state of
your soul:• 1. You were saved by the grace of God,
and you could feel this grace arriving in an intensely emotional fashion.
• 2. After receiving grace, you were “reborn,” and you behaved like a saint.
Because of their uncertainty, American Puritans attempted to live exemplary lives.
If a person seems saved, perhaps he or she really is, so Puritans attempted to create a reputation as a “visible saint” in the community.
Puritans valued…• Self-reliance--pulling yourself up by your bootstraps
• Industriousness--hard work
Puritans valued…• Self-restraint from all desire and temptation. Many sermons were devoted
to resisting “sins of the flesh.”
Puritans valued…• Simplicity--in dress, worship, architecture
Puritans valued…• EDUCATION and READING
• They founded and built Harvard College.
• Rev. Thomas Shepard Jr. wrote a letter to his son upon his admission to Harvard’s class of 1653. He told his son, “So I say to you read! Read! Something will stick in the mind, be diligent and good will come of it.”
Signed “Pater tuus”, which means “your father” in Latin
Puritan Politics• Signed and wrote the Mayflower Compact--one of
America’s first democratic documents….
Puritan Politics• Yet, they also lived under a theocracy--
government ruled by God and religious leaders
• Believed the saintly “elect” should be in charge
Puritan Politics• Women were not permitted to participate in town meetings or
decision making.
Darn, I’d rather be at the town meeting than darning these socks!
Puritan Politics• Believed that the community had the
right to control its members for the sake of a common interest
Puritan Writing• Mainly diaries, histories, letters, and court transcripts--describing their
lives and the workings of God in their villages.
• Style of writing emphasized simplicity and clarity
• No novels or plays or writing devoted to “vain enjoyment”
Puritan LifeI want to check the
barn-raisingstatus on Mercy’s
Facebook wall!
The Difficult Side of Puritan Life• Many activities such as gambling, games, or dancing were considered
sinful, not because they were evil, but because they wasted time that should be devoted to hard work.
• Holidays such as Christmas were considered too excessive.
The Difficult Side of Puritan Life• Two-man patrols monitored church attendance and town meetings• Minding other people’s business was common and encouraged.
Is your neighbor not going to church? If so, just call 1-800-SIN-NERS to report this crime!
The Difficult Side of Puritan Life• Cursing at your parents was considered a crime!• The average family had seven or more children--but less than half would
survive or live to see adulthood.
#$*&^*!
HOWEVER…• The Puritans were a community that supported one another--gathering to
“raise the roof” when building new farms and homes• There were taverns with “potent cider”--mostly “ne’er-do-wells” hung out
there. And the Puritans did drink wine.
HOWEVER…• They were passionate people who did enjoy celebrations.
HOWEVER…• …They survived, while other new communities in America did not.
HOWEVER…“We must delight in each other, make other’s conditions our own, rejoice together, mourn together, labor and suffer together, always having before our eyes our commission and community in the work, our community as members of the same body.”
~Gov. John Winthrop
Puritans and Native Americans• Once their land was invaded and taken by Puritans, Native Americans did
attack.
• Snobbery and the desire for land meant the Puritans converted very few Indians.
Puritans and the Wilderness• The wilderness was feared and thought to be the “Devil’s last preserve.”
Salem Witch Trials
● Took place in colonial Massachusetts between February 1692 and May 1693.
● Resulted in the executions of twenty people in Salem; hundreds more were accused. o Those accused have since been
exonerated, and their families were compensated financially, but bitterness remained for decades.
● One of our nation’s most notorious cases of mass hysteria.
● Now commonly used as a cautionary tale against religious extremism, false accusations, etc.
The Salem Witch Trials● The supernatural was considered a part of everyday life, and people
thought that Satan was present and active on earth. Dark magic was considered a very real, very dangerous issue.
● Salem was rife with suspicion--a recent smallpox epidemic, attacks from Native Americans, rivalries with neighboring towns, etc.o Life was difficult, fear of outsiders understandable, and
scapegoats somewhat inevitable.
● The Witch Trials began in spring of 1962, when a group of young girls claimed to have been possessed by the devil and accused several local women of witchcraft.
● You could survive by admitting to be a witch...and naming other witches...
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