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Essay / Research Paper Abstract
This 13 page paper discusses the "Puritan ethic" and how it has shaped the "American character." Bibliography lists 8 sources.
Page Count:
13 pages (~225 words per page)
File: D0_HVPurtan.rtf
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Unformatted sample text from the term paper:
that of the Puritans. These early settlers brought their attitudes and beliefs with them, and wove them into the earliest days of the nation. This paper discusses Puritanism, its basic
principles and how it contributed to the formation of an American character. Discussion Its axiomatic of course that trying to define a "national character" is always going to be inadequate
and nothing more than a generalization. In order to define what sort of character this nation has it would be necessary to interview everyone now living. Since thats impossible, we
have to look at our history and see which movements and ideas have been most clearly adopted throughout time. And we start with the Puritans. American society is founded on
the idea of equality and justice, in which the phrase "live and let live" is (or should be) a major factor; however, "many American reject this creed with a vengeance.
They find toleration so unpleasant that they support the imprisonment of hundreds of thousands of individuals whose personal behavior they regard as offensive."1 The question is why so many Americans
feel this way, and Higgs argues that the answer "lies in our history."2 Higgs article is intriguing and though-provoking. He writes that our entire concept of Puritanism is in error,
and that the Puritans did not come to America to seek their freedom, but to "improve their economic well-being."3 At least that was the case for those colonists who were
free, but they were not the majority-most of those who came to America in the colonial era were already indentured servants, and they would have had very little to look
forward to except exceedingly hard work.4 Although some of the Puritans were seeking freedom from religious oppression, it was never the intention of the Pilgrim Fathers to establish a society
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