VII. Visible Signs of Puritan Decay

1. Visible decay of godliness.

2. Manifestations of pride - especially among the new rich.

3. Presence of "heretics" - Quakers and Anabaptists.

4. Violations of the Sabbath and swearing and sleeping during sermons.

5. Decay in family government.

6. People full of contention - rise in lawsuits and lawyers.

7. Sins of sex and alcohol on the increase.

8. Decay in business morality - lying, laborers underpaid, etc.

9. No disposition to reform.

10. Lacking in social behavior.

H. L. Mencken: "A Puritan is one who suspects somewhere someone is having a good time."

New England

Two Important New England Settlements:

The Plymouth Colony Flagship Mayflower arrives - 1620 Leader - William Bradford Settlers known as Pilgrims and Separatists "The Mayflower Compact" provides for social, religious, and economic freedom, while still maintaining ties to Great Britain.

The Massachusetts Bay Colony Flagship Arbella arrives - 1630 Leader - John Winthrop Settlers are mostly Puritans or Congregational Puritans "The Arbella Covenant" clearly establishes a religious and theocratic settlement, free of ties to Great Britain.

Oxford Dictionary of British History

New England was the name given by Captain John Smith in 1614 to the coastline of America north of the Hudson river. Two years later he published a Description of New England, claiming at least 25 fine harbours. The Mayflower settlers landed at Plymouth in 1620 and the name New England was applied to the colony (later absorbed by Massachusetts), New Haven (later part of Connecticut), Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, and Maine. The New England colonies, with their strong puritan tradition, ultimately became the core of American resistance in the War of Independence.

Houghton Mifflin Word Origins: New England

This was in fact four years before any English speakers permanently settled in that northern location. But in 1616 it was already the subject of the book A Description of New England, by that busy explorer and promoter Captain John Smith, who had visited the land two years before.

According to Smith, New England owes its name to Sir Francis Drake. Not that Drake ever saw or talked about New England, but in sailing around the world he stopped in 1579 at a place on the Pacific coast of North America and claimed it as Nova Albion, the Latin for "New England." Following Drake's lead, Smith designated the region at a similar latitude on the Atlantic coast by the same name, translated into plain English.

The very words New England show the direction of Smith's thinking. This was to be an extension of Old England, not a new kind of community. The map in his book gives only English names for the places of New England, and he provides an accompanying list showing thirty American Indian names replaced by English ones: Accomack by Plimouth, Massachusets River by Charles River, Kinebeck by Edenborough, to list a few. Some of those changes succeeded. But what eventually happened after the Plymouth colonists landed four years later has turned out differently than Smith had imagined, for Indian names as well as English ones still cover the New England landscape.