Ex Post Facto

Our discussions of Puritanism have focused largely on their spiritual and social aspirations, but it’s important to note that Puritans also had economic motives for migrating to New England. One of the factors “pushing” Puritans to leave England was their anxiety about their own economic status. Puritans tended to come from what was known as the “middling” classes. They were not generally wealthy, but they enjoyed financial independence and relative security. Economic changes in England, however, threatened the future security of some Puritans, and some of them were thus moving to America in search of greater economic security. In early-17th century England, there was a swelling class of paupers and drifters, and some Puritans feared that they too might end up impoverished, given the direction of economic change.

Not surprisingly, Puritan anxieties about their economic status had spiritual reverberations. Because of their great uncertainty about the state of their souls (would they be saved?), Puritans tended to look for “signs” of God’s favor. The best sign of God’s grace, of course, was a new birth or conversion experience, confirmed by a virtuous mode of life. Part of living a good life was working hard. And if hard work led to some worldly measure of success, then that too was a good sign that one lived in God’s grace. Although economic success or failure could not be taken as a certain indicator of grace, it was nevertheless a sign. Hard-working Puritans thus lived in fear that they might be reduced to poverty and dependence if they remained in England.

Once in New England, furthermore, generations of Puritan families found that with hard work and discipline, they could prosper on the land — sometimes gained only after conflict with Indians. Although they seldom gained great wealth, they often managed to secure independence and competence for themselves and their families. Their religious culture and even some of their laws discouraged profiteering, greed, and lavish consumption, but they very much valued the prospect of making a decent living.

(Although I haven’t reviewed it in some time, I am drawing here in part on Alan Taylor’s excellent chapters on New England in American Colonies, which is available on reserve in the Cofrin Library.)

This entry was posted on Friday, September 14th, 2007 at 7:32 am and is filed under American Thought. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

21 Responses to “Puritans and Economy”

Richard Baker Says:
September 17th, 2007 at 1:51 am
If constrained only by providence, where God has predetermined our fate and salvation, and one cannot earn one’s way into heaven (self destination) through piety and virtuousness, then there is potential chaos of “live and let live”. One of the basic flaws of communism is a communal asceticism where ambition and progress are thwarted with little or no improvement of living condition such as the Calvinistic approach to the “good life”. Therefore, Puritan economics make good sense; to increase one’s own lot in life is to increase that of others. Whether salvation exists or not, living piously has advantages since at least our lives in a community/society are often richer for it, both spiritually and materially.

The problem with salvation (presuming one believes in it) is the question of how to obtain or attain it even if we have no influence upon it. Unfortunately, numerous biblical interpretations offer differing opinions and conflicting beliefs. I often defer to graffiti scribbled on a lavatory wall of a pizza parlor I once frequented: “Is it better to live life believing in God and find out there is none, or live believing in no God, and find out there is?”
Erica Spurgeon Says:
September 17th, 2007 at 9:53 am
It seems to me that the Puritans only believed in God when it suited them. If you truly believe that God will take care of you if you work hard, then there should be no need to flee your country if you continue to work hard. Life is full of ups and downs no matter what. I find it, ironic, however, that when they did have financial security, they made it a sin to be overly secure. I honestly believe that the Puritans sometimes used God as a way to make themselves look good instead of greedy and self-righteous.

We live in a society that shows that if you work hard- illegal immigrants-you may not get far and if you don’t work at all- Paris Hilton or Nicole Richie- you may prosper. The Puritans concept of working hard and having God reward you for it does not explain our society today.
Tania Galligan Says:
September 17th, 2007 at 5:44 pm
The Puritans may seem wishy-washy in their opinions on the economy but in my opinion they seem really constant. They left England to ensure that they would not lose their standing as the newly emerging middle class. It does seem that the Puritans did like capitalism because it allowed for them to be the middle class but I feel the fear of failure more or less lead the Puritans to remove themselves from England’s growing capitalist society. So it seems that the Puritans are wishy-washy about their feelings on money and capitalism but really they are just fearful of being failures in the eyes of their fellow Puritans and in the eyes of God. The comfort of the middle class allowed them to feel successful but not greedy, which totally explains why it would seem like they push for economic stability but also push for preventing economic over-achieving. But in our society today we push for both stability and economic greed.
Richard Baker Says:
September 18th, 2007 at 5:51 am
The contradiction of greed tempered with stability begs the question, Are we naturally greedy (bad), and strive to be economically stable (good), or are we (divinely) created good and corrupted by evil (greed)? Is the golden rule: Do unto others as you would have others do unto you mandated just because we wouldn’t naturally do so? I believe not. Morality of conscience does not necessarily conflict with morality of nature just as water and air can exist in a cycle of exchange, with one absorbing and releasing the other which is naturally good. Puritan social, political and economic stability depended upon greed (evil) to coexist with communal comfort (good) understanding the need to purge excesses through spititual conversion.
Michelle Kostka Says:
September 18th, 2007 at 8:04 am
The Puritans do seem to be a little inconsistent on their views of the economic system. However, it was not just fear of capitalism that drove them from their homelands; it was a fear of corruption. They believed that European societies were becoming more and more corrupt over time and that there was nothing stopping their children from becoming corrupted. If their children were corrupted they would probably no longer desire to follow the Puritan religion. If a religion has no followers it will die out, and the Puritans who believed so strongly in their faith feared that their religious goals would not be met.
Meghan Winter Says:
September 18th, 2007 at 9:11 am
The Puritans’ religion and economic views seem to contradict each other, but the Puritans modeled their views slightly. Their religion warned against excess or lavish things, but the Puritans still wished to make large amounts of money. What were they to do with all this money they wanted, if they couldn’t spend it on nice things? You can’t take it to heaven (if you had God’s grace to begin with). I would understand if they would spend it on beutifying the church, but the churches were simple and not highl decorated and were also supported by taxes.
Ben Wolf Says:
September 18th, 2007 at 10:42 am
The problem that I see with the Puritans largely mirrors the comments of Michelle, Erica and Meghan. I believe that the Puritans were not the true example of godly people. But I agree with Michelle in the fact that it wasn’t necessarily economic hardship that the fled from. Many of the puritan families became prominent in the New England area. They fled because there were certain things about the ties between the church and government in England that they disagreed with. There was a large “Grey Area” in interpretation about how life should be in England and the Puritans didn’t see it that way. They felt that there was one way to live and they wanted their own communities that lived that way. Picture a group of people that opposed the war in Iraq that fled the United States to form their own society in a new land. Puritans are all a matter of personal preferance.
Josh Kasper Says:
September 18th, 2007 at 6:32 pm
It’s easy to criticize the Puritan’s way of life would it be for personal gain or religious freedom. I think the Puritans did what they believed was right because they believed God was behind everything. The Puritans may have left England due to economic status, but the Puritan’s work ethic would all them to be prosperous by God.
I think that if you tried to apply the Puritans in today’s society it not applicable. The Puritans society of religion, hard work, and working together don’t play as important roles in today’s society.
Angela Anderson Says:
September 20th, 2007 at 6:17 am
I think the Puritans did partly what is in our nature. Doing whatever is required to survive. Leaving England to escape coming hardships and to secure a better future is hardly greed. It took courage, I believe, to leave the only land you know to come to a land where you have never been and really know nothing about. I’m not saying I agree with everything the Puritans did or believed. I do however think that the Puritans thought they were do the best possible thing for themselves and their future.
William Schwartz Says:
September 20th, 2007 at 7:57 am
I believe that the Puritans had very good intention when they decided to come to the New World. They wanted religious freedom for themselves, and their families. Besides leaving England for religious freedom. The Puritans also knew that if they stayed in England, their money would be loosing its value, and they could end up poor. So to protect their money, and their religious freedom, it was a better investment just to leave. But as it is with every religion cult that is not being check, things can go very wrong. Jim Jones, and David Koresh are just two people who started out with good intentions. I know I’m taking this to extreme, but we still have cults just like the Puritans who all have good intentions.
Stephanie Bellile Says:
September 20th, 2007 at 10:21 am
According to the Puritans, part of living the “good life” was to work hard. Like Professor Voelker stated, if you work hard you will have “worldly measures of success” to show for it. So, if you were wealthy it was a sign? What if you worked really hard and you just couldn’t move up in the world? I guess that is why they were afraid to stay in England. I think it is sad to judge someone as having a “good life,” because they are wealthy. We do it today too though. What would the Puritans think about people that didn’t work hard, yet are wealthy. Today people inherit wealth sometimes. Would the Puritans assume that they would be saved? Or would this person be expected to do charity work?

Also, I wanted to say I like Tania’s comments. That was what I was thinking and you stated it well.
Adam Reidinger Says:
September 20th, 2007 at 11:31 am
I wonder if this desire for Puritans to make a decent living correlated to the idea of predestination they all believed to be so true. Perhaps those who were fearful of not being one of God’s chosen people in heaven were trying to live the best they could on Earth in the event they had been pre-destined to hell in the afterlife.
Matt Streckenbach Says:
September 20th, 2007 at 12:24 pm
I would have to say that the main force behind the Puritan’s was originally religious freedom. For the reason that who would risk there life traveling a ocean if you we’re somewhat psycotically, fanactically into your religion? Economic’s were a secondary motive once arriving in the new world.
Brian Knaak Says:
September 20th, 2007 at 12:52 pm
There is no doubt that Puritan history is frought with moral travesty. This should not, however, take away from the many positive influences the Puritans had on early American history.

One area of positive influence was the Puritans especially hard work ethic. This work ethic stemmed from their idea of living a virtuous life. There can be no question that this work ethic allowed them to cultivate the land and prosper. This helped pave the ground for what would be the United States of America.

A second positive influence was the fact they were committed to independence. This is true in social, economic and religous aspects, all of which were interelated. In fear of the economic changes taking place in England at the time, the Puritans were afraid they would lose their highly regarded economic independence. This independence was so highly regarded due to the fact that economic independence would allow them to carry on with their vision of a moral and virtuous community. In other words, without economic independence, the Puritans would lose their religous autonomy and sense of “Puritan communitarianism”.

This powerful strive for independence was also apparent in their break with the Church of England. Upset that the Church of England was straying to far from the teachings of Bible, Puritans sought out their own vision of the virtuous life. It should be noted here that economic indepedence was vital to make their vision a reality. This helped lay the groundwork for early Americans to defy England’s control.

In conclusion, it is clear to see that the Puritans had quite a dramatic influence on early American culture. While the negative influences are concentrated on much more frequently, one cannot overlook the many positive influences inherent within early Puritan societies.
Ryan Heck Says:
September 20th, 2007 at 4:51 pm
If the Puritans were so worried about econimic issues they would have stayed in Holland were the economy was great. The Puritans did not want to stay there either. So economy was important but not the most important.
Matt Micksch Says:
September 20th, 2007 at 10:45 pm
Puritans looked towards “God” when there was conflict within their community. With the migration to the “New World”, Puritans searched for answers as to how to progress economically. This would happen because most other aspects of the Puritans’ lives were fufilled by migrating to live by their own thoughts and beliefs of life. Economically, they would have to find new ideas as to how to achieve their goals. On the flip side, any community would go to any extreme to survive and prosper, leaving them to be simply human.
Jan Cheney Says:
September 21st, 2007 at 7:03 am
I believe that when the Puritans arrived here, everything they did was to please God. Hard work was a way of showing their devotion to him. Their initial intention was to provide enough for their families and communities. Ultimately, competition for land, food, supplies, etc. forced them to work for themselves rather than God.
Eric Bansemar Says:
September 21st, 2007 at 3:54 pm
I see the Puritans views on making money to be somewhat consistent with a liberal (individual rights) based mindset, in the sense that the Puritans needed to have a certain amount of financial success in order to pursue their own version of the good life. However, since they were also sincere in their attempt to live a good, spiritual life, they resolved not to be overcome by greed, as God would not be pleased if they were to take more than they needed from life.
Shawn Niemann Says:
September 21st, 2007 at 4:39 pm
I think that the Puritans’ beliefs contradict their actions. They believe in predestination, but they are so worried about being in God’s grace. If they really believed that they were already destine to either Heaven or Hell, it wouldnt matter what actions they do in life. One of the principles of Christianity is that we are all in control of our own spiritual destiny. For example, if I knew that I was destine for Heaven, I would try to build a fortune and gain power and not worry too much about who I had to “screw over” to reach that point of achievement. Theologically speaking, they were saved or damned when they were born, so signs of God’s satisfaction or displeasure would be irrelevant.
Adam Klug Says:
September 22nd, 2007 at 9:11 am
I agree with the last part of what Stephanie said. What would the Puritans think of how some people live the supposed “good life” today. Some get to live it because their rich grandfather dies and they become exceedingly wealthy, whereas some people have to bust their butts in order to break even. And this could be a very good reason why the Puritans left England is becuase they possibly thought that they could not have the “good life” there, so they needed to come to America instead.
David Voelker Says:
September 24th, 2007 at 11:56 am
FINAL COMMENT

Those of you who point out tensions and contradictions within Puritanism are quite right to do so. However, as some of you pointed out, a desire for worldly success and for Christian piety did not have to be mutually exclusive. One reason that Puritans emphasized hard work was because they believed that working kept people of of trouble. Sloth, or laziness, was a sin, in part because it was seen to beget other sins.

Puritans definitely did NOT see themselves as being in control of their spiritual destiny — that position only became popular in New England in the late 1700s and early 1800s. So, within a context of terrible uncertainty, they tried to come up with ways to “prepare” for God’s grace, should they be so lucky as to receive it. The discipline of hard work was a part of the preparation process.

Print This Post

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

Puritans and Economy

21 Responses to “Puritans and Economy”

Leave a Reply