Puritan Heritage, Puritans and New England - Essay Example

I suppose that those scholars and educators who underestimate the meaning of the Puritan legacy for the nation in general, and culture and education in particular cannot objectively investigate the problems that are relevant at present. If I were an educator, I would pay much attention to examining the Puritan heritage for a better understanding of conflict values in the fields of education and sciences.

Such features as industriousness, desire to get knowledge, as well as restraint and adherence to morality, are regarded as the features inherent to the Puritan conscience. To my mind, many value conflicts that are observed in the field of modern education cannot be properly investigated without understanding historical heritage. I think that similarities that unite both parts of the nation are partly defined by the legacy of the Puritans, so it is necessary to observe this heritage from its historical perspective because it influenced many aspects of the nation’s development. I suppose that using the experience of the past is necessary to forge effective strategies for future successful progress, so understanding the sources of the mentality is extremely important for many sciences, and I find this issue to be important for educational discourse at the moment. Some facts described below will prove that the Puritans influenced both the characters and minds of the nation in the process of its development.

The Puritans were aware that the level of economic and political prosperity depended upon the educational level of the population. The belief of the American citizens that every person should have a definite level of education, literacy, and mathematical skills is a Puritan heritage. In the period when the Puritans settled down in New England in Europe, advanced education was available only for the upper levels of society. The lower classes weren’t supposed to get education and literacy. (Hart)

When Winthrop and his allies came to Massachusetts they started with establishing new schools. The Puritans who had received education in Cambridge and Oxford prepared the teachers. In the middle of the 17th century, there were more than 100 men with the highest education in New England. This was the highest concentration of educated people compared to any other place. The Puritans also supposed it be essential that every community have a spiritual leader, a learned pastor to direct the religious education of the community members and to prevent them from errors.

According to the School Act in Massachusetts “It being the chief project of that old deluder Satan to keep men from the knowledge of the Scriptures,(…) so that at least, the true sense and meaning of the original might be clouded with false glosses of saint seeming deceivers; and that learning may not be buried in the grave of our forefathers, in church and commonwealth, the Lord assisting our endeavors.”(Hart) These were just the key facts that prove the significance of the Puritan influence on various aspects of the nation’s life and mentality. I think, that studying this influence and understanding the sources is important for many sciences at present, especially education.

At present New England is still regarded as a place with a high concentration of educated people, and it is obviously a legacy of the Puritans. They intended to spread knowledge and education as widely as possible. According to the Puritan doctrines, education was not to prepare the children of the highest levels of society to set them aside from the rest of the population, but to provide the community with experienced and skilled lawyers, managers, doctors, ministers, teachers, etc. Education was regarded as a tool of elevating all the people in the community, rather than as a privilege. The Spread of school education and availability of the knowledge prevented aristocracy from establishing its power in New England, and this became the tendency of the nation in general. That is why the development of democracy in America was partly originated by the Puritans, and I share this opinion. (Hart) Read More