& # 8211 ; Who Were They And W Essay, Research Paper

Puritans- Who Were They and What Are They Making in My Kitchen?

Puritans are so among us in society. They are in our drug shops, our launderettes, and yes, our kitchens. They are purists. Puritans want to do society a dull topographic point where everyone works difficult and no 1 has excessively much merriment. Although they think they know what is good for everybody, their manner of life non merely disagrees with modern society ; it contradicts itself.

The Puritan motion began in England in the 1500 s ( Puritanism World Book ) . The word Puritan foremost appeared in 1564. It began as a twit or abuse applied to those who criticized or wished to sublimate the Church of England ( Puritanism England ) . The Puritans sought through church reform to do their life style the form for the whole state. ( Puritanism Britannica ) .

The Puritans are really serious people and oppose most things that are fun for themselves or others ( Gambling ) . Frailties such as inebriation, smoke, gaming, cursing and Sabbath breakage were strongly forbidden in their civilization. Even pretentious frock was prohibited by the Puritans ( Heyrman ) . Puritanism is besides defined as rigorous denial of pleasance ( Puritanism Philosophy ) . Over clip the term broadened to intend stringency in ethical motives or spiritual affairs ( Puritanism World Book ) .

Puritans are rigorous Genevans. Calvinism is associated with the Theory of Predestination. Predestination is the theory that God has a maestro program for people before they are born. It does non count what they do in their life because God has planned out for them whether they will travel to heaven or hell. If Puritans are Genevans, why do they believe in such a rigorous manner of life? The two facts are contradictory of each other. It helps to demo how pathetic the whole political orientation is ( Puritans ) .

In the Shakespearean drama Twelfth Night there is dialogue refering to the subject of Puritans:

Maria- Marry, sir, sometimes he [ Malvolio ] is a sort of Puritan.

Sir Andrew- O, if I thought that, I ld beat him like a Canis familiaris.

Sir Toby- What, for being a Puritan? Thy keen ground, dear knight?

Sir Andrew- I have no keen ground for it ( Rowse 524 )

In this transition, when Malvolio was accused of being a Puritan, Sir Andrew s immediate inherent aptitude was to bring down injury to him. It shows that Shakespeare had sick feelings towards Puritans. Shakespeare had every ground to believe this manner. The Puritans denounced his dramas and theatre all together as engendering evidences of wickedness and frailty and an encouragement to unproductiveness. It was the Puritans purposes to shut down all theaters if they could ( Asimov 579-80 )

At the clip of the beginning of Puritanism in England, Queen Elizabeth I was in her reign. She opposed and blocked the reformation, every bit good as many other Lords of the clip period ( Hulse ) . The attempts of the Puritans finally led to a civil war in England! A civil war broke out in England because of the Puritan motion!

Because of the instability and deficiency of support for the Puritan motion in England, the Puritans broke off and founded settlements in America. These settlements were based upon the Puritan ideals and manner of life ( Puritanism Britannica ) . In America, the Puritans sought to cleanse the civilization of what they regarded as corrupt, iniquitous patterns ( Heyrman ) .

The Puritans shaped faith, societal life and authorities in North America and their ideals. Their belief in government-by-contract from the governed influenced the development of the American democratic principals ( Puritanism World Book ) . They believed that the authorities should purely implement public morality by forbiding frailties ( Heyrman ) . A German Sociologist, Max Weber, associated the Puritan belief in difficult work with the rise of the American free endeavor system ( Puritanism World Book ) .

In America, it seems that the impulse to pass and modulate wellness and soberness comes in rhythms spaced 60 or 80 old ages apart. In fact, Dr. Ruth C. Engs, a professor of applied wellness scientific discipline at Indiana University, says that Every 80 old ages or so we come out with all these Torahs against people s personal, enjoyable chases: baccy, intoxicant, meat, sex ( qtd in Ross ) .

Dr. Engs s rhythm is divided into three parts. In the first portion, reformists agitate against the inappropriate behaviour. Merely after the protesting does Congress get down go throughing Torahs. In the in-between 3rd, it becomes cool to scoff the jurisprudence. Here, people either lose involvement in the Torahs or actively arise against them. In the last 3rd, the constabulary hardly enforce the Torahs on the books on the books. Besides, the banned behaviour comes out into the unfastened. The ingestion of contraband Begins to lift, but at a slower gait. The rhythm reasonably much terminals when another coevals sees the desolation brought by the maltreatment of the habit-forming behaviours. At this point the rhythm begins afresh.

The bounce back and Forth from one extreme to another is exaggerated in America where it dates back to the Puritan degree Fahrenheit

athers themselves. Why does the rhythm have to be so utmost? The rhythm is barbarous, because most of the clip we are overreacting to a old coevals s experiences ( a p3 ) . The rhythm of dependences seems to hold its ain natural beat related to people s memories of what those dependences did to an earlier coevals. We are at the extremum of the broad subdivision now. With more and more Torahs go throughing curtailing the enjoyable things in life, we will shortly see a new moving ridge of Puritanism. Right now the frailties such as drugs, imbibing, smoke, and chancing are at a high.

Cocaine first struck physicians as a wonder drug. Cocaine was promoted in all the medical diaries, much like Prozac is today. Subsequently, the immoralities of cocaine dependence became evident. Use of the drug ceased among the upper category, and it became associated with low lives. Consumption of cocaine plummeted. After everyone was disinterested with cocaine, it was so that Torahs were passed against it, around the 1910 s. By the 1930 s, cipher even remembered cocaine. By the 1970 s it was back strongly. Drug use peaked around the late 1970 s. There was a letup but cocaine is still outstanding in today s society ( Ross ) .

In the 1750 s, authoritiess made repeated efforts to censor intoxicant and discourage inordinate usage. But no program had worked. In 1851, Maine banned ingestion and production of intoxicant. By 1855, several more had followed. But after the Civil War, barrooms became popular. But the Puritan reformers continued to kick and by 1900, many barrooms were closed. In 1917, the 18th Amendment was passed. It prohibited the industry, sale, or transit of elating spiritss. The Volstead Act was what enforced the amendment. It defined elating spiritss as drinks with intoxicant content greater that.05 per centum. In the late 1920 s, the prohibition was repealed ( Puritanism Encarta ) .

Alcohol ingestion has risen of all time since in the U.S. It is expected to top out within the following few old ages. The program of onslaught against intoxicant will foremost be attempts to deter people from imbibing. Second, marginalize of those who drink. Third, demonise them. Finally, they will go through Torahs against imbibing. Ironically, the consequence of this Puritanism might be more alcohol ingestion a decennary or two from now.

Mothers Against Drunk Driving persuaded legislators to raise the imbibing age. Now they want to foster restrict advertisement of intoxicant. The elevation of the imbibing age may hold boosted alcohol addiction in the long tally. Life-long wonts are frequently formed in the late adolescent old ages. When childs start imbibing at age 19, they find they can non halt at age 21. When you can lawfully belly up to the saloon, you do non desire to.

The anti-tobacco campaign may be backlashing. Heavy additions in adolescent smoke in the past twosome old ages has occurred. There is some sort of out fruit glamor to smoke. There has been a 4.6 per centum rise in smoke by adolescent misss in the past five old ages ( Ross ) .

Lotteries and other chancing devices flourished in the eighteenth century. But effusions of morality and dirt against it in the 1820 s rid the state of chancing. The 2nd moving ridge of chancing started after the Civil War. This newfound involvement in chancing finally led to more dirts and more morality than the last clip. This occurred in the early twentieth Century. In the 1930 s America started to retrieve from the Puritanism when Nevada re-legalized casinos, lotto, and racecourses. State lotteries came back in 1964. State lotteries are now run by 33 provinces. These lotteries are doing this 3rd wave the strongest so far ( Gambling ) .

The conditions are right for a monolithic Prohibition. Drug usage is high. Alcohol ingestion is high. Smoke is high. Gambling is really high. The reform Torahs appear to be increasing somewhat. The new prohibition is destined to neglect, merely like the last prohibition failed in the 1920 s. It aims to implement clean life by authorities Torahs. Temperance Torahs merely glamorize the prohibited merchandise. The Torahs by and large fail to better affairs. Banning and rationing merely creates economically perverse results. Businesss are created for the prohibited substances. They stay in concern because of the enormously high monetary values and net income borders. Another unwanted result is, If you make it difficult ( or expensive ) for childs to acquire beer, they will acquire marijuana alternatively.

Substance maltreatment is harmful. Yet it is inevitable because we live in the short tally, peculiarly when it comes to what are deemed as guilty pleasances. Laws against substance maltreatment are pointless. In each Puritan motion, most of the diminution in ingestion came before the

Torahs took consequence. Make no error: Alcohol, baccy and narcotics cause much human wretchedness, and people would be good advised to utilize them little or non at all. Advised & # 8211 ; but non commanded & # 8211 ; for coercion doesn T work in the long tally ( Ross ) .

The universe s greatest dramatist, William Shakespeare, despised Puritans. It is a proved fact that Puritanism contradicts itself. How can people believe in an political orientation that does non do any sense? Merely like the kitchen.