LITERARY STUDIES

Religious writing is also an important part of the colonial literature in America. It is represented in the writings of the puritans who traveled and settled in America seeking for religious freedom.

Pilgrims and Puritans initially belonged to the Anglican Church, but they were radical reformers seeking further purification and a return to the Church's original "pure and unspotted" state. They opposed the ornate rituals of the Church of England, reminiscent of Roman Catholicism, including the veneration of images and relics, choirs, bells, music, decorated robes, and crosses. These embellishments, they believed, diverted attention from the sermon and the word of God. Additionally, they objected to the hierarchical structure of the Church, rejecting the authority of the Pope and bishops, as they found no biblical justification for such a hierarchy. Embracing Martin Luther's concept of "the priesthood of all men," they asserted that any individual could serve as a priest. These individuals, devoted to the Bible as the word of God, believed in its governance over their lives, dismissing the authority of kings or popes.

The Puritans who settled in the American colonies were led by a group of English Separatists known as the Pilgrims. The Pilgrims were seeking religious freedom and wanted to separate from the Church of England, which they considered corrupt and in need of further purification. In 1620, a group of Pilgrims, known for the Mayflower Compact, sailed across the Atlantic Ocean aboard the Mayflower. They arrived at what is now Plymouth, Massachusetts, and established the Plymouth Colony. The most prominent leaders among the Pilgrims were William Bradford, who later became the governor of Plymouth Colony, and religious leaders like William Brewster and John Robinson. These early Puritan settlers played a significant role in the foundation of the New England colonies and contributed to the shaping of American history and culture.

The Puritans has a set of beliefs that they represented in their writing and which characterizes their style. They thought of themselves as God's chosen people so they referred to themselves as the elect. They believed that they were saints, that they had salvation, which can only obtained by God. They thought America was the promised land, and everything in the world is predestined by God. Puritan literature was written in the form of diaries, religious journals, poetry, and annals. Some very prominent figures are William Bradford (1540-1657) and Anne Bradstreet (1612-1672).

William Bradford wrote Of Plymouth Plantation in 1647. It is an account that details the experience of the Puritans while traveling to the New world, their arrival at Cape Cod, and their hardships. The first thing that can be noticed through a reading of his account is the religious aspect of the text and of the beliefs of the puritans. The author believed that the puritan texts will become holy books for the future generations and thought that every details had to be scripted. Thus, many biblical references are made through the narrative wherein the puritans are themselves sanctified. He uses a very elevated language in a highly formal style and makes references to God and to scripture in almost every line. At moments he introduces some preaching in the text as when he says

What could now sustain them but the Spirit of God and His grace? May not and ought not the children of these fathers rightly say: “Our fathers were Englishmen which came over this great ocean, and were ready to perish in this wilderness; but they cried unto the Lord, and He heard their voice and looked on their adversity, “ etc. “Let them therefore praise the Lord, because He is good; and His mercies endure for ever. Yea, let them which have been redeemed of the Lord, shew how He hath delivered them from the hand of the oppressor.

By doing so, the author is instructing the reader to follow the puritan experience because it enlightens the path to the next believers in the next generations.