The Utopian Promise
Jacob Quanbeck
English III
04/14/14
Ms. Fordahl
In the 17th and early 18th centuries the Puritans, and later the Quakers, came over from Europe to avoid prosecution. They set sail for the "New World", or America. The Puritans were hoping to be able to live in their own ways with their own religion. The Puritans and the Native Americans didn't really see eye to eye, with the Puritans trying to push their ways on the Natives and not really respecting the Native's own views. Later on the Quakers arrived with their separate beliefs and pacifism, they were shunned by the Puritans and forced to leave; the Quakers and the Natives got along very nicely due to the respect the Quakers showed to the Natives and their ways, and the pacifism that they had allowed them to peacefully work out their problems. The Puritans saw God as strict and harsh and they acted in a similar way toward sin, the Quakers were accepting of others and saw God as understanding.
The story "General History of Virginia" by John Smith; the main character, John Smith, talks about his encounters with Native Americans in his exploration of the "New World". Being an unknown people the Natives were thought to be cruel savages, the Europeans soon found that the Natives were kind. The Natives welcomed these Europeans and shared their food. After this the Europeans saw how good the Natives were, "The patron of all good endeavors, in that desperate extremity so changed the hearts of the savages, that they brought such plenty of their fruits and provision..." this selection from the story shows how the Europeans view of the Natives changed.
In William Bradford's "Of Plymouth Plantation" provides insight into the life of the Puritans in Plymouth. They arrived at Cape Cod and were having an apalling first winter, luckily for them the Natives had experience in the harsh winters of the land and were willing to help the settlers. The settlers thanked God for delivering them through the dangerous journey and this brutal winter, "Being thus arrived in a good harbor, and brought safe to land, they fell upon their knees and blessed the God of Heaven who had brought them over the vast and furious ocean, and delivered from all the perils and miseries thereof, again to set their feet on the firm and stable earth, their proper element."
Jonathon Edwards was a preacher in the 1700s that gave a powerful sermon called "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God". In this sermon Edwards opens up with showing just how easy it is for God to send sinners into the fiery pits of hell "We find it easy to tread on and crush a worm that we see crawling on the earth; so it is easy for us to cut or singe a slender thread that any thing hangs by; thus easy is it for God when he pleases to cast his enemies down to hell." Edwards utilizes the fear of the listeners to accentuate his point and have it leave a greater impact on the listeners. The sermon ends on a lighter note giving the listeners hope; if the sinners turn from their ways and repent they can be saved.
All of the stories that we have covered have been preparing us for "The Crucible". The fear and confusion that have been happening in the time period, as seen in the three stories we just covered, set up for the paranoia that caused the Salem witch trials. When people are confused and afraid, they tend to make rather... stupid, reckless, and rash decisions. In the Salem witch trials people were accused of witchcraft, tried, and killed. Religion, fear, and peoples religious intolerance have been themes that we've been covering and soon all these things will collide causing the Salem witch trials. The judge later on confessed that he was wrong in convicting these people as witches. People don't stop and think about what they are doing when they are in a mob, all they care about is what they are being told, if this lady is declared a witch why would they question it? They don't realize that these "witches" are real human beings, only later do they come to the grim realization that their acts of heroism were savage acts committed with their own hands, the mob has a "Moment of Clarity".
