An Examination of the Important Values in Colonial America

Over two hundred years ago in colonial America, many of the values and morals and not the same as what they would be today, but many are still very much alike. Based on, "A Model of Christian Charity", by John Winthrop, "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God", by Jonathan Edwards, The tombstone of Benjamin Franklin's parents, and Ben Franklin's virtues and self improvement charts from his autobiography, many details about the values of people of colonial America are revealed. Some of the most important values of this time were to be hardworking, Faithfulness, determination, and respect for God. One of the largest values of this time was to be hardworking.

In a Puritan Society during Colonial America, everyone was expected to be hardworking people that contributed to their society. They were expected to do work and nothing but work. Their only form of entertainment was from reading the Bible when they couldn't do work. There weren't any other forms of entertainment back then, so the Bible was all they had. When the Puritan societies eventually died out, this belief was still carried on to the next generations of people in New England, however, it was no where near as strict as the Puritans belief was.

The people now had time for entertainment among other things. They were still very hardworking, but not as much as the Puritans. This quality is shown on the inscription of the gravestone of Ben Franklin's parents. It states that his mother raised thirteen of her children and seven of her grandchildren. This is just one example of a hardworking person in colonial America, Ben's father was another, and there were thousands more. This is one of the many beliefs from this time period that have passed on to today modern culture and are still seen everyday today. Hardworking people are just as prevalent today as they were in Colonial America.

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Determination was also a huge part of almost all of the colonies in America. Without determination for one reason or another, none of the colonies would ever have been founded. The Puritans built a colony here because they were determined to have an area where they could practice their religion freely, and built their vision of a "city upon a hill". Settlers came to Virginia because they were determined to make money by growing tobacco, or another cash crops. Georgia was founded because the people of the Carolinas were determined to keep the Spanish away from their land. Columbus found America because he was determined there was a faster way to Asia and the East Indies.

Determination was also on a smaller scale too. In Ben Franklin's virtues and self improvement charts, determination plays a huge part in actually being able to better yourself through using his suggestions. Without determination everything he wrote is useless because there is no motivation to do any of it. However, people were determined back than and they still are today. Ben Franklin used this self improvement chart because he was determined to make himself the best person he could be. Just like being hardworking, determination was a huge part of society then, and still is today.

Faithfulness was probably the most important value to many people of Colonial America. Faithfulness was not only an excellent quality for people to have, but some colonies, such as the Puritans required it. They believed in the value of faithfulness so much that their whole government was based off of religion. This included the laws, which were from the Bible and were interpreted from the Bible by their ministers. They had the children go to school so they could learn to read just so they could read the Bible. They built huge universities for training people to become ministers.

Some of these universities, such as Harvard are still around today and are Ivy League colleges. They were very faithful people, and this is definitely shown in “A Model of Christianity”, a document by John Winthrop that was made during the voyage before the Massachusetts Bay Colony was made. God and faith are mentioned numerous times throughout this document. The document basically states that they will be a city on a hill, and they will worship God. It shows how faithful they were and how they planned to practice their faith.

Respect for God was an important characteristic during this time. The people of Colonial America, especially the Puritans felt that god could throw any one of us in hell if he wanted to, but he prefers not to throw us into hell. According to "Sinners in the Hands of An Angry God" By Jonathan Edwards, God can throw in hell whenever he wants, and there isn't a single person alive that could even try to resist him if he did. Jonathan Edwards feels that people that stand before God deserve to be thrown into hell. He believes that God could do this any day if he wanted too, but it is his own will, and nothing else, that holds him back from doing it. This is why they had a respect for God. Because they thought he could throw him into hell whenever he wanted.

Overall, some of the beliefs and values from Colonial America are still present today, but some of them have vanished over time. The values that are still around today are to be hardworking, determination. One of the most important and most prevalent values in Colonial America was to be hardworking, and it is still a very important value today. Faithfulness is still around today also, but it is less prevalent than during Colonial America. Over time, a respect for God has vanished. People today do not feel that He can throw any one of us into hell whenever he please because he has never done so, therefore he can't do it. The beliefs and values of Colonial America were similar to today's beliefs and values, but things have changed over the years.

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