Andrew Slettebak

English III

04/14/14

Ms. Fordahl

Utopian Promise

            This last week in class we learned about utopian. In the 17th and early 18th centuries the Puritans, and later the Quakers, came over from Europe to avoid prosecution, and they were coming to the “New World” to create Utopia. It was to be built to fulfill God's promise on earth. The “New World” then is now referred to as the United States.

            In the story “The General History of Virginia “John Smith left England because he wanted to become a soldier. John Smith talks about his encounters with the Native Americans and how he and his clan survived the harsh winters of the Northeast coast of North American. The Virginia colony wanted major profits from their trip into the New World. The colony decided that they wanted Smith to help with the Jamestown colony.

            In William Bradford's "Of Plymouth Plantation" provides insight into the life of the Puritans in Plymouth. The Puritans were heading to Cape Cod and they did arrive there. Little did they know that the natives had been there way before any of them. The settlers thanked God for delivering them through the dangerous journey and this brutal winter.

            In “Sinner in the Hands of an Angry God” by Jonathan Edwards talks about a sermon that Jonathan Edwards gave to a small congregation Northampton, Massachusetts. In the story it explains how they believed God could just decide when they were going to hell and there was nothing you could really do.

            With these three stories they lead up to witch trial because eventually all the Puritans became annoyed about what they’re doing how they’re doing, and thinking God was behind every bad thing. This creates a background for the Salem Witch trials because in the previous books we have read it talks about the god and other things to do with that.