Members of a religious group in the 16th-17th centuries who wanted to purify the Christian church of Catholic practices and live very strictly according to Bible rules.
From Latin 'purus' (pure) combined with the English suffix '-itan.' The term emerged in 1560s England to describe Protestant reformers seeking to eliminate what they saw as 'impure' Catholic remnants from the Church of England.
The Puritans' strict lifestyle—no dancing, no plays, no fancy clothes—sounds oppressive today, but they were actually radical reformers pushing back against the powerful church establishment of their time. Many Puritans fled to America, which is why Puritan values became so embedded in American culture and work ethic.
Puritan history encoded gendered moral authority—women were defined as moral vessels and sexual gatekeepers while male preachers claimed intellectual authority. This binary persists in 'purity culture' rhetoric.
Use when discussing specific historical groups, but avoid moralizing extensions that reinforce gendered purity standards.
Women in Puritan communities performed essential theological work (motherhood as ministry) that male historians systematically erased; recovery of women's spiritual writings reveals this intellectual labor.
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