The Comparisons Between The Puritans And Native Americans

This essay, it will show the comparisons between the Puritans and Native Americans and also the contrasts/differences between the Puritan belief system and the Native American belief system. First, the puritan system was too strict and overwhelming and often drove people away, puritans believe that their system of belief is always right and they are just in the name of God and they also viewed the church as corrupt, evil, and sinful.

One of the contrasts between Puritans and Native Americans is that the puritans believed that our destiny is predetermined/ has predestination so basically they believe that when you aren’t even born, that you are either saved through God’s grace and will receive salvation or damned and left to rot in hell. The Puritans even believed that it was inherent through people. this led to people living saintly lives and living with good intentions and peaceful ways. However, if someone hits you in the face the reaction you are supposed to make is not to hit them back and have a brawl with one another but instead to turn the other cheek because it says so in the bible which goes back to living a holy life with no ill intentions. On the other hand, the Native Americans’ beliefs are way different maybe even opposite than the Puritans and that’s because the Native Americans always used stories passed down from generation to generation to describe how their god and often these stories would have a meaning behind them. Often it will show what is the correct way and what not to do wrong in the future.

Another Contrast/ Difference between the Puritans and the Native Americans is that the native Americans has teaching they believe or story that is called the Sky Tree where a man is sick and asks his wife to fetch him a sacred fruit in order to do that she needs to cut down the sky tree in order to do so. Here is the textual evidence “ I have a dream and in my dream, I saw how I can be healed. I must be given the fruit which grows at the very top of the Sky Tree”. After this everything goes bad because the Sky Tree falls through a hole and so they must go after the tree and also rely on the animals to help and save them all. Which is totally different from the Puritans and what they believe in. The Puritans have no connections to any sort of animals in their scriptures except for satan the snake.

One comparison that can be made between the Puritans and the Natives is in the story by William Bradford in the Plymouth Plantation where it says that “ they fell upon their knees and blessed the God of heaven who had brought them over the vast and furious ocean” this quote shows that the Puritans saw this journey as a way of a will, salvation also bringing them closer to God and maybe felt an emotional presence. For the Native Americans, it was relatively the same. They believed if any bad casualties happened then it was the great spirit or depending on who they worshiped was punishing them for anything they did. So they had people who supposedly spoke to the spirits and actually believed they talked to them and asked what they could do for forgiveness and that this led to spiritual dancing also rituals and the Native Americans also believed that is can once again bless them in God’s favor.

There is another contrast is how the Puritans got to America, the things they had to do to overcome trials and obstacles. Also how the Native Americans got there and what came to be. This will show the difference between the Puritan’s and the Native Americans’ views and beliefs. For the Puritans, they had to leave their home country because their beliefs weren’t accepted, so they decided to move to the new land found called America in addition to that, that’s how it started and how the puritans’ beliefs came from England and America. But this obstacle definitely wasn’t easy they had to overcome seasickness, “encountered crosswinds and met with many fierce storms”, people getting sick so in the puritan belief, it says that they solely rely on themselves and their own capabilities and their own judgments. While for the Native Americans they believe anything and everything has to do with the great spirit and how he taught them everything and showed the things. For example, the story coyote finishes his work. “ He made the Indians, put them out in tribes all over the world” and “He taught them how to hunt the buffalo and catch eagles”. But also this shows this is a comparison because the puritans believe God will save them one day, while the Native Americans believe their great spirit will save them so it’s similar in a way of waiting for salvation.