How did the Puritans become so influential over America (or american culture) and howcome they didn't become as influential in any other countries?

Perhaps because they live in the United States. They also live in Britain where they did, indeed, have an tremendous impact.

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How did Puritans differ from continental European Calvinists?

What do you mean by "Puritans"?

Various forms of conservative Protestantism took root in some major European Countries. Switzerland and the teachings of John Calvin (1509-1564) comes to mind. Germany less conservative via Martin Luther,(1483-1546) perhaps the father of the Protestant reformation.

People here have mentioned the Mennonites. Some groups of people with the same theological base are called "Amish". They are all a versions of Anabaptists, (1527) as far as I can tell.

In "The Protestant Ethic And The Spirit of Capitalism" Max Weber argues that Calvinist predeterminism is the theological/moral base of capitalist

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"Anabaptism (from Neo-Latin anabaptista,[1] from the Greek ἀναβαπτισμός: ἀνά- 're-' and βαπτισμός 'baptism',[1] German: Täufer, earlier also Wiedertäufer)[a] is a Protestant Christian movement which traces its origins to the Radical Reformation.

The early Anabaptists formulated their beliefs in a confession of faith called the Schleitheim Confession. In 1527, Michael Sattler presided over a meeting at Schleitheim (in the Canton of Schaffhausen, on the Swiss-German border), where Anabaptist leaders drew up the Schleitheim Confession of Faith (doc. 29). Sattler was arrested and executed soon afterwards. Anabaptist groups varied widely in their specific beliefs, but the Schleitheim Confession represents foundational Anabaptist beliefs as well as any single document can.[2][3]"


Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity or simply Reformed[1]) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John Calvin and other Reformation-era theologians. It emphasises the sovereignty of God and the authority of the Bible.



Calvinists broke from the Roman Catholic Church in the 16th century. Calvinists differ from Lutherans (another major branch of the Reformation) on the spiritual real presence of Christ in the Lord's Supper, theories of worship, the purpose and meaning of baptism, and the use of God's law for believers, among other points.[2][3] The label Calvinism can be misleading, because the religious tradition it denotes has always been diverse, with a wide range of influences rather than a single founder; however, almost all of them drew heavily from the writings of Augustine of Hippo twelve hundred years prior to the Reformation.[4]

Tulun said:

How did Puritans differ from continental European Calvinists?

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Calvinism took several forms. Puritanism was just one. Which continental form do you mean? Dutch, Swiss,...there's a range.

Girgisjus said:

Why didn't they go to other countries in europe to flee persecution? Or canada?

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Why does anyone do anything? That's a hard question. I suppose that they wanted to make a new start, in a new place--far from England.

Tulun said:

How did Puritans differ from continental European Calvinists?

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They were called Puritans because they wanted to purify the Church of England of Catholic influences. Oxford generally turned out reformed Catholic priests, whereas Cambridge tended to train the clergy more as Protestants.

The settlers in New England were called Puritans, but they were really srparatists, as they created a separate religion. They were called Congregationalists, because the churches were run by the men in the congregations, who would vote on things. The Church of Scotland in Presbyterian, because it is run by the ministers who meet and vote on things. The Church of England is Episcopal, with bishops etc. appointed by the king.

So the church organization is different from the Church of Scotland, which is also Calvinist. In Scotland Calvinism became the established religion, so it could not be as extreme. In general Puritans were probably even more extreme Protestant than Church of Scotland or Dutch Reformed. I haven't heard that they tried to ban Christmas in Scotland. The oldest and probably most prestigious university is called St. Andrews, after the patron saint of Scotland, and it was not renamed after the Reformation.

Girgisjus said:

Why didn't they go to other countries in europe to flee persecution? Or canada?

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They did. Some went to the Netherlands, as some other English did to escape religious persecution. But in the Netherlands, it seemed that they were slowly becoming part of the local culture, and some didn't like that. So they ended up in a British colony where they could do their own thing and be Englishmen. At least, that's what I remember from school.

Puritans were more extreme than Church of Scotland or Dutch Reformed, because they started as an underground movement and did what they wanted to. Similarly, the German Anabaptists (Menonites and Amish), who started in Pennsylvania and some moved to the midwest, were not Calvinist, but extreme underground Protestants. They have services in houses which can be rearranged to be churches, presumably as was done in Germany where it was illegal.

There were Puritan Church of England clergymen in the 16th and 17th centuries. They would generally remove all the decoration and cut out portions of the liturgy and give long sermons instead. They were mostly kicked out with the Reformation and mostly became non Conformist clergy, who did services in private homes etc., as did Roman Catholic clergy.

Then there were high church clergy who would do a really Catholic service and sometimes use the pre-Reformation Latin mass. They can still do services like that, in English, but more like pre-Reformation than current Catholic, but there is a limit to how Protestant is acceptable.

Girgisjus said:

Why didn't they go to other countries in europe to flee persecution? Or canada?

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Canada was French and had a strict prohibition against letting protestants settle there.

betgo said:

They were called Puritans because they wanted to purify the Church of England of Catholic influences. Oxford generally turned out reformed Catholic priests, whereas Cambridge tended to train the clergy more as Protestants.

The settlers in New England were called Puritans, but they were really srparatists, as they created a separate religion. They were called Congregationalists, because the churches were run by the men in the congregations, who would vote on things. The Church of Scotland in Presbyterian, because it is run by the ministers who meet and vote on things. The Church of England is Episcopal, with bishops etc. appointed by the king.

So the church organization is different from the Church of Scotland, which is also Calvinist. In Scotland Calvinism became the established religion, so it could not be as extreme. In general Puritans were probably even more extreme Protestant than Church of Scotland or Dutch Reformed. I haven't heard that they tried to ban Christmas in Scotland. The oldest and probably most prestigious university is called St. Andrews, after the patron saint of Scotland, and it was not renamed after the Reformation.

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The Separatists were the Pilgrims, not the Puritans and the two didn't merge into the same colony until they were forced by England in 1689.

When I lived in Scotland I met old people who could remember when Christmas was just another working day.

Tercios Espanoles said:

Canada was French and had a strict prohibition against letting protestants settle there.

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That may have been true in the Province of Quebec but not in the rest of colonial Canada (with the exception of the Acadians). Protestant settlers passed freely between the colonies of what became Canada and what became the United States. In New Brunswick, the English and French governments contested until the French withdrawal in 1710--but biiligual (and bi-religious) settlements sprang up along the St. John River. During the colonial period, Nova Scotia became home to French Protestants and to New Englanders who fled the colonial wars. Because I research Maine genealogy, I know that Maine families claim to be among the early settlers of Canadian cities such as St. Stephens.

Historically, the Canadians had a far more tolerant past than we do in the US.

duncanness said:

That may have been true in the Province of Quebec but not in the rest of colonial Canada (with the exception of the Acadians). Protestant settlers passed freely between the colonies of what became Canada and what became the United States. In New Brunswick, the English and French governments contested until the French withdrawal in 1710--but biiligual (and bi-religious) settlements sprang up along the St. John River. During the colonial period, Nova Scotia became home to French Protestants and to New Englanders who fled the colonial wars. Because I research Maine genealogy, I know that Maine families claim to be among the early settlers of Canadian cities such as St. Stephens.

Historically, the Canadians had a far more tolerant past than we do in the US.

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I thought we were talking about the mid 17th century.

At the time the Puritans went to Massachusetts in 1620, Canada was totally French Catholic and native American. There had been a French Protestant settlement in Florida which was wiped out by the Spanish. Puritans were not welcome in Virginia.

betgo said:

At the time the Puritans went to Massachusetts in 1620, Canada was totally French Catholic and native American. There had been a French Protestant settlement in Florida which was wiped out by the Spanish. Puritans were not welcome in Virginia.

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By the middle of the 16th Century both the French and the British had claims to Canada. Huguenots (French Protestants) settled in Newfoundland, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. From 1541-2 they tried to colonize Canada.

Tercios Espanoles said:

I thought we were talking about the mid 17th century.

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Please see #16 below.

Because as New World colonists they formed a large and concentrated share of the founding population of the United States, whereas anywhere else they were simply a sect living alongside a massive and established population with its own history of government and cultural institutions. And although they'd be eclipsed by later settlers, their impact on political development and philosophy was early enough to be established into the fabric of American state building. Their presence around the oldest universities and printing presses also helped as well.