The Puritans wanted to do what?

Answer 1

Puritans were Protestants in Britain and Europe from the mid-1500s. They mainly wanted to reform the Church of England in a similar way to what Calvin had done in Geneva.

After Henry VIII took the English Church away from Rome, Cranmer, his Archbishop of Canterbury, revised the worship practices of the Church of England to make them less Catholic and more Calvinist. Under Henry's son Edward VI the C of E worship became even less Catholic than it had been. Then Edward died and his half-sister Mary, who was a Catholic, became queen. Under Mary, the reforms were reversed. Then after Mary died, her half sister Elizabeth became queen, and the reforms were put back in place.

Some people, who came to be known as Puritans, wanted the process of reform to go much further, towards a complete abandonment of the kinds of ceremonies that had been associated with the Catholic Church. They also desired the elimination of any trappings that might be deemed idolatrous or "Popish", including clerical robes, paintings and roods (Crucifixion scenes incorporating statues).

Puritanism had initially developed on the Continent, among those who had fled the persecutions of Mary I of England; their position was wholly Reformed. Puritan thought also focused on the matter of Church organisation and structure. Few Puritans were enthusiastic for a Church that was organised on a hierarchy of bishops, especially if they were all subservient to the monarch. The first stirrings of English Congregationalism and Presbyterianism took place under Elizabeth.

Many Puritans left England to travel to the American Colonies during the early 1600s, hoping to find places where there was more religious tolerance than in England.

After Charles I had been executed for treason, England and Wales was declared a Commonwealth (or as we might say today, a republic) with Oliver Cromwell the leading power. He was a Puritan, and under his leadership many strict laws were passed, which restricted partying and the like.

Some people use the word Puritans to refer to Congregationalists and Presbyterians during this period. Most continued to operate within the Church of England until 1662, when Charles II required everyone to agree to use the 1662 Book of Common Prayer. About 2000 ministers in the Church of England refused to do so, and were ejected from the Church of England on 24 September 1662. Almost all would have been called Puritans, but as they began to organise themselves independently, they became known by the Congregationalist and Presbyterian labels instead.

Answer 2

The Puritans wanted to practice their religion freely without governmental influence.