What were the Puritans' beliefs?

The Puritans were strong Calvinists, who believed in
Calvin's doctrine of predestination; that is all people were born into a state of sin,
but God had predestined certain individuals to be saved. One was made aware that he was
a recipient of God's grace by divine revelation. A little known belief of the Puritans
was "infant damnation;" that is if a child died in infancy and therefore still in
original sin, the child was damned to hell. They believed that people were "called" to
their work, and that the Anglican Church, as founded by Henry VIII was tainted with
"popery," and needed to be purified, hence the name Puritan. The term was actually a
pejorative one, they called themselves "the Godly." They were not drab and colorless as
they are often portrayed; rather they did wear colorful clothes if they could afford
them, enjoyed secular music in moderation, and frequently drank beer and other alcoholic
beverages. Increase Mather, the father of Cotton Mather, once
commented:

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Drink is in and of itself a good creature of God,
and to be received with thankfulness; but the abuse of drink is from Satan, the wine is
from God, but the Drunkard is from the
devil."

Those who became
drunk habitually were made to wear a large "D" on their outer garments as a token of
public rebuke.

They did not consider sex within marriage a
sin; rather a woman had a duty to satisfy her husbands needs, and could be expelled from
the church if she did not do so. Women and children were subject to the will of the
husband/father as head of the household, in fact there was no prohibition against a man
beating his wife so long as he used a stick no larger in circumference than his thumb;
hence the "rule of thumb." Of course sex outside marriage was a sin, and considered
adultery, for which one could be forced to wear the famous "scarlet
letter."

The primary element of Puritan belief was modesty
in all things except piety, toward which one should work diligently and zealously. The
will of God was more important than the will of the people, therefore democracy was not
a primary concern. Rev. John Cotton commented in a letter to Lord
Seyle:

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Democracy I do not conceive that ever God did
ordain as a fit government either for church or commonwealth. If the people be
governors, who shall be governed? As for monarchy, and aristocracy, they are both of
them clearly approved, and directed in scripture, yet so as referred the sovereignty to
himself, and setteth up Theocracy in both, as the best form of government in the
commonwealth, as well as in the
church.

The harsh belief in
predestination caused many people to worry if they were members of the "elect," which
when combined with long winter nights, led to a quarrelsome and irritable people who
frequently resorted to lawsuits. New England became the most litigious area in the
colonies.