Puritanism and the Environment

• From the founding of the Plymouth and Massachusetts Bay colonies of New England in the early 1600s, Puritanism focused on issues of salvation and predestination. As seen in the sermons of Jonathan Edwards and other clergy, natural occurrences such as floods, storms, and insect swarms were all seen as being a direct result of God's retribution for sinful behavior. Righteous behavior was equally rewarded with abundant harvests.