The Thrilling Life of the New England Puritans

I don't know if it's because I had class until 5 today, or if it's because I'm easily distracted but I just could not absorb what Cullen is saying. He claimed that Puritans were not what we thought they were, but just proceeded to describe a group of people I was already fairly familiar with. They never struck me as extremists, just citizens of England fed up with a state that was becoming increasingly corrupt. They were the first of the ideal American citizen in that they gave up comfort striving for values they believed were important. Despite my misgivings Cullen's literature made me realize how fundamental the Puritans were as a building block for American society. Their Mayflower compact set a democratic tone for the rest of American society. As Cullen said, "... it is precisely the willingness to do something difficult, painfully, unintentionally mischievous or finally impossible that gives purpose to individual lives...". Perhaps in my laziness I failed to recognize how hard core the Puritans were, and how much of what we have now is thanks to them.