During the birth of this country, Puritans had to hard to ensure
the success of the new state. In order to make more appealing, the
Puritans emphasized the fruits of labor. This attitude, reflected in modern day
by the act of "ing for a living," is considered as a "badge of pride."
Puritan attitudes toward work and the attitudes of two modern day writers toward
work all agree that the act of working has virtuous effects, an attitude that I
share because of my working experience (Clee and Clee 233-234).
Three different attitudes toward work, expressed by several writers whom
I have recently studied agree that hard work yields positive rewards. Henry F.
Bedford, a history teacher at Phillips Exeter Academy, and Trevor Colbourne, a
teacher at the University of New Hampshire, examine the Puritan attitude toward
work in their book The Americans: A Brief History. Puritans stress the goodness
of working by relating it to religious beliefs. Sloth is sinful, but the
Puritans also pointed out that it ...