"The founders of a new colony, whatever Utopia of human virtue and happiness they might originally project, have invariably recognized it among their earliest practical necessities to allot a portion of the virgin soil as a cemetery and another portion as the site of a prison." (Ch. 1)
Restate this passage in your own words. What comment does this passage make about human nature?
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Even though the founders of this colony wants it to be a Utopia of human virtue and happiness, they build a prison and a cemetery as one of the first things built in this town.
ReplyDeleteIt states that no matter what, people die, and people do wrong. There is no way that a town can be considered a Utopia of perfect happiness.
Well said, Lucy. "Perfection" is even harder to reach when a community has the kind of standards that these people had. So, I think, considering the kind of perfection they were striving for and what is reality, they were even more aware of the necessity of the two sites. One to hide and punish the inevitable mistakes; Another to put their bodies to rest, because, obviously, death was a huge part of their religion. Not their end, but their beginning.
ReplyDeleteJacob Nicholson, 3rd Hr
think that its kinda funny and ironic that the first things the puritans built in this town is a prison and a cemetary. This contradicts the statement that the town is supposed to serve as a place of virtue and happiness. If this were true, shouldnt they have built a church first?
ReplyDeleteI think this shows that at times human nature can focus more on the negative than the positive; even in such a strict society that the puritans lived in.
Anna Mason, 3rd hour
To me this passage says that the founders of the colony were trying to live in perfect happiness,or at least they they wanted people to think that about them but, for some reason or another they felt it was necessary to build a prison and cemetery as one of the first establishments in their new town.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion i think it says that there is no way the early settlers could have lived a perfect life if the first thing they felt like building in their new town was a cemetery and prison.
Bethany Gander- 6th hour
Just like Anna said, would'nt you think that they would build hospitals, schools or churchs before a prison? It's as if negative things in life stick out more than positive things. So in order to make the town seem "perfect" they needed a way to hide all the negatives, which is why they had to build the cemetary and prison first. Life in general can never be perfect, know matter how much you want it.
ReplyDeleteKris Callahan, 1st hour
The founders want their colony to be an Utopia with virtues and happiness,but they realized that wasn't going to be what happened.So they decided to build a cemetery because they couldn't kept people from dying and they build a prison because they couldn't kept people from sinning.
ReplyDeleteI believe this says that human nature is that people want to believe that everything and everyone will act how they want them to, but that not how it works.People make mistakes and do things their own way, but these people in this colony didn't like this, so they bulid a prison and a cemetery first to get rid of the people who mess with their idea of what their society should be.
Jessica Yoesle 6th hour
The founders of a colony, no matter how perfect they want it to be, no matter how much happiness they want it to contain, they have no choice but to add practical facilities such as a prison and a cemetery.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, this quote reveals that no matter how perfect anyone tries to make something up to be, there will always be something wrong, or not quite right. It is human nature to make mistakes, and occasionally do the wrong thing. Nothing in this world can be perfect, and sometimes imperfections are necessary.
Even though the Purtians want happiness and to live a perfect little happy life, it is not going to happen. Building a prison and a cemetery first just shows that everything is going to go down the wrong path.
ReplyDeleteYou can try to be perfect but life doesn't allow it. But you can always try to make the bad go away, but good luck.
The founders of this new colony expect to correct all the mistakes of their past governments. However, they realize that no place will ever be perfect so they must build a prison. Also, they realize that death is unavoidable so they must build a cemetary.
ReplyDeleteThis reveals about human nature that we will never truly be able to trust everyone to make the right decisions. The fear of criminal acts will always force us to primarily think about our safety and well-being.
T.J. Draper 3rd hour
The founders of the new colony realize that although they want to show newcomers that this is going to be a happy wonderful town not everyone will live by the same rules and in general bad things will happen. For the rule breakers a prison is built and for the dead a cemetary.
ReplyDeleteThis passage shows that people know there is no such thing as a perfect town. It also shows the very low expectations that we expect from our fellow people. People will always break the rules and bad things will always happen. To prepare for those a cemetary and a prison are made.
The founders of the colony where hoping to build a happy-clappy perfect little town. but they obviously knew that people where going to die so instead of burying dead people in there back yard they set aside a nice little plot of land so they could have a cementary so they could respect those that had pass. they also knew that no matter how perfect they tried to be that people would still sin and brake their rules, so they built a prison.
ReplyDeleteThe passage tells that no matter how right and good a group of people can attempt to be there will always be wrong-doings and sinners. The founders know this and knew that they had to have a way to discipline these people.
Marcia Kreifels 6th hour
I think that everyone who has commented on this passage believes in the same thing, that there is no "perfect" life, and that this passage is stating that even though the utopians believe in living a perfect life, they know that life is full of wrongness and people will do wrong and people will inevitably die.
ReplyDeletekelsey hardee 6th hour
Like the people before have stated, i believe that this passage talks about the fact nothing is perfect. We try to learn from our mistakes, but we still know that "evil" does, and always will exist in our society. Obviously, death is imminent so a cemetery is necessary. About human nature, this shows many things. Humans know their own frailty and faultiness, while at the same time we try to hide it as we strive for perfection.
ReplyDeleteAmanda Bursztynsky 1st hour
Yea what they said
ReplyDeleteThe founder's of this colony were hoping for a utopia, but because of previous governments and past mistakes, they knew that evil was inevitable, as was death. A utopia cannot be created with either, so by establishing a prison and cemetary firstwas like reversing the acts by giving both a set place in the colony.
ReplyDeleteAs for human nature, the passage points out the evidence of sin in the world, and in ourselves, and because of that perfection cannot be achieved.
Angela Wilcox
Third Hour
Everyone seems to be agreeing with eachother.
ReplyDeleteThe founders of the colony were hoping for the best, yet still expected the worst. The first thing that they had built on the colony's soil had been a prison and a cemetery.
This passage shows that even when starting off on a new and better start, no one can avoid the troubles that they have seen happen in the past.
They knew that they could not create a utopia, although they wish they could, they knew it wouldn't be possible, so they created a prison..
ReplyDeleteIt is human nature for certain people to sin, and because the founders knew this they made a prison.
Richie Keith (3rd hour)
I agree about agreeing with people.
ReplyDeleteEspecially that guy who says I sit behind him.
I agree with that.
Also, they expected it to be perfect happy fun land and ended up with a bunch of dead people and criminals because of the harshness of surviving in a new environment.
They wanted a utopia, but nobody is perfect and many sins have already been made. With this in mind, a prison seems neccessary, and besides that, no matter what, people die which is why a cemetary was needed.
ReplyDeleteLike other people have already said though, it does point out that human nature looks more at the negative things than the positive. It has been that way for years, and I don't believe that's going to change.
Brittany Hougas, 6th hr.
The founders of the colony were hoping to build a utopia of happiness and human virtue. But they knew that death was unavoidable so they built a cemetery. They also knew that the chances of every person in the colony never committing a crime was slim so thus a prison was built.
ReplyDeleteI think that this passage shows that human nature is not always what its cracked up to be. People try to focus on the good and overlook the bad. If the first things built in the community were a cemetery and a prison I believe this means that the founders of the colony did not have a very happy outlook on life and focused more on the bad than the good.
The people who have first moved here, though in search of a place of complete happiness, have found it necessary to use part of the unused, new soil to build a prison and a cemetary, places of punishment, sorrow, and sins.
ReplyDeleteI agree with danieleenglish3. I think that yes, they wanted a new fresh start to try to live a life without sin. But, the newcomers also realized that sins are unavoidable and they need somewhere to provide for these destinies.
Megan Hambleton - 3rd Hour
ReplyDeleteBasically they are saying that if you wanted a utopian society then why would you build a cementary and a prison as your first buildings in your town. Also, if they are building these buildings first then they are saying that every human is going to commit a crime and evey human is going to die so no society will ever have an utopian society.
ReplyDeleteBreanna Roberts 6th hour
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Daymion above me. People are split up into separate sub-groups based on what they do. Puritans, of course, strove to be the "cemetary" folk, while sinners were pidgeonholed into prison.
ReplyDelete---Kyle Turner---
6th Hour
Well in my eyes I'd have to disagree with bits of everyone and agree with parts. I did'nt read all of them so I dont know if someone has the same thing as me.
ReplyDeleteThe people started the city, and realized sin was evident from past experiences. So they created this shameful discipline method. They split up the people into sinners(prison), and non-sinners or all out puritians(cementries).
sinners- such as hestor
non-sinners- such as reverend, chillingworth
...Daymion Haggard...
3rd hour
So, reading it, thinking about a perfect place where nobody sins or does wrong, in my viewpoint, only exists in Heaven itself
ReplyDeletebut, what they are saying, is that they basically know that everyone is going to sin, so they are preparing for it because it's already in their lives, and people's past mistakes will only repeat in new generations.
At this point in time, people came to understand that it is human nature to sin. They wanted to make a point by punishing people as a way to warn others to no make the same mistakes. The prison symbolizes sin and darkness. The cemetery is the past community. It was important to build one right away because they were Christians and needed a place to bury the dead.
ReplyDeleteAustin Martinovich-> 3rd hour
hmmm interesting. i think it means that they wanted to be perfect but kind of got side tracted. Once they got there and seen what was going on, they figured that building the cemetary and the prison would be best. Also to these makings, i think they figured that nobody is ever perfect and people do sin, so these buildings are necessary.
ReplyDeleteI believe that the founders of the colony were wanting to have a utopian society and wanted to believe that nothing could go wrong. But in human nature people are going to commit crimes and are going to die no matter what, therefore they still had to build a cemetary and a prison.
ReplyDeletetaylor damyen-6th hour
Hmm. I believe that this passage itself is trying to say is that, while the idea of perfection and an Utopian colony was in the founders train of thought they realized that it was impossible because no one human is perfect. As a result of this jumping into their heads the founding fathers of this colony created the prison which was for sinners such as Hestor Prynne (adultry) and the cementary which was for the puritians such as Reverend, Chillingworth
ReplyDeleteI think that there will always be death and criminals no matter how perfect the colony wants to be. They had to build a cemetary and prison no matter what and putting off the construction of the buildings wouldn't help at all.
ReplyDeletePeople will die and will be criminals, there is no "perfection" in anyone or any town.
This new world is suppose to be "perfect". When i think Utopia i think perfection. But there is no absolute perfection on earth beacause people still make mistakes and still die.
ReplyDeleteIt shows that on earth all people are mortal and at sometime someone will need to be punished for their wrong doings
The new world is 'suppose' to be perfect, but it's not. There are people who are still doing wrong and committing sins that won't be forgiven. I don't believe that perfection is in anyone, therefore the new world has a lot of work to accomplish.
ReplyDeleteThis new place that they are arriving at is in ", a perfect land, but when they arrive here they are surprised that it isn't what they expected at all. This comment proves to us that people are always assuming about things before they actually see or do it for themselves. I personally think this wrong because I never "judge a book by it's cover" or so to say.
ReplyDeleteBilly Keene 3rd Hour
ReplyDeleteAll it really means is that human corruption and all negative aspects of human nature will arise no matter the circumstances. No matter how perfect the Puritans set out to make the colony, they realized that it would not be, and proper measures needed to be taken to account for the seedier aspects of humanity.
ReplyDelete-Christian Blunk 3rd Hour
Um...
ReplyDeleteIt is saying that no matter how many people try to make a fresh, new start there are going to people who are going to do bad things and people are going to die. They are saying that sin and death are inevitable (did i spell that wrong -.-'), and they want to be prepared for when that does happen.
o(^-^o)Kourtney Vara 3rd Hour(o^-^)o
The founders of this colony, no matter what their original intent was, quickly realized that it was necessary to build a prison, and allot land for the burial of the dead.
ReplyDeletei think that this passage says something about how rational the Puritans could be. True, their views of the world were pretty(okay, very) far off, but they were practical and predicted-knew- that people were going to be 'sinful', and that people were going to die-these are the two things that they were able to be certain about.
when the puritans settled this colony their intent was to make it perfect. however their first idea in this new colony are to make a prison and a graveyard. doesn't sound like a perfect place to me.
ReplyDeletei think this shows that there is no way around death or sin it will inevitably happen so their idea of a perfect world is, in lack of a better word, impossible
The first people of this controlled colony, built a prison and a cemetary as one of the first things.
ReplyDeletePeople do wrong, they need to be punished. People will always die. Most cultures don't cremate their dead. You need a cemetary.
Rachel Timmer 6th
ReplyDeleteThe Puritans wanted to lead as close to a perfect life as possible, however they knew that they would have people who would test their limits and would need to be punished for doing so.
ReplyDeleteThe colony may have had the vision of their own Utopia, however they did understand that just because their religion tells you what is right and wrong doesn't mean that everyone will abide by that. Having the prison is a reminder that people will be punished and the cemetery is a reminder to live their life while they can.
Lexi Poulakos - 6th hour
I agree with most everyone, that there is no "perfect life" no matter how much the Puritans wanted to believe it. There are always going to be sinners, and this is why the built a prison & cemetary first.
ReplyDeleteCarly Diss 3rd hour
The passage is saying that the first people in Utopia had strong beliefs of doing the right thing and being happy. However, they also knew that not everyone is perfect and have experienced people to be like this. They knew that having a cemetery and prison was something that would unfortunately be needed.
ReplyDeleteThe Puritans wanted to live life in a pure format so they wanted a perfect world. They also knew that not everyone would abide by there rules and standards because people will sin and people will die. THis is why they built the cemetary and the prison because there was still no way around it.
ReplyDeletethey wanted a place a new place where they could practice religion as they pleased and get everything that England did not offer them. like John Winthrop said he wanted "a city upon a hill" they wanted a place where they could be accepted and be happy, but reality hit them and they realized in order to function properly they must correct people who ao wrong and bury those who are dead. they realized that just because this is a new promising place does not mean the people residing in it are not still corrupt.
ReplyDeletemichelle cameron-1
In a new colony there will almost undoubtedly, be death crime and needs of a place for punishment. Even when a society is thought of being perfect there is always one little scratch on the record so to speak.
ReplyDeleteAlso, this is Nick Green 6th hour
ReplyDeleteThe founders of this town had wished for a "Utopia," but in reality there is no such thing. They knew that people would commit misdeeds and sins so they put a jail. They knew that people have to die, so the added a cemetery.
ReplyDeleteDayne Davis--6th Hour
Even though the new colony wants to be protrayed as happy one, the first two tings that they build are a cementary and a prison. No matter what happens in life, humans will do wrong. Therefore, they will be punished for their actions, depending of the seriousness of the crime.
ReplyDeleteAli Stevenson - 1st hour
I think this passage really shows how pessimistic the Puritans were about human nature. They built the prison first because they just assume that people will mess up and need to be punished.
ReplyDeleteObviously the people that found the town didn't believe in Utopia that much. I don't think they would see it necessary to set aside land for a cemetery and prison first thing. Usually people that believe in Utopia's are happy, peaceful people.
ReplyDeleteCarlee Lieser
6th hr.
Puritanism is itself an impossible task. Created out of the imaginations of men. Keeping outright order in a society of small towns and villages is impossible. The utopia they hoped to create was a mere shadow that you can never hope to catch. Realizing that their dream cannot be completely found, they established a jail and cemetary for they have no control over peoples natural misdoings or death.
ReplyDeleteThe passage says that even though the Puritans way of life says that none of them should sin or commit crime, and that there is a life after death, the first thing they thought to build in their new colony was a cemetary and a prison.
ReplyDeleteThis shows that human nature will always keep in mind the worst of people, and even though we would like to think that we are all perfect, we still feel the need to have punishments ready.
Elaina Bruck 6th Hour
I think that when the first people settled on the land and started up the community there that they were pretty stupid in creating a cemetary and a prison first. This only contributed to the beliefs of the puritans in a negative way and definately did not live up to the espectations of a town of happiness and virtue.
ReplyDelete^ Corey Skolek, 3rd hour
ReplyDeleteThis states that founders of new colonies want it to be a place of human virtue and happiness, yet they felt the necessity to build a cemetary and prison.
ReplyDeleteThe comment that this passage makes about human nature is that no matter how hard we try, humans will never be perfect, and that we are all mortal. The prison is necessary to those who will do wrong, and the cemetary is necessary because everyone is destined to eventually die.
Rae Sakakibara, 6th hour
The colonists had a vision of this new land being a utopia, full of happiness and human virtue. However, some of the first necessities of this new society include a prison and a cemetery, because sin and death, is inevitable.
ReplyDeleteNo matter what kind of good intensions the colonists had, it's just in our human nature to sin, and no person is pure and perfect.
Hanna Sakakibara 3rd hour
ReplyDeleteThe makers of the colony wanted a perfect place to live but they knew that perfection wasn’t possible. So the first thing they put in the colony was a prison and a cemetery, a place for the sinner’s and the ones that die.
ReplyDeleteElizabeth Berryman
6th Hour