<P> For Puritans, the family was the "locus of spiritual and civic development and protection", and marriage was the foundation of the family and, therefore, society . Unlike in England, where people were married by ministers in church according to the Book of Common Prayer, Puritans saw no biblical justification for church weddings or the exchange of wedding rings . While marriage held great religious significance for Puritans--they saw it as a covenant relationship freely entered into by both man and wife--the wedding was viewed as a private, contractual event officiated by a civil magistrate either in the home of the magistrate or a member of the bridal party . Massachusetts ministers were not legally permitted to solemnize marriages until 1686, after the colony had been placed under royal control, but by 1726 it had become the accepted tradition . </P> <P> According to scholars Gerald Moran and Maris Vinovskis, some historians argue that Puritan child - rearing was repressive . Central to this argument are the views of John Robinson, the Pilgrims' first pastor, who wrote in a 1625 treatise "Of Children and Their Education", "And surely there is in all children, though not alike, a stubborness, and stoutness of mind arising from natural pride, which must, in the first place, be broken and beaten down ." Moran and Vinovskis, however, argue that Robinson's views were not representative of 17th - century Puritans . They write that Puritan parents "exercised an authoritative, not an authoritarian, mode of child rearing" that aimed to cultivate godly affections and reason, with corporal punishment used as a last resort . </P> <P> According to historian Bruce C. Daniels, the Puritans were "(o) ne of the most literate groups in the early modern world", with about 60 percent of New England able to read . At a time when the literacy rate in England was less than 30 percent, the Puritan leaders of colonial New England believed children should be educated for both religious and civil reasons, and they worked to achieve universal literacy . In 1642, Massachusetts required heads of households to teach their wives, children and servants basic reading and writing so that they could read the Bible and understand colonial laws . In 1647, the government required all towns with 50 or more households to hire a teacher and towns of 100 or more households to hire a grammar school instructor to prepare promising boys for college . Boys interested in the ministry were often sent to colleges such as Harvard (founded in 1636) or Yale (founded in 1707). </P> <P> The Puritans anticipated the educational theories of John Locke and other Enlightenment thinkers . Like Locke's blank slate, Puritans believed that a child's mind was "an empty receptacle, one that had to be infused with the knowledge gained from careful instruction and education ." </P>

Who was hired to protect the puritans from their enemies