The hope for religious freedom is what lured the original English settlers to the New World. The original settlers sought a utopian society, "a New Jerusalem, on the barren coast of New England" (McMichael 4). John Wintrop (1588-1649) explicitly reflects these sentiments and culture of the early settlers (Puritans) in The Journal of John Wintrop. However, William Byrd II (1674-1744) in The Secret Diary Of William Byrd Of Westover, expresses the rapid change in the American sentiment and culture a few generations after the original settlers. The latter generation swayed from the religious and community based society, and turned to a more commercial and secular lifestyle. One can agree that the prosperous economy and the rise of new religious sects contributed to this cultural revolution.
             In Wintrop's Journal one can observe in his style of writing, the Puritan obsession for perfection. Wintrop's uses very detailed language as if he does not want to leave any details in his writings unaccounted. Wintrop's Journal is focused on the public occurrences in the Puritan society rather than his personal experiences. This reflects the Puritan ideology of self-denial and the "community as members of the same body" ( Wintrop 1of2). John Wintrop also allows religious matters to be the focus in his writings, this demonstrates the importance of religion and the "commit[ment] to the building of a Christian society in the New World" (McMichael 68).
             As the New World began to increase in population, new religious doctrines, and prosperous businesses made its way into the colonial settlements. William Byrd who was of this generation, expresses in his Diary the sentiments of the day. If one observes the sentiments of Byrd through the lens of his vague and selfish writing style one can see a "mind free of the strained Calvinism of his New England contemporaries" (McMichael 171). Byrd&ap...