ABSTRACT：Puritans, Protestants of the "Calvinism", who were persecuted by Catholics in England, longed but failed to purify their national church. They fled to America and strived for a better life and prosperity there. The Puritans believed that the Bible was God's true law, and that it was an index to church, family lives, politics and economy，etc.. Thus the goodness and power of God have a free, unlimited range of activities and God is at work in all existing realms, including the spiritual, physical, and intellectual realms which are related with the secular or the sacred, the public or the private. At the same time, the Puritans advocated hard work, pioneering spirit, enterprises and progressiveness, and they even gave heir lives for their religious belief, which are called one of the Americans’ spirits, and all of which have been valued by generations of Americans, and have provided the impetus for the founding, advance and development of the United States. 

　　　Puritanism has had so far-reaching influence on Americans. They believe that humans are made equal and success is accessible through diligence, although hard work does not always guarantee such an outcome. Competitions are omnipresent in America. The Americans are neither afraid of adversity nor setbacks, and therefore they appreciate and value openness, flexibility, pluralism and practicability. They believe that pioneer, adventure, enterprises, progressiveness, and competition decide everything. Now American society is like a pyramid of no ends, which inspires people’s enthusiasm for climbing the social ladder.

　　　In this thesis, the author will try to reason the relations between the Puritans and American enterprising spirit so that readers can better understand the American society. The author also wants to employ such a topic to inspire the Chinese.

Keywords:  Puritan；Puritanism；Calvinism；pioneering spirit；progressiveness

摘要：清教徒，即信奉“加尔文教义” 的新教徒，因渴望净化英国国教而遭受失败被天主教徒迫害。他们逃亡到美国并且为新生活和美国的繁荣奋斗。清教徒相信圣经是上帝真正的法典，圣经对有关教堂，家庭，政治和经济等等提供了一项指标。因此，上帝的善旨和力量是无垠的，上帝无处不在地操纵世上现存的领域的种种活动，不管是世俗的还是信教的，不管是公众的还是私人的。同时，清教徒崇尚艰苦劳作，开拓进取，为宗教信仰不惜牺牲自己。这种精神一直是美国人所尊崇的价值观之一，它对美国的形成、进步和发展起了极大的推动作用。

　　　清教徒宗教思想对美国人的影响是深远的。美国人相信人人天生平等，成功是可以通过勤奋而得到的，尽管辛勤并不可以保证人人都成功。竞争在美国随处可见，他们既不惧怕逆境也不惧怕挫折，他们欣赏并且重视开放和灵活，多元化和实用性。他们自信一切的一切都要通过开拓、进取和竞争来实现。所以美国社会就像一个没有顶端的金字塔激励着美国人民沿着社会的阶梯往上爬。

　　　在此，作者将尝试推论清教徒和美国进取精神的关系及其对美国社会的影响，希望读者能从中对美国有更深层的认识。作者还想用该主题来激励国人。

关键词：清教徒； 清教徒精神；加尔文主义；开拓精神；进取精神