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A vast and untamed wilderness surrounded the first Puritans who landed in New England. Civilization was unknown in this land of dense forests and deadly natives. Yet, miraculously, these same Puritans were able to carve out of this wilderness an oasis for cultured learning, the poetic arts, and theological training. The Puritans were a group of English colonist who settled in America in 1558. They left England because of freedom of religion. The Puritans wanted to pray to their own church. They built their houses in dense forests. Some of the houses were big, most were small. Based on this desire Harvard University was founded - just one example of many Puritan cultural achievements. One of the beliefs of the Puritans was the devil, whom they feared. Witches and the devil's servants were always battling the Puritans. Anyone who didn't believe in the devil would be haunted by him for the rest of their lives. At each home they made clothes, tools, soap and many other everyday goods. Some of the town workers included: black smiths who made things out of metal like horse shoes, white smiths who made things like candles, joiners, who fashioned furniture from wood and cobblers, who crafted wood for tools and later became joiners.