Salem, Puritans, the actual House of the Seven Gables and Nathaniel Hawthorne

Nathaniel Hawthorn was born in Salem, Massachusetts. Coincidentally, Salem is also the setting of "The House of the Seven Gables"  Actually, quite a few of his stories take place in Salem, Massachusetts, such as "The Scarlet Letter" and "Young Goodman Brown".
Puritans were a strict peoples. For example, they expected their children to act as young adults. They were not allowed to show any emotions or be severely punished. Toys and games were strictly prohibited and their days were filled with tireless work. They saw these materialistic things as sinful distractions. At a young age, the boys started to work under masters as apprentices to later carry on the trade. They learned skills such as carpentry, hunting, fishing, and other crafts. While on the other hand, the girls were expected to stay home with their mother and help tend to the house by cooking, cleaning, sewing, et-cetera. 
The Puritans affected our lives today in many way. One for example is that it made sure that there was morality in our government. They made religion an important part of our society. They introduced the concept and trade economy. So even though the Puritans are probably not the people you probably wanted to live with, they still greatly impacted our society in many ways.