A. Colonial and Revolutionary America 2. the Founding and Early

A. Colonial and Revolutionary America

2. The Founding and Early Years of England’s Northern Colonies to 1700

i. Purpose : In contrast to the formation of the Southern settlements, students will be exposed to the religious beginnings of the New England colonies. To ensure better understanding, the Reformation in England will be outlined, as well as Protestantism in general, and Calvinism in particular. Students will learn how Puritan society functioned and how its adherents reacted when they perceived it under threat, both from “heretical” fellow settlers and from “savage” Indians.

ii. Background Websites :

1. http://www.aoc.gov/cc/art/nsh/winthrop.htm 2. http://pilgrims.net/plymouth/history/

iii. Key Terms :

1. The English Reformation 2. The Massachusetts Bay Company 3. The Pequot War 4. The Salem Witch Trials 5. King Philip’s War

iv. Key Concepts :

1. In which ways did the “character” of the northern colonies differ from those to the south?

2. What does the phrase “City on a Hill” mean? Where did it come from? Who said it? What did it mean? What were its implications for the European settlers in New England?

3. Were the Puritans a model of Christian charity in the “New” World?

v. Documents:

1. Thomas Morton, Description of the Indians in New England: http://www.swarthmore.edu/SocSci/bdorsey1/41docs/08-mor.html 2. The Examination of Mrs. Anne Hutchinson at the Court at Newton: http://personal.pitnet.net/primarysources/hutchinson.html 3. Edward Randolph's Description of King Philip's War (1676): http://www.swarthmore.edu/SocSci/bdorsey1/41docs/45-ran.html

I. Martin Luther, John Calvin, and the Protestant Revolution

God preordained, for his Reason is the greatest own glory and the enemy that faith has; it display of His attributes never comes to the aid of of mercy and justice, a spiritual things, but - part of the human race, more frequently than not without any merit of their - struggles against the own, to eternal salvation, divine Word, treating and another part, in just with contempt all that punishment of their sin, emanates from God. to eternal damnation.

Martin Luther (1483-1546) John Calvin (1509-1594)

i. Luther

The origins of Puritanism trace back to the English Reformation in the 16 th century In 1500, the church in England, like all the other churches in Western Europe, owed allegiance to the Pope in Rome. It was a unified, universal church…however, things were about to change! Martin Luther broke away from the Catholic Church in protest at certain doctrines in approximately 1520. He believed in the maxims, sola fide , sola scriptura , and the priesthood of all believers. His ideas found quite a following throughout Europe, and by the turn of the 17 th century a number of Protestant religious groups were established

ii. Calvin

John Calvin took Luther’s ideas and built on them in terms of his agreeing with Luther's criticisms of the Roman church, and with most of Luther's fundamental religious ideas, such as justification by faith and not by works. (Augustinianism) But unlike Luther whose influence was limited mainly to Germany and Scandinavia, Calvin's doctrines would become much more widespread even to America today.

John Calvin and his brand of Protestantism can be seen to this day. Calvinism had many profound social implications—in particular, that thrift, industry, and hard work are forms of moral virtue and that business success is an evidence of God's grace. These views created a climate favorable to commerce, Calvinism played a role in the establishment of capitalism.

II. Henry VIII’s Split with Rome

After long and fruitless negotiations with all parties involved, Henry VIII became the first monarch to assert himself against the doctrines of the mother church. Although he had at first condemned Luther as a "venemous serpent," he was ready, by 1529, to abandon the church's authority in favor of his right to marry whomever he pleased--in this case, Anne Boleyn, and later, four other wives. Infuriated by the issue of divorce, Henry set out to found his own church, now called the Church of England or the Anglican Church, over which he would be sole executor and which would grant him his divorce in 1533…

Henry VIII (1491-1547)

i. Henry VIII and his Problem

Basically, Henry got his split with Rome by wanting to divorce his (first) wife, Catherine of Aragon, the daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain. Henry also wanted a son, Catharine could not produce! Despite Henry trying his damnedest to get the Pope to agree to the divorce (only the Pope could do that back then), the Pope (who was actually a relative of Catherine’s!) would not do it! Because the Pope wouldn’t give him the divorce Henry said to heck with you then! Parliament recognized Henry’s divorce and so he was free to marry Anne Boleyn, who was already pregnant with Elizabeth.

ii. Henry’s Reformation

During the early years of the Reformation, the English church remained within the Catholic fold. King Henry VIII, the King of England at the start of the Reformation was, at first, such a loyal Catholic that the Pope bestowed on him the title of Defender of the Faith. However, Henry understood that handled the right way, the Reformation was a golden opportunity for him to make some money! A break with the church in Rome would allow Henry to take sole control of the Church in England – which meant that the church taxes that had always gone to Rome would now go into Henry’s pocket; the enormous landholdings of the church would belong to him; the power to appoint priests, bishops, and archbishops in England would be his; and the prestige and majesty of the church would be identified with the English monarchy. In short, Henry VIII realized that a rupture with the Catholic Church could make the church in England serve his purposes Essentially, Henry outlawed the Catholic Church in England in name but the “new church” was still pretty much the same as it had been before – except that Henry was head of it – and that it was now called the Church of England

III. Charles I and his Church of England

As King of England, Charles I became involved in a dispute with Parliament over the extent of his prerogative and the ordering of religion, a dispute that resulted in civil war and, by later resolution, in the development of limited monarchy in England.

King Charles I (1625-1649)

i. The Reformation Unleashed

In the short run, the English Reformation allowed Henry to achieve his political goal of bringing the church under the dominion of the monarchy. In the long run, however, the English Reformation brought to England the political and religious turmoil that Henry had hoped to avoid. For more than a century after 1534, English politics revolved around the question of the extent and character of the E. R. Henry himself sought no more than a halfway Ref. Many English Catholics wanted no Ref. at all; they had hoped to return the C. of E. to the pope and maintain Catholic doctrines and ceremonies. But many other English people insisted on a genuine, thoroughgoing Ref.; these people came to be called Puritans…

ii. Life Under Charles’s Dad: James

During the 16 th century, Puritanism was less an organized movement than a set of ideas and religious principles that appealed strongly to many dissenting members of the C. of E. The puritans sought to purify the church along the lines of the Protestantism that had been developed by Luther, Calvin, and others on the European continent. This meant that they demanded the church hierarchy to be abolished, and that ordinary Xians be given greater control over religious life. They called for a reformed clergy composed of educated moral men dedicated to the spiritual life of their parishioners. Many Puritans also believed that ministers should be appointed by their congregations Also, they emphasized an individual’s personal relationship with God through Bible study, prayer and introspection. They insisted that religious faith should have a powerful influence on the daily lives of individual Xians, disciplining them to think and act according to God’s biblical commandments. Although there many varieties and degrees of Puritanism, all Puritans shared a desire to carry the Ref. to its logical Protestant conclusion By the reign of James I (1603-1625), English Puritans petitioned for further reform of the C. of E., or Anglican Church The King authorized a new translation of the Bible, known ever since as the King James version. However, neither James I nor his son Charles I, who became king in 1625, were receptive to the ideas of the Puritan reformers. Increasingly hostile to both Puritans and Parliament, James and Charles moved the C. of E. away from Puritanism rather than toward it. They enforced conformity to the C. of E. and punished dissenters. The monarchy’s anti-puritan policies made many English Puritans despair that they would be permitted to live and worship in peace. A few Puritans decided to remove themselves from the political and religious repercussions they suffered in England. They sought refuge where they could build a society in harmony with their beliefs.

iii. The Pilgrims and Plymouth Colony

The Puritan emigration to New England resulted from the religious and political turbulence created by the Ref. during the 16 th century. They went there to create a society in which they could worship God away from the turmoil of England and to build a new, orderly society that conformed to God’s plan for humankind. Their faith shaped the colonies they established in New England in virtually every way. Some New Englanders never were Puritans, and their numbers increased during the 17t h century. Nonetheless, Puritanism remained the paramount influence in New England not only in religion but also in politics and community life In August, 1620, one of the earliest groups to emigrate, known as the Pilgrims, obtained permission to settle in the extensive lands granted to the Virginia Company They formed a joint-stock company to finance the journey, in return for agreeing to share all profits with the investors for the first 7 years Following months of delay in Holland and England, in their ship, the Mayflower, the Pilgrims arrived at the outermost tip of Cape Cod, in present day Massachusetts They realized they had landed far to the north of their land grant, and so had no legal authority from the king to settle in the area…but they did – the weather was nasty, and they needed a place to stay. In order to try ensure their prosperity and godliness, the Pilgrims drew up the Mayflower Compact. The signers (all men) agreed to enact and obey necessary and just laws. With this pact, the Pilgrims hoped to provide order and security as well as a claim to legitimacy until the king granted them legal rights. The Pilgrims chose to settle at Plymouth, a small bay area which had been cleared by Native Americans who had been decimated by an epidemic a couple of years previously. It was the Indians who came to the colonists’ rescue the following spring though. With help from the Indians, and hard work and sacrifice by the Pilgrims, the settlement had become permanent by 1630. These people no longer wanted to reform the English church, they just wanted to simply live their own lives as they saw fit.

Document in Text: The Mayflower Compact

"In the name of God, Amen. We, whose names are underwritten, the Loyal Subjects of our dread Sovereign Lord, King James, by the Grace of God, of England, France and Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith, e&.

Having undertaken for the Glory of God, and Advancement of the Christian Faith, and the Honour of our King and Country, a voyage to plant the first colony in the northern parts of Virginia; do by these presents, solemnly and mutually in the Presence of God and one of another, covenant and combine ourselves together into a civil Body Politick, for our better Ordering and Preservation, and Furtherance of the Ends aforesaid; And by Virtue hereof to enact, constitute, and frame, such just and equal Laws, Ordinances, Acts, Constitutions and Offices, from time to time, as shall be thought most meet and convenient for the General good of the Colony; unto which we promise all due submission and obedience.

In Witness whereof we have hereunto subscribed our names at Cape Cod the eleventh of November, in the Reign of our Sovereign Lord, King James of England, France and Ireland, the eighteenth, and of Scotland the fifty-fourth. Anno Domini, 1620."

iv. Charles I

In 1629 Charles I dissolved parliament (in which the Puritans were well represented) and appointed the aggressive anti-Puritan William Laud as bishop of London (and later archbishop of Canterbury), thereby making the prospect of staying in England very unappealing to many Puritans. In 1629, shortly before the dissolution of parliament some Puritan merchants and country gentlemen obtained a royal charter for a land grant in present day Massachusetts. The charter bestowed the right to trade in native commodities (such as furs, fish and timber) as well as including a provision that allowed the government of the company to be located in the colony rather than in England This provision meant Puritan self-governance! To lead the emigrants, the stockholders of the Massachusetts Bay Company elected John Winthrop to serve as governor, and in 1630, he and 700 hundred other like-minded Puritans set out for the American wilderness!

IV. John Winthrop: Life on the Hill

"Liberty is the proper end and object of authority, and cannot subsist without it; and it is liberty to that which is good, just, and honest"

John Winthrop (1578-1649)

i. John Winthrop: Nice Frills

John Winthrop (12 January 1587/8–26 March 1649) was elected governor of Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1629 and on 8 April 1630 he led a large party from England for the New World. He was born in Edwardstone, Suffolk, England, the son of Adam Winthrop (1548–1623) and his wife, Anne Browne. Winthrop briefly attended Trinity College, Cambridge, then studied law at Gray's Inn, and in the 1620s became an attorney at the Court of Wards in London. Winthrop was extremely religious and ascribed fervently to the Puritan belief that the Anglican Church had to be cleansed of Catholic ritual. Winthrop was convinced that God would punish England for its heresy, and believed that English Puritans needed a shelter away from England where they could remain safe during the time of God's wrath.

ii. Winthrop’s People: The Puritans

Because they didn’t want to be associated with the struggling separatist colony at Plymouth, Winthrop and his followers settled at the peninsula that became Boston In probably the most famous sermon of American history Winthrop, while still aboard his ship, preached that the Puritans had entered into a covenant with God and that they must be as a city upon a hill, for all eyes are on us! Many Puritans came to New England, as well as many preachers. In fact, New England could boast the highest ratio of preachers to congregates anywhere in Christendom! It wasn’t indentured servants seeking a better material life who came to New England, but farmers, tradesmen, and preachers who came in search of a better spiritual life Also, immigrants to New England generally came as family units, rather than as individuals like in Virginia

Document in Text: Excerpt from John Winthrop’s “A Model of Christian Charity”

GOD ALMIGHTY in His most holy and wise providence, hath so disposed of the condition of mankind, as in all times some must be rich, some poor, some high and eminent in power and dignity; others mean and in submission….

From hence we may frame these conclusions:

First of all, true Christians are of one body in Christ (1 Cor. 12). Ye are the body of Christ and members of their part. All the parts of this body being thus united are made so contiguous in a special relation as they must needs partake of each other's strength and infirmity; joy and sorrow, weal and woe. If one member suffers, all suffer with it, if one be in honor, all rejoice with it.

Secondly, the ligaments of this body which knit together are love.

Thirdly, no body can be perfect which wants its proper ligament.

Fourthly, All the parts of this body being thus united are made so contiguous in a special relation as they must needs partake of each other’s strength and infirmity, joy and sorrow, weal and woe. (1 Cor. 12:26) If one member suffers, all suffer with it; if one be in honor, all rejoice in it.

Fifth, this sensitivity and sympathy of each other's conditions will necessarily infuse into each part a native desire and endeavor, to strengthen, defend, preserve and comfort the other. To insist a little on this conclusion being the product of all the former, the truth hereof will appear both by precept and pattern. (1 John 3:16) We ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. (Gal. 6:2) Bear ye one another's burden’s and so fulfill the law of Christ….

Thus stands the cause between God and us. We are entered into covenant with Him for this work. We have taken out a commission. The Lord hath given us leave to draw our own articles. We have professed to enterprise these and those accounts, upon these and those ends. We have hereupon besought Him of favor and blessing. Now if the Lord shall please to hear us, and bring us in peace to the place we desire, then hath He ratified this covenant and sealed our commission, and will expect a strict performance of the articles contained in it; but if we shall neglect the observation of these articles which are the ends we have propounded, and, dissembling with our God, shall fall to embrace this present world and prosecute our carnal intentions, seeking great things for ourselves and our posterity, the Lord will surely break out in wrath against us, and be revenged of such a people, and make us know the price of the breach of such a covenant.

Now the only way to avoid this shipwreck, and t o provide for our posterity, is to follow the counsel of Micah, to do justly, to love mercy, to walk humbly with our God. For this end, we must be knit together, in this work, as one man. We must entertain each other in brotherly affection. We must be will abridge ourselves of our superfluities, for the supply of others’ necessities. We must uphold a familiar commerce together in all meekness, gentleness, patience and liberality. We must delight in each other; make others’ conditions our own; rejoice together, mourn together, labor and suffer together, always having before our eyes our commission and community in the work, as members of the same body. So shall we keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace. The Lord will be our God, and delight t o dwell among us, as His own people, and will command a blessing upon us in all our ways, so that we shall see much more of His wisdom, power, goodness and truth, than formerly we have been acquainted with. We shall find that the God of Israel is among us, when ten of us shall be able to resist a thousand of our enemies; when He shall make us a praise and glory that men shall say of succeeding plantations, "may the Lord make it like that of New England." For we must consider that we shall be as a city upon a hill. The eyes of all people are upon us. So that if we shall deal falsely with our God in this work we have undertaken, and so cause Him to withdraw His present help from us, we shall be made a story and a by-word through the world. We shall open the mo uths of enemies to speak evil of the ways of God, and all professors for God's sake. We shall shame the faces of many of God's worthy servants, and cause their prayers to be turned into curses upon us till we be consumed out of the good land whither we are going.

And to shut this discourse with that exhortation of Moses, that faithful servant of the Lord, in his last farewell to Israel, Deut. 30. "Beloved, there is now set before us life and death, good and evil," in that we are commanded this day to love the Lord our God, and to love one another, to walk in his ways and to keep his Commandments and his ordinance and his laws, and the articles of our Covenant with Him, that we may live and be multiplied, and that the Lord our God may bless us in the land whither we go to possess it. But if our hearts shall turn away, so that we will not obey, but shall be seduced, and worship other Gods, our pleasure and profits, and serve them; it is propounded unto us this day, we shall surely perish out of the good land whither we pass over this vast sea to possess it.

Therefore let us choose life that we and our seed may live by obeying His voice and cleaving to Him for He is our life and our prosperity.

iii. Winthrop’s Society

The Puritans tended to settle in towns on the coast or by rivers – in contrast to many Virginia immigrants who sought large farmsteads on which to grow tobacco During the entire 17 th century the Puritans had established 133 towns! At the center of each Puritan community stood the Church (it often occupied the exact geographical center of the town, too!) The buildings themselves were extremely bare – the Puritans intended for their place of worship to be like this – just them and God – their church buildings, therefore, were a reflection of their basic worldview For example, each Sunday, the minister would preach for up to FIVE hours! During the frigid New England winter, the people’s fingers, toes, and cheeks grew numb while the communal bread and baptismal water froze solid! To the Puritans, however, the church was not supposed to the building where services were held, but the place where men and women of the covenant came together to worship God. To be a member of the church you had to enter the solemn covenant Puritan views on church membership derived mainly from the French theologian Jean Calvin. He stressed the doctrine of predestination – “the elect”—The Puritans believed one’s ability to live a rigorously and consistently godly life—and overcome the constant temptation to sin—was probably a sign, a hint that one might be among the elect

V. Anne Hutchinson: Product or Cancer of Puritanism?

“Being much troubled to see the falseness of the constitution of the Church of England, I had like to have turned Separatist. Whereupon I kept a day of solemn humiliation and pondering of the thing; this scripture was brought unto me-he that denies Jesus Christ to be come in the flesh is antichrist.”

“He that denies the testament denies the testator, and in this did open unto me and give me to see that those which did not teach the new covenant had the spirit of antichrist, and upon this he did discover the ministry unto me; and ever since, I bless the Lord, he hath let me see which was the clear ministry and which the wrong.”

Anne Hutchinson (1591-1643)

i. American Jezebel or Woman of Courage?

Anne Hutchinson (July 17, 1591 – August 20, 1643) was the unauthorized Puritan preacher of a dissident church discussion group, and pioneer in Rhode Island and the Bronx.

Hutchinson was born Anne Marbury on July 17, 1591 in Alford, Lincolnshire, England. Her parents were Francis Marbury (1555-1611), a clergyman, and Bridget Dryden (1563-1645).

At the age of 21, she married William Hutchinson. They were part of the Puritan movement, especially following the teachings of John Cotton.

ii. Puritan Governance

Puritans believed that if one were among the elect, then one would surely act like it. To back this up they devised many rules against deviants from what they considered God’s law. For example, if you missed church, you were punished, if you got drunk, you were punished, if you swore…you were punished! The Puritans were not for religious freedom: they refused to accept individuals who dissented to their religious views. People who strayed from the Puritan path were advised to leave, if they persisted then they were forced to leave! Despite their centrality, churches had no direct role in the civil government of New England communities…the Puritans did not want to emulate the C. of E. For example, although ministers were among the most highly respected people in the town, they weren’t allowed to hold public office. However, the puritans did believe that the government should support and reinforce God’s laws For example, Sabbath laws (Saturday…like the Jews) Transgressions were to be punished by the puritans or God! Only church members could vote in Massachusetts New England town meetings routinely practiced a level of participation in political life that was unprecedented elsewhere during the 17 th century

iii. The Splintering of Puritanism

Inevitably, though, Puritanism would splinter It was inevitable because one of their core ideals was that an educated person could interpret and understand God’s word, as laid out in the Bible, for himself…naturally this lead to a number of different interpretations For example, Roger Williams – church and state should be totally separate, only the “saints” should be allowed to attend the sermons Another example was Anne Hutchinson. Hutchinson's "crime" was expressing religious beliefs that were different from the colony's rulers. In the year 1637, in Massachusetts Bay Colony, that was against the law—especially for a woman. Hutchinson believed that people could communicate directly with God--without the help of ministers or the Bible. This was in direct contradiction with the established religion. Local ministers taught that people could only find God by following the teachings of the Bible. And that only they could interpret the Bible correctly. At meetings she held in her Boston home, Hutchinson criticized the teachings of the colony's ministers. Despite the best efforts of Winthrop et al. to render God’s instructions in no uncertain terms, Puritanism inspired believers to draw their own conclusions and stick to them. In this sense, Anne Hutchinson was more a product of Puritanism than a dissenter from it

iv. The City on the Slide?

Under the pressures of steady population growth and integration into the Atlantic economy, New England society maintained the outward features that had been established by Winthrop’s generation. But the white-hot piety of the founders cooled during the last half of the seventeenth century Immigration stalled during the Puritan revolution in England…everyone in N. E. married and had as many kids as possible! Populations outgrew the churches Not religious freedom – just ask the Quakers (2 men and a woman executed in 1659) Toleration of other religions was “sinful toleration.”

VI. “King Philip’s” War

King Philip's War was a general Indian uprising in 1675-1676 to resist continued expansion of the English colonies in New England. It was the bloodiest of the Indian wars in terms of relative casualties, and several tribes were virtually or totally eliminated. The war proved a critical turning point by destroying the interdependent world constructed jointly by white colonists and Native Americans and replacing it with a new culture in which native peoples were marginalized and the white settlers were dominant. Six hundred colonists were killed, which included about one-fifth of all the men fit for military service. Philip was the Christian name assigned to Metacomet, the sachem of the Wampanoag Indians. Massachusetts colonial settlers frequently referred to the Native chiefs as Kings.