Senior Project Advisor

Stoever, William K. B., 1941-

Document Type

Project

Publication Date

Spring 2008

Keywords

Puritanism, Pilgrims, Puritan New England

Abstract

Puritanism in America is often misunderstood and misrepresented. Popular understanding of Puritan New England is filled with images of “Pilgrims and the first Thanksgiving, of clustered villages and white steepled churches, of pious founders and stern fathers, of tormented souls... and witchcraft mania.” ‘ The modem masses, if they think of it at all, accept this imagery as representative of early colonial conditions and the sources of these stereotypes are rarely questioned outside of academia. While many of these representations have taken hold of the American imagination in the post-revolutionary era, there is one that owes its existence to the Puritans themselves. The image of New England’s First Fathers, characterized by the unity and achievement of their colonial enterprise, is a representation of the second generation of New England Puritans. Historians agree that this idea of a golden age in Massachusetts Bay first came to expression in the colony’s jeremiad sermons of the 1660s and 70s. Often preached on days of election and humiliation, these sermons point to the commonwealth’s founders as examples of the proper relationship of a covenanted community to God and to one another. The second generation ministers idealized their “pious founders and stern fathers” in contrast to their own generation’s backslidings.

Department

Liberal Studies

Subjects - Topical (LCSH)

Puritans--New England

Geographic Coverage

New England

Genre/Form

student projects; term papers

Type

Text

Rights

Copying of this document in whole or in part is allowable only for scholarly purposes. It is understood, however, that any copying or publication of this document for commercial purposes, or for financial gain, shall not be allowed without the author’s written permission.

Rights Statement

http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Language

English

Format

application/pdf

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