American Culture I

1. American Culture I John Smith’s A Description of New England (1616) William Bradford’s Of Plymouth Plantation(1630-50) John Winthrop’s A Model of Christian Charity (1630) Jonathan Edwards’s Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God (1741)

2. From Single Enterprises to Large Companies • By 1580: single model of exploration and colonization, granted to Sir Walter Ralegh. • By 1600: large companies of investors (often merchants), which had capital to support expansion overseas.

3. Virginia and New England • King James I: the region of Virginia split into two parts, and granted charter to separate groups of investors, named “The Virginia Company”. • Southern part:(now state of Virginia) under the care of the company’s members from London; Jamestown, Virginia, 1606. • Northern part:(New England, now Massachusetts) fell to the members of the towns of Bristol, Plymouth, and Exeter; Plymouth, 1620.

4. “As a compromise between large-scale governmental action and isolated individual effort, the format of the colonial ‘company’ proved both useful and enduring” (p. 81). John Smith (1580-1631) • […] proved that succeeding in colonization required individual initiative and commitment.

5. John Smith (1580-1631) Shoemaker apprentice; Soldier to fight for the Dutch; and for the Austrian army; fought in Hungary; wounded in battle; kept prisoner; sold as a slave; murdered his master; and fled back to England in 1604-5.

6. John Smith (1580-1631) • In 1607, Smith was elected president of the Virginia council (in effect, the colony’s governor), after a series of wide-ranging exploration that made him the most well-known of the settlers in the new land. • This explorations also made him captive of Powhatan, overlord of the Chesapeake Bay Indians. Smith claimed, in his late logs, that the overlord’s young daughter, Pocahontas, rescued him from being killed.

7. John Smith (1580-1631) • “Whatever role Pocahontas played, what Smith took to be his impending execution may have been nothing more than a harmless adoption ceremony inducting him into Powhatan’s tribe” (p. 82)

8. fromThe General Historyof Virginia, New England, andthe Summer Isles (1624) “At last they brought him to Werowocomoco, where was Powhatan, their Emperor. Here more than two hundred of those grim courtiers stood wondering at him, as [if] he had been a monster, till Powhatan and his train had put themselves in their greatest braveries. Before a fire upon a seat like a bedstead, he sat covered with a great robe made of raccoon skins and all the tail hanging by. On either hand did sit a young wench of sixteen or eighteen years and along on each side [of] the house, two rows of men and behind them as many women, with all their heads and shoulders painted red, many of their heads bedecked with the white down of birds, but every one with something, and a great chain of white beads about their necks. (Norton Anthology, volume A, 2012, p. 90)

9. fromThe General Historyof Virginia, New England, andthe Summer Isles (1624) At his entrance before the King, all the people gave a great shout. The Queen of Appomattoc was appointed to bring him water to wash his hands, and another brought him a bunch of feathers, instead of a towel to dry them; having feasted him after their best barbarous manner they could, a long consultation was held, but the conclusion was, two great stones were brought before Powhatan; then as many as could, laid hands on him, dragged him to them, and thereon laid his head and being ready with their clubs to beat out his brains, Pocahontas, the King’s dearest daughter, when no entreaty could prevail, got his head in her arms and laid her own upon his to save him from death, whereat the Emperor was contented he should live to make him hatchets, and her bells, beads, and copper, for they thought him as well of all occupations as themselves. For the King himself will make his own robes, shoes, bows, arrows, pots; plant, hunt, or do any thing so well as the rest”. (Norton Anthology, volume A, 2012, p. 90)

11. A Description of New England (1616) • Land of Plenty: a fictional or imagined utopian place where there is an abundance of everything needed to survive and flourish. • Land of the Free: “O say does that star-spangled banner yet wave / O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

13. A Description of New England (1616) • “who can desire more content, that hath small means; or but only his merit to advance his fortune, than to tread, and plant that ground he hath purchased by the hazard of his life? If he have but the taste of the virtue and magnanimity, what to such a mind can be more pleasant, than planting and building a foundation for his posterity, got from the rude earth, by God’s blessing and his own industry, without prejudice to any?” (p. 93) • “If he have any grain of faith or zeal in religion, what can he do less hurtful to any; or more agreeable to God, than to seek to convert those poor savages to know Christ, and humanity, whose labors with discretion will triple requite thy charge and pains? (p. 93

14. A Description of New England (1616) Desires You Keep Qualities You Need • ... • ... • ... • ... • ... • ... • ... • ...

15. A Description of New England (1616) • “What so truly suits with honor and honesty, as the discovering things unknown? • “Erecting towns, peopling countries, informing the ignorant, reforming things unjust, teaching virtue; and gaining to our native mother country a kingdom to attend her, finding employment for those that are idle, because they know not what to do: so far from wronging any, as to cause posterity to remember thee; and remembering thee, ever honor that remembrance with praise?

16. A Description of New England (1616) • “But if an angel should tell you, that any place yet unknown can afford such fortunes; you would not believe him, no more than Columbus was believed there was any such land as is now the well-known abounding America; much less such large regions as are yet unknown, as well as in America, as in Africa, and Asia, and Terra Incognita”. (p. 94) • “[…] yet [I hope] my reasons with my deeds, will so prevail with some, that I shall not want employment in these affairs, to make the most blind see his own senselessness, and incredulity; hoping that gain will make them affect that, which religion, charity, and the common good cannot” (p. 94)

17. A Description of New England (1616) • What the main reason, then? WEALTH • “I fear not want of company sufficient, were it but known what I know of those countries; and by the proof of that WEALTH I hope yearly to return, if God please to bless me from such accidents, as are beyond my power in reason to prevent: For, I am not so simple to think, that ever any other motive than WEALTH, will ever erect there a commonwealth; or draw company from their ease and humors at home, to stay in New England to effect my purposes” (p. 95)

18. A Description of New England (1616) • What the main reason, then? TAX FREEDOM • “[…] for, our pleasure here is still gains; in England charges and loss. Here nature and liberty affords us that freely, which in England we want, or it costeth us dearly” (p. 95)

19. A Description of New England (1616) • “what pleasure can be more, than (being tired with any occasion [task] a-shore, in planting vines, fruits, or herbs, in contriving their own grounds, to the pleasure of their own minds, their fields, gardens, orchards, building, ships, and other works, &c.) to recreate themselves before their own doors, in their own boats upon the sea; where man, woman and child, with a small hook and line, by angling, may take diverse sorts of excellent fish, at their pleasures? • “And is it not pretty sport, to pull up two pence, six pence, and twelve pence, as fast as you can haul and veer a line? (p. 95)

20. A Description of New England (1616) • “Now that carpenter, mason, gardener, tailor, smith, forgers [ironworkers], or what other, may they not make this more than they eat in a week? • “Thus, though all men be not fishers: yet all men, whatsoever, may in other matters do as well. For necessity doth in these cases so rule a commonwealth, and each in their several functions, as their labors in their qualities my be as profitable, because there is a necessary mutual use of all” (p. 96)

21. A Description of New England (1616) • “My purpose is not to persuade children [to go] from their parents; men from their wives; nor servants from their masters: only, such as with free consent may be spared: But that each parish, or village, in city, or country, that will but apparel their fatherless children, of thirteen or fourteen years of age, or young people, that have small wealth to live on; here by their labor may live exceedingly well. […] and it is most necessary to have a fortress […] and sufficient masters (as, carpenters, masons, fishers, fowlers, gardeners, husbandman, sawyers, smiths, spinsters, tailors, weavers, and such like) to take ten, twelve, or twenty, or as there is no occasion, for apprentices. The masters by this may quickly grow rich; these may learn their trades themselves, to do the like; to a general and an incredible benefit, for king, and country, master, and servant.” (p. 96) Self-mademanthinkingstyle

22. American Culture I William Bradford’s Of Plymouth Plantation(1620) https://uerjundergradslit.wordpress.com/

23. William Bradford (1590-1657) • Determination and Self-Sacrifice: characteristic of our first “Pilgrim”. • Puritans X Pilgrims • ScroobySeparatists, Nonconformists • Pilgrims settled in Plymouth, Massachusetts, 1620 • Bradford: governor of Plymouth • Cotton Mather (1663-1728): Bradford was “a person for study as well as action; and hence notwithstanding the difficulties which he passed in his youth, he attained unto a notable skill in languages… But the Hebrew he most of all studied, because, he said, he would see with his own eyes the ancient oracles of God in their native beauty… The crown of all his life was his holy, prayerful, watchful and fruitful walk with God, wherein he was exemplary”. (p. 122)

24. Of Plymouth Plantation (1620) “[…] many became enlightened by the word of God, and had their ignorance and sins discovered unto them, and began by His grace to reform their lives, and make conscience of their ways […]; which, notwithstanding, they bore sundry years with much patience, till they were occasioned […] to see further into things by the light of the word of God”. (p. 122) “How not only these base and beggarly ceremonies were unlawful, but also that the lordly and tyrannous power of the prelates ought not to be submitted unto; which thus, contrary to the freedom of the gospel, would load and burden men’s consciences, and by their compulsive power make a profane mixture of persons and things in the worship of God. And that their offices and callings, courts and canons, etc. were unlawful and anti-Christian”. (p. 122)

25. Of Plymouth Plantation (1620) • 2 distinct churches: John Smith X Richard Clyfton (p. 123) • Persecution: “For some were taken and clapped up in prison, others had their houses beset and watched night and day, and hardly escaped their hands; and the most were fain to fly and leave their houses and habitations, and the means of their livelihood. […]. Yet seeing themselves thus molested, and that there was no hope of their continuance there, by a joint consent they resolved to go into the Low Countries, where they heard was freedom of religion for all men”. (p. 123)

26. Of Plymouth Plantation (1620) • 4 reason to move from the Low Countries: • 1) the hardness of the place and the end of truce between The Low Countries and Spain: “For many, though they desired to enjoy the ordinances of God in their purity, and the liberty of the gospel with them, yet, alas, they admitted of bondage, with danger of conscience, rather than to endure these hardships; yea, some preferred and chose the prisons in England, rather then this liberty in Holland, with these afflictions. But it was thought that if a better and easier place of living could be had, it would draw many, and take away these discouragements”. (p. 124)

27. Of Plymouth Plantation (1620) • 4 reason to move from the Low Countries: • 2) The Elderly could no longer work and fight effectively “[…] yet old age began to steal on many of them […], so as it was not only probably thought, but apparently seen, that within few years more they would be in danger to scatter, by necessities pressing them, or sink under their burdens, or both. […] so they like skillful and beaten soldiers were fearful either to be entrapped or surrounded by their enemies, so as they should neither be able to fight nor fly”. (p. 124-5)

28. Of Plymouth Plantation (1620) • 4 reason to move from the Low Countries: • 3) Children departing from their parents “For many of their children, that were of best disposition and gracious inclinations, having learned to bear the yoke in their youth, and [being] willing to bear part of their parents’ burden, were, oftentimes, so oppressed with their heavy labors, that though their minds were free and willing, yet their bodies bowed under the weight of the same, and became decrepit in their early youth; the vigor of nature being consumed in the very bud as it were […]. [Children] were drawn away by evil examples into extravagant and dangerous courses, getting the reins off their necks, and departing from their parents. So that they saw their posterity would be in danger to degenerate and be corrupted”. (p. 125)

29. Of Plymouth Plantation (1620) • 4 reason to move from the Low Countries: • 4) Overspreading of religious beliefs “[…] a great hope and inward zeal they had of laying some good foundation, or at least to make some way thereunto, for the propagating and advancing the gospel of the kingdom of Christ in those remote parts of the world; yea, though they should be but even as steppingstones unto others for the performing of so great a work”. (p. 125)

30. Of Plymouth Plantation (1620) • Which place did they decide to move to? • How is this place described? • “So they left that goodly and pleasant city, which had been their resting place near twelve years; but they knew they were pilgrims, and looked not much on those things, but lifted up their eyes to the heavens, their dearest country, and quieted their spirits”. (p. 127) • What happened to the blasphemous young man on the ship? • How was their “First Encounter” with the “Indians”?

31. American Culture I John Winthrop’s A Model of Christian Charity(1630) https://uerjundergradslit.wordpress.com/

32. John Winthrop (1588-1649) • Winthrop’s father was a prosperous farmer, and Winthrop had all the advantages that his father’s social and economic position would allow. • “It was probably at the Cambridge University that Winthrop was exposed to Puritan ideas.” • Puritans x Pilgrims • End of hierarchy of the clergy and all the traditional Catholic rituals.

33. John Winthrop (1588-1649) • In the 1620s, 2 reason to move away: • economic depression in England • The ascension to the throne of Charles I, known to be sympathetic to Roman Catholicism and intolerant towards Puritan reformers. • The only recourse seemed to be obtain the king’s permission to emigrate. In March 1629, enterprising merchants, all ardent Puritans, sailed to Plymouth Rock, Massachusetts. They call themselves “The Company of Massachusetts Bay in England”.

34. A Model of ChristianCharity • This sermon sets out clearly and eloquently the ideals of a harmonious Christian community and reminded all those on board that they would stand as an example to the world either of the triumph or the failure of this Christian enterprise. (p. 176) “For this end We must be knit together In this work as one man”

35. A Model of Christian Charity (1630) • Social Rank: “the great ones” x “the poor and inferior” • […] manifest the work of His spirit: first upon the wicked in moderating and restraining them, so that the rich and mighty should not eat up the poor, nor the poor and despised rise up against their superiors and shake off their yoke” (p. 166) • […] that every man might have need of other, and from hence they might be all knit more nearly together in the bonds of brotherly affection. From hence it appears plainly that no man is made more honorable than another or more wealthy, etc. […]”. (p. 167) • Ezekiel 16:17; Proverbs 3.9: “All men being thus (by divine providence) ranked into two sorts, rich and poor; under the first are comprehended all such as are able to live comfortably by their own means duly improved; and all others are poor according to the former distribution” (p. 167)

36. A Model of Christian Charity (1630) Double Law • Law of Nature: the law of nature was given to man in the state of innocency. • Law of Grace (or the moral law; or the law of the Gospel): this of the state of regeneracy.

37. A Model of Christian Charity (1630) • Justice X Mercy Getting paid back accordingly X Giving and Forgiving accordingly • “This duty of mercy is exercised in the kinds”: • GIVING • LENDING • FORGIVING

38. A Model of Christian Charity (1630) • Rules of Giving • What rule shall a man observe in giving in respect of the measure? • If the time and occasion be ordinary, he is to give out of his abundance • If the time and occasion be extraordinary, he must be ruled by them – a man cannot likely to do much; a man must lay up for posterity, the fathers lay up for posterity and children and “he is worse than an infidel” that “provideth not for his own”.

39. A Model of Christian Charity (1630) • Rules of Lending • What rule must we observe in lending? • “Thou must observe whether thy brother hath present or probable, or possible means of repaying thee, if there be none of these, thou must give him according to his necessity, rather than lend him as he requires. If he hath present means of repaying thee, thou art to look at him not as anact of mercy, but by way of commerce, wherein thou art to walk by the rule ofjustice, but if his means of repaying thee be only probable or possible, then is the object to thy mercy, thou must lend him, though there be danger of losing it”. (p. 169) No Means / Present Means / Probable or Possible Means

40. A Model of Christian Charity (1630) • Rules of Forgiving • What rule must we observe in forgiving? • “Whether thou didst lend by way of commerce or in mercy, if he have nothing to pay thee, [you] must forgive, (except in case where thou hast a surety or a lawful pledge). Deuteronomy 15.2: every seventh year [Year of Jubilee] the creditor was to quit that which he lent to his brother if he were poor as appears.”

41. A Model of Christian Charity (1630) Mercy through Love Mind X Soul • “The apostle [Paul] tells us that this love is the fulfilling of the law, not that it is enough to love our brother and so no further” • “So the way to draw men to works of mercy, is not by force of argument from the goodness or necessity of the work; for though this course may enforce a rational mind to some present act of mercy, as in frequent in experience, yet it cannot work such a habit in a soul, as shall make it prompt upon all occasion to produce the same effect, but by framing these affections of love in the heart which will as natively bring forth the other, as any cause doth produce effect” (p. 171)

42. A Model of Christian Charity (1630) • What is love? Definiton of Love: Love is the bond of perfection. “Christ and His church make one body. The several parts of this body, considered apart before they were united, were as disproportioned and as much disordering as so many contrary qualities or elements, but when Christ comes and by His spirit and love knits all these parts to Himself and each to other, it is become the most perfect and best proportioned body in the world”. Ligaments: Love binds everything / Christ: means of bond

43. A Model of Christian Charity (1630) How can love be created? • The Fall of Adam • The Fall of Adam, as he tore apart from God, causing humankind to tear apart from each other as well – “[…] and thus a man continueth till Christ comes and takes possession of the soul and infuseth another principle, love to God and our brother”. • Old Adam x New Adam (p. 173)

44. A Model of Christian Charity (1630) How can we put love into practice? • Outward: Justice and Mercy (giving, lending, forgiving) • Inward: simile similigaudet: “one loves those in whom one perceives one’s own image” or “like-minded people enjoy likely pleasure” • Adam and Eve • Jonathan and David • Naomi and Ruth • “the exercise of mutual love (p. 174)

45. A Model of Christian Charity (1630) Putting justice, mercy, and love into action • Persons • Work • The End (goal) • The means • “[…] when He shall make us a praise and glory that men shall say of succeeding plantations; “the Lord make it like that of NEW ENGLAND”. For we must consider that we shall be a city upon a hill.

46. A Model of Christian Charity (1630) “yet are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house”. Matthew 5.14-15

47. Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758) • Philosopher • Theologian • Preacher • Born in Northampton, Massachusetts • Edwards tried to restore to his congregation, and to his readers, that original sense of religious commitment that he believed had been lost since the first days of the Puritan exodus to America.

48. Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758) • John Locke (1632-1704); “For Locke confirmed Edwards’s conviction that we must do more than comprehend religious ideas; we must be moved by them, we must know them experientially: the difference, as he says, is like that between reading the word fire and actually being burned”. • “[…] a ‘full and constant sense of the absolute sovereignty of God, and a delight in that sovereignty’. The word delight reminds us that Edwards is trying to inculcate and describe always that supernatural feelings and natural ones are actually very different”

49. Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758) • “The exaltation that his parishioners felt when they experienced delight in God’s sovereignty was the characteristic fervid emotion of religious revivalism”. • The Great Awakening (1720s-1750s) • New Lights [prorevival] X Old Lights [antirevival] “Those ministers who strove for change sought to emphasize the spiritual experiences common to Christianity and to minimize the doctrinal differences separating churches. They also pioneered a direct, extemporaneous style of preaching that would prick the conscience, disgust listeners with sin’s loathsomeness, and lead them into a personal decision to accept salvation through grace.”

50. Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God (1741) Wrath punishment or vengeance as a manifestation of anger • Semantic Scope in Jonathan Edward’s sermon We have moved from God’s mercy in Winthrop to God’s wrath in Edwards. • “So that every unconverted man properly belongs to hell; that is his place”. • “The old serpent is gaping for them; hell opens its mouth wide to receive them; and if God should permit it, they would be hastily swallowed up and lost”.