Puritan Dilemma, The

Description

This indispensable text follows Winthrop from when he caught the fever of Puritanism in England to the dilemma that still lingers in the air of Democracy today: what responsibility does a religious person owe to society?

Editor’s Preface

Author’s Preface

Chapter 1: The Taming of the Heart

Chapter 2: Evil and Declining Times

Chapter 3: A Shelter and a Hiding Place

Chapter 4: The Way to a New England

Chapter 5: Survival

Chapter 6: A Special Commission

Chapter 7: A Due Form of Government

Chapter 8: Leniency Rebuked

Chapter 9: Separatism Unleashed

Chapter 10: Seventeenth-Century Nihilism

Chapter 11: The New England Way

Chapter 12: New England or Old

Chapter 13: Foreign Affairs

Study and Discussion Questions

A Note on the Sources

Index

• A new preface by Series Editor Mark Carnes illustrates why this biography is so important to the series, and to the field.
• Study and Discussion Questions at the end of the book help students check their reading and comprehension. These questions can also be used to facilitate discussions in the classroom or student study groups.

Caught between the ideals of God’s Law and the practical needs of the people, John Winthrop walked a line few could tread.

In every aspect of our society today we see the workings of the tension between individual freedom and the demands of authority. Here is the story of the people that brought this idea to our shores: the Puritans. Edmund Morgan relates the hardships and triumphs of the Puritan movement through this vivid account of its most influential leader, John Winthrop.

The titles in the Library of American Biography Series make ideal supplements for American History Survey courses or other courses in American history where figures in history are explored. Paperback, brief, and inexpensive, each interpretive biography in this series focuses on a figure whose actions and ideas significantly influenced the course of American history and national life. In addition, each biography relates the life of its subject to the broader themes and developments of the times.

Caught between the ideals of God’s Law and the practical needs of the people, John Winthrop walked a line few could tread.

In every aspect of our society today we see the workings of the tension between individual freedom and the demands of authority.  Here is the story of the people that brought this idea to our shores: the Puritans.  Edmund Morgan relates the hardships and triumphs of the Puritan movement through this vivid account of its most influential leader, John Winthrop.

The titles in the Library of American Biography Series make ideal supplements for American History Survey courses or other courses in American history where figures in history are explored.  Paperback, brief, and inexpensive, each interpretive biography in this series focuses on a figure whose actions and ideas significantly influenced the course of American history and national life. In addition, each biography relates the life of its subject to the broader themes and developments of the times.