Puritans Historiography:

 

Generally historians have fallen into two main categories:

 

Bigots:

        undemocratic theocracy

        opposed to freedom of thought and religious liberty

        society dominated by a Puritan oligarchy

        maintained rigid orthodoxy

        repressed dissenting views

        clergy were narrow and intolerant

        rejected Newtonian science and attempted to intellectually freeze 1630’s

        indifferent to cultural changes

 

Builders:

        brave pioneers of political liberty and religious freedom

        strict discipline was necessary in frontier conditions

        stimulated intellectual activity (1st public schools and university)

 

Puritans typically held  high place in scholarship because most historians were New Englanders

 

1. Filiopietist School: (until 1910’s)

        American virtues such as thrift, hard work, moral earnestness, social

                responsibility began with Puritans

       

2. 1920’s: Criticism of Puritans/ Progressives:

        Puritanism was NOT part of a unique American tradition

       

        Progressives: symbolic of struggle between liberalism and conservatism

                James T. Adams, Vernon Parrington, Thomas Wertenbaker

 

                Puritans were autocratic, bigoted, pious hypocrites

                over-regulation of public and private life by religious and political

                        leaders

                Creed was used to rationalize middle class dominance over lower

                        class

                Puritan order protected the SES of the elites

                Puritans contributed little to the liberal tradition

                Orthodox Puritanism was a reactionary theology that “conceived of

                        human nature as inherently evil.. postulated a divine

                        sovereignty absolute and arbitrary, and projected caste

                        divisions into eternity” (Parrington)

                The liberal tradition was better represented by Hutchinson and

                        Williams

 

 

3. 1930’s: Sympathetic Harvard Historians: Morison, Shipton, Miller

 

        Oligarchy was not blocking the inevitable march of human progress

        Focus on Puritan thought and culture from the 1630’s perspective

        Human element of Puritanism emphasized by Morison

                they were not adverse to human pleasures (sex, alcohol,) but

                dedication to God gave them greater pleasure

        Humanistic viewpoint: Puritans were the heirs of Renaissance humanism/

                classical literature and Reformation emphasis of education

        They were interested in contemporary science and literature

        “an intellectualized form of Christianity that steered a middle course

                between a passive acceptance of ecclesiastical authority on the one

                hand and ignorant emotionalism on the other, and stimulated

                mental activity on the part of those who professed it”    

        The Puritans transmitted western civilization to the New World: their

                greatest contribution

        There was no anti-clerical feeling in Massachusetts, when the religious

                requirement was lifted, the clergy still was voted in

        Clergy were not anti-free thought, they were the best educated people in

                the colonies

        Puritans were tolerant in religion because they led their Congregations

                through changes in Puritanism

        Not theocratic because all things were locally controlled (provincial leaders

                had to rule with approval of towns, same for church authorities)

 

        Perry Miller:

                Puritan theology incorporated reason (part of a 16th century trend)

                Puritans were serious about religious ideas and willingness to act on

                        them

                Traced their thoughts back to Old England Puritans

                Interlocking system of covenants: grace, social, and church was the

                        key to Puritan thought

                1st Generation: sense of mission of all European Protestants

                2nd and 3rd: lost zeal, more provincial, ideal society idea weakened,

                        materialism undermined spiritual life

 

Since the mid 50’s: Debate over Perry Miller, not Puritans: Criticisms of Miller:

        focused on ideas of elite, not commoners

        focused on abstract inner intellectualism while disregarding social and

                economic forces 

        stressed mind to the neglect of heart and emotion

       

New Social Historians:

        Community building and communitarian spirit built around Puritan

                consensus

        Value conflict between Puritan ideals and social realities

        Family level and provincial level studies