Puritan Thought By Authors Perry Miller And Edmund Morgan

Malleable Puritan thought laid the foundation for arguably the greatest civilization in history, The United States of America. Authors Perry Miller and Edmund Morgan chronicle Puritan history and describe how the Puritans left the Old World and began to transform the New World, and themselves, based off of experiences in their respective writings. Miller and Morgan use the word “experience” very differently when describing our Puritan forefathers, but they draw upon similar conclusions. Puritan thought was constantly transforming through physical, intellectual, and spiritual experiences.

The foundation for Puritan thought, and what sets it apart from Calvinism, is the idea of a covenant between God and man. Miller explains how the Puritans

During this expansion into the bay area, ship after ship of colonists were arriving on the shores of the New World. Communities began sprouting up around Boston and soon these communities rallied around their individual ministers and new thoughts and ideas began to manifest. Inevitably, the communities began to bicker over religious tenants and rifts were beginning to form. From experience, Winthrop identified the problem in its early stages according to Morgan, “It would not only separate New England from the rest of the world but also split it into a host of little communities, each repudiating the others as insufficiently holy” (Morgan, pg. 91). Excessive righteousness and zealotry had the ability to tear the young colony apart. Winthrop’s experience mitigated the danger and a form of government was emplaced to curtail this type of action from

According to Morgan, their purpose was “to found a society where the perfection of God would find proper recognition among imperfect men” (Morgan, pg. 145). In order to accomplish this mission statement, a more functional and defined government must be established. Winthrop sought to create his own covenant binding the rulers to the ruled. Morgan argues that “Government existed to control human corruption; but governors were human, and there must be some way of controlling their corruption, too” (Morgan, pg. 158). Winthrop, through his life experience, realizes this too and enlists the help of Nathaniel Ward (1578-1652) of Ipswich to help him compose a list of codes. Just like when he request the help of a theologian before the Anne Hutchinson trial, Winthrop identifies his own short comings and reaches out to the experts for assistance. The Body of Liberties was composed thanks to Winthrop’s competence and experience. This document essentially become the “blueprint of the whole Puritan experiment” (Morgan, pg. 159) according to