The Puritan Dilemma: The Story of John Winthrop (Library of American Biography)
Author(s):
Edmund S. Morgan
Label: Longman
Publisher(s):
Longman
Studio: Longman
Manufacturer: Longman
Binding: Paperback
List Price: $20.67
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Editorial Reviews
Product Description
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.
Customer Reviews
A peek into Puritan Massachusetts
This brief and dense history of John Winthrop's Boston is a must-read for folks interested in colonial life in America. Beginning with the formation of the Massachusetts Bay Company in England, and following them to the new world and the new struggles that accompany their arrival, historical juggernaut Edmund Morgan paints an unfamiliar picture of John Winthrop.
Often depicted as a fundamentalist zealot, Morgan's Winthrop is a more pragmatic puritan - one willing to make compromises in favor of trade, diplomacy, or popular support. Winthrop's struggles with his own people are also highlighted throughout the book, particularly in the roller coaster of on-again, off-again governorship between him and his rivals.
The book also clarifies the objectives and different types of puritanism, which I, as a student of history, found very helpful in understanding the religious landscape of Englands both new and old.
The one downside to the work is the style in which it's written. As an early work of Morgan's, he had not yet found the compelling, conversational voice which he is today known for, resulting in an academic tone that makes reading a bit tedious at times. Regardless, the thorough research and interesting subject matter more than makes up for it.
Excellent treatment of what's often forgotten, dismissed or mythologized
An interesting look at the founding of the Massachusetts Bay Colony and the remarkable character who lead it for most of its first couple decades. It seems easier for many people to view the Puritans as stereotypes rather than real people, but they're more interesting as flesh and blood human beings living in the real world. Considering their importance to American beginnings, it's probably wiser to try to understand them as real people. They were amazing in some respects, misguided in others, but they got New England going, along with Harvard, Yale and a powerful commitment to literacy and education. They also started representative government in the New World, at least in the northern British colonies, and they had a leader of rare abilities in Winthrop. This is a part of American history that's perhaps more relegated to either caricature or the dustbin than any other, and that's to our loss in understanding our roots and their continuing effects on our society.
An excellent review of Puritanism in Massachusetts and England
While this book is an excellent biography of John Winthrop, Massachusetts' first Governor, it is also an excellent review of the various types of Puritanism and the issues faced by Winthrop and others in their American experiment to found and develop a colony based on Scripture. Morgan gives a very balanced portrait of Winthrop: his genius and his foibles. While looking closely at the Puritanism of the Massachusetts colony, Edmund S. Morgan, also show the Puritanism of England and its leaning toward Presbyterianism and the dangers of seperatism that were very threatening to Winthrop and his supporters. Overall, this is a very readable and entertaining biography that looks at the development of Winthrop's thought from his youth in England to his great contributions to Massachusetts' survival.
Obsessed with purity
This book is a good overview of Puritanism in England and New England in the first half of the 17th century, especially the role of John Winthrop in establishing a Puritan commonwealth in the vicinity of Boston, Mass under the auspices of the Massachusetts Bay Company in 1630. Little time is spent on day-to-day living conditions in the new Mass. Bay colony - and they were harsh.
Much of the book is concerned with the subtle but explosive differences in Puritan thought that Winthrop was forced to deal with: Separatism, Presbyterianism (hierarchical, inclusive) vs. Congregationalism (flat, independent, & exclusive), or such deviating thought as Arminianism and Antinomiansim. In some cases, diffident residents were banned from the colony, such as Roger Williams and Anne Hutchinson.
In addition, the author shows the gradual inclusion of adult male church members in the governance of the colony from the original conception of only the few members of the Company exercising absolute control. The author maintains that the basics of church-state separation existed, yet there is no doubt that both sectors were concerned with rooting out and punishing ungodly behavior. The author shows that the survival of the colony owed a lot to Winthrop as he resisted tendencies of some towards separatism and purity - in other words, fanaticism. At times he was voted out of the governor's office, but the colony always returned to him.
A rather understated aspect of the book is any real feel for living in a totally religious community under constant surveillance and the superiority of those who wish to judge who had been saved or not (or worse). Somehow the spread of that mindset into representative government is not especially heartwarming. The myopic idea that a pure, godly community, superior to others, could be established plagues us even today.
Excellent bio
Short and sweet is the word. Morgan is a first-rate historian who, unlike some of his colleagues, can write in an engaging way that draws in the average reader. This book will not only shed light on Winthrop, but is also the best description of puritanism that I have come across. If you want to understand this influential movement, and one of its most important leaders, here's your book.
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