Includes bibliographical references (pages 294-302) and index.
Contents
An American colony would have many practical benefits / John White -- An American colony would serve the true Christian church / John Winthrop -- A puritan vision of the new colony / John Winthrop -- A separatist vision of the new colony / John Robinson -- God has blessed New England / William Stoughton -- God has withdrawn his blessing from New England / Increase Mather -- Roger Williams's banishment was not justified / Roger Williams -- Roger Williams's banishment was justified / John Cotton -- The Antinomians are destroying the community / Thomas Welde -- The Antinomians are following the spirit of God / Anne Hutchinson [and others] -- Immigration to Massachusetts should be restricted / John Winthrop -- Immigration restrictions are unfair / Henry Vane -- The Puritans should be more tolerant / Richard Saltonstall -- The Puritans are not too intolerant / John Cotton -- Political leadership should be restricted to church members / John Cotton -- Political leadership restrictions should be lifted / Robert Child [and others] -- Economic exploitation harms the community / John Winthrop -- Making a profit does not harm the community / Robert Keayne -- Stricter laws are needed / The Massachusetts General Court -- Stricter laws have limited effectiveness / William Bradford -- Puritan treatment of Indians is justified / John Cotton -- Puritan treatment of Indians is not justified / Roger Williams -- Killing Indians is justified by God / Edward Johnson -- The Indians should be treated charitably / Samuel Sewall -- A missionary's view of Indians / John Eliot -- A captive's view of Indians / Mary Rowlandson -- Witches should be condemned / Cotton Mather -- "Witches" have been unfairly prosecuted / Thomas Brattle -- The witch trials reflect the spirit of God / Increase Mather -- The witch trials reflect a lack of faith in God / Robert Calef -- The Great Awakening offers hope of true religious revival / An assembly of pastors of churches in New England -- The Great Awakening offers errors in religious thinking / Pastors of the churches in the Province of Massachusetts Bay -- Religious fervor should be praised / Jonathan Edwards -- Religious zealotry should be avoided / Charles Chauncy -- The Puritans saw themselves as a model for the world / Perry Miller -- The Puritans did not see themselves as a model for the world / Theodore Dwight Bozeman.
Summary
Uses primary sources to debate the spread of Puritanism in the United States and how historians view the Puritans.