An essay written for Dr. Fraser's course and demonstrating attainment of department outcome #2.

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Dan Kelly
Topics in American Literature
Dr. Gordon Fraser
10 May 2017
An Examination of Literary Silence in the Life of Samson Occom
A Sermon, Preached at the Execution of Moses Paul, An Indian (1772) is arguably the
work that Mohegan reverend and intellectual Samson Occom (1723-1792) is most well known
for. The sermon served as a platform for Occom to achieve a fair amount of notoriety and thrust
Occom into a more pronounced activist role. The Moses Paul sermon was delivered and
published in 1772 yet Occom did not publish another sermon for roughly twelve years. Although
Occom didn’t publish any sermons during this time period, he did publish a number of hymns,
author tribal documents, and write letters and journal entries. Developing a narrative of what was
occurring in his life from 1772-1884 is possible to do by going through his archive and analyzing
letters and prose he authored during this period of publishing silence. An understanding of this
period in his life lends itself to creating an accurate representation of Occom. Indeed, a re-focus
on this period of Occom’s life is critical to better understanding his growth, as both a leader and
as an intellectual.
To the extent of my knowledge this period of Occom’s life hasn’t received any
considerable amount of attention. The reason for this is that there has only been recently a “re-
discovery” of Occom and scholarship that does focus on Occom tends to center around the
Moses Paul sermon. There has been a relatively low amount of extensive scholarship published
on Occom altogether. However, Joana Brooks has compiled an extensive archive of Occom’s

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writings and published them under The Collected Writings of Samson Occom, Mohegan (2006)
which will serve as the primary source for this project.
Brooks makes note of this gap in Occom’s publication but does not cover it in-depth,
instead offers up a general comment on the why of the question of the gap. The reason for this
gap is fairly straightforward; Occom was in high demand as a speaker, he was lacking monetary
funds, his family and himself had some chronic illness, and there was a war going on. This
project isn’t concerned with the why of this gap but instead aims to examine the consequences of
it. How did this period of new found influence and celebrity affect Occom’s future writings and
psyche as a whole? Certainly, these twelve years influenced Occom’s life and understanding how
his intellectual views shifted during this time lends itself to a more thoughtful critical approach
to his life and work.
In order to effectively analyze this period of Occom’s life great care has to be shown in
the method of inclusion of his works. Serving functionally as “book-ends” for this project will be
the Moses Paul sermon (1772) and To all the Indians in this Boundless Continent (1784). These
two sermons mark the beginning and end of the twelve-year sermon publication gap and will
serve as before and after benchmarks to compare Occom’s shifting ideologies. The reasoning for
denoting sermons as the primary basis on which Occom in analyzed in this project is based on
the following; sermons are of an inherent public nature and the views that are expressed in them
are ones that the author must place stock in as they are what the author will be judged on.
Additionally, as a reverend Occom is responsible for guiding his audience based with
Christian(white) values, so when a moment does comes where Occom criticizes white
colonialism, attention must be paid to it.

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Finally, the conclusion of this project is premised on re-thinking the way in which Occom
scholarship is approached. Instead of narrowly focusing on a few key moments in Occom’s life
this project will advocate that the period of written silence is just as valuable, if not more so than
his relatively prolific periods as a whole. At this moment of Occom’s life he has just been given
national attention and been in high demand as a speaker. How then can scholars ignore an
extensive period of Occom’s life when he has just been thrust into celebrity status? A different
way of looking at Occom’s career may indeed prove to be useful in future scholarship on him, as
well as perhaps the entire holistic way in which we view his life and writings.
As Joana Brooks notes “Over the past century, scholarship on Samson Occom has
emphasized his adoption of Euro-American cultural forms such as Christianity and written
English, sometimes portraying him as a successful product of the English “civilizing” mission”
(Brooks 4). The English “civilizing mission” refers to the absurd idea that English society was
constituted of inherently superior cultural values and technology that colonizers would then
attempt to assimilate indigenous cultures with (i.e. Christianity). Moreover, English colonizers
felt it was their divine duty to civilize the “heathen” culture of the indigenous peoples of
America.
As a reverend in eighteenth-century America, Occom would have undoubtedly been
influenced by the first great awakening. Indeed, his early mentor Eleazor Wheelock participated
heavily in the great awakening. In examining the effects of Occom’s thrust into celebrity status
and the subsequent sermon publication gap it is critical then to understand Occom’s practice of
“enthusiastic Christianity” theorized by John Mac Kilgore as “[during]the Great Awakening of
the 1740s, Puritan orthodoxy applied the language of enthusiasm to religious dissenters who—
stress[ed] spiritual freedom and revival over public law and organizational tradition” (Kilgore

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370). Additionally, this form of “enthusiastic Christianity” focused on temporal meetings and as
Kilgore alluded to; a focus on people rather than the Church as an entity. This theory of
“enthusiastic Christianity” comes into prominence when considering that Occom made a
conscience decision of practicing this type of Christianity in lieu of the more traditional practice
which will be discussed in subsequent sections of this project.
To some scholars, like Harold Blodgett who wrote “Samson Occom was in his own day a
great man, the most conspicuous product in New England of a missionary movement” (Blodgett
11). Occom may have indeed been a product of the civilizing mission at least in the context of
Christianity. However, scholars of this school of thought center around identifying product
success strictly on the premise of Occom’s Christian conversion. A critical look at Occom’s
writing after the initial occurrence of his celebrity status however; shows that he begins to
exhibit resistance to the colonial project and ultimately ends up serving the needs of his people
rather than the colonial mission.
Focusing on language, ideology and tone occurring in the Moses Paul Sermon will serve
to set a “standard” in which to compare later texts in the identified window (1772-1784). These
same elements will be analyzed in Occom’s writings occurring in the allotted time frame. Letters
and journal entries will serve as a chronological marker in identifying Occom’s evolving
ideologies with an emphasis on resistance to the colonial project. “The most remarkable and
Strange State Situation and Appearance of Indian Tribes in this Great Continent” (1783) will
serve as a seminal piece of evidence in identifying Occom’s changing ideologies towards
colonialism. An in-depth overview of Occom’s work with the Brotherton community further
suggests that Occom had indeed grown fed up with the colonial project. Finally, To all the

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Indians in this Boundless Continent (1784) provides the final backdrop in comparing Occom’s
changings stance.
A Sermon, Preached at the Execution of Moses Paul, An Indian was delivered by Occom
on 2 September 1772 and was subsequently printed and distributed. The primary emphasis on
this text will be placed on the portion of the sermon entitled “My poor kindred,”. It is in this
section of the sermon that Occom directly addresses all of the Natives in the audience opening
with “You see the woeful consequences of sin, by seeing this our poor miserable country-man
now before us, who is to die this day for his sins and great wickedness. And it was the sin of
drunkenness that has brought this destruction and untimely death upon him” (Occom, A Sermon,
Preached at the Execution of Moses Paul, an Indian 17). Immediately, Occom places an
emphasis on the causation of Paul’s predicament (alcohol). Throughout this section Occom
abhors drunkenness and repeatedly berates the primarily Indian audience for their partaking of
drink. Upon reflection of this sermon it can be read that Occom was fulfilling a role in the
English “civilizing mission”. The condescending tone and condemnation of the audience
facilitates the work of regulating the status quo in the colonies. As the sermon is reprinted and
presented to audiences outside the general vicinity where this occurred it would be all too easy
for them to read it in a negative manner about the state of Native affairs as a whole.
While Occom’s primary critique on drunkenness is that it is a sin against God, there are
also strong undertones of concern of what is doing to the Indian people as a whole. Specifically,
Occom says “For this sin we can’t have comfortable houses—neither food nor raiment—our
poor children are suffering every day for want of the necessaries of life—all this if for the love of
strong drink—when we are intoxicated with strong drink we drown our rational powers, by
which we are distinguished from the brutal creation; we unman ourselves” (Occom, A Sermon,

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Preached at the Execution of Moses Paul, an Indian 18). This marks an important theme of
Occom’s ideology in concern for his people and while Christianity is at the forefront, his desire
to help his people is certainly present. Katy Chiles a scholar who focuses on Native American
literature and who has written about Occom; writes about the Moses Paul sermon saying, “if
Indians have degenerated, they have fallen not from Adamic whiteness but from the perfect
"image of God—and whites have played a crucial role in this process” (Chiles 1405). In this
quotation, Chiles is referring to the proliferation of alcohol among Natives by white colonizers.
To all the Indians in this Boundless Continent (1784) marks the end of Occom’s sermon
publication gap. This sermon marks a departure from the “fire and brimstone” approach that the
Moses Paul sermon contained. The sermon is prefaced with;
“I am an Indian also, your Brother and you are my Bretheren the Bone of my
Bone and Flesh of my Flesh—I have had a great Desire to Write to you a long While, but
I have put it off from Time to Time, To This Time” (Occom, To all the Indians in this
Boundless Continent 1). Further along in the sermon Occom states “Jesus Christ, he is the
only Saviour of Sinner that believe in him—Now this one man—is the Father of all
Nations of the Whole World” (Occom, To all the Indians in this Boundless Continent 2).
The interaction of these two sermons produces several critical observations. Foremost, the tone
and language of Occom’s writing has shifted significantly from the Moses Paul sermon to To all
the Indians in this Boundless Continent. For instance, the Moses Paul sermon centers around the
criticism of Natives for continual indulgence of alcohol. As that topic is a particularly sharp one,
the language used in the sermon reflects the language. Additionally, in can be advocated that
Occom places himself above his fellow Natives for their use of alcohol^1. In To all the Indians…
however; Occom places himself and his audience under an enthusiastic unifying banner of being

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both Indian and Christian. This notion is important going forward because Occom’s work begins
to move further away from being a critic of his fellow Natives to becoming more of an
enthusiastic spiritual leader to them. One thing to note before going forward is that in both
Moses Paul and To all the Indians… there isn’t any language that explicitly implicates white
settlers as having a hand in the current state of Native affairs. Indeed, there is little implication of
dissatisfaction with the white colonizing mission present in either texts.
This dissatisfaction isn’t explicitly expressed in a sermon but rather in a piece of prose
entitled “The most Remarkable and Strange State Situation and Appearance of Indian Tribes in
this Great Continent” (1783). This piece is a heavy criticism on the white civilizing mission in
the United States of America and abroad. The short piece prefaced with “Some Times I am ready
to Conclude, that they[Indians] are under Great Curse from God,--But When I come to look and
view the nations of the World I Can’t See that they are under Greater Curse than other nations”
(Occom, The most remarkable and Strange State Situation and Appearence of Indian Tribes in
this Great Continent 1). The focus of this piece instead of being a critique on Natives redirects to
a critique on English colonizers with a heavy emphasis on the hypocrisy of slavery. The most
striking quotation from this piece comes in the form of;
“when I Come to Consider and See the Conduct of the Most Learned, Polite, and
Rich Nations of the World, I find them to be the Most Tyranacal, Cruel, and inhuman
oppressors of their Fellow Creatures in the World, these make all the confusions and
distructions among the Nations of the Whole World, they are the Nations, that enslave the
poor Negroes in Such Barbarous manner, as out do the Savage Indians in North America,
and these are Calld Christian Nations You may See” (Occom, The most remarkable and
Strange State Situation and Appearence of Indian Tribes in this Great Continent 1).

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This is a direct critique of the newly liberated America as well as English colonies around
the world. Furthermore, Occom goes on to observe that while differences between Natives and
the English may be construed as Natives being inferior he markedly notes that they are just
different, and that the English notions of education, law and regulations simply don’t hold and
value to Natives. This is expressed in an excerpt at the end of the piece stating “they have no
Notion of much learning, them that have had Some Learning made Little or no good Use of it—
if any of them have Learnt, they follow it not—They have no Laws or Regulations, everyone
does what is right in his own Eyes—Yet in general they are kind to one another, and are not
given to Lying, Cheating, and Steeling” (Occom, The most remarkable and Strange State
Situation and Appearence of Indian Tribes in this Great Continent 1).
This newfound ideological shift of Occom’s culminates in his involvement with the
Brotherton community in 1784. The Brotherton community was as Brooks describes “a new
pantribal settlement, to be called ‘Brotherton,’ united around principles of self-determination and
Christian worship” (Brooks 24). Interestingly, Brooks notes that Occom was often represented as
being distinctly anti-white during his involvement with Brotherton stating “Occom’s insistence
on Native governance and autonomy was construed by his rivals and opponents as anti-white
sentiment” (Brooks 27). Beyond this, Occom himself writes on the general Indian feelings
towards colonialism saying in a letter dated November 1791 “They have very great and reveted
Prejudice against the White People, and they have too much good reason for it—they have been
imposed upon, too much” (Occom, Indians must have Teachers of their own Coular or Nation 1).

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Primarily beginning after 1784 Occom often openly critiques colonialism and in
particular, slave owners. Occom died in 1792 which suggests that the views that he proliferated
during this time period were indeed the ones that he felt were the most important to be imparted
upon his people and the ones that he wanted to be remembered for. Indeed, Brooks writes “To
the end of his life, Occom remained committed to a vision of autonomous Native leadership that
did not separate spiritual from political concerns” (Brooks 27).
Perhaps in order to better understand Occom critical attention should be placed on not
only what he said but how he said it. There exists a critical moment in Occom’s life after the
Moses Paul sermon, with his new celebrity status he could have easily assumed the mantle of a
traditional religious scholar during eighteenth-century America. As such, he would have been
primarily concerned with publishing sermons and religious material with a text based focus.
Rarely, would he have needed to go out and speak at events. Indeed, the content and style of the
Moses Paul sermon is reminiscent of a more traditionalist styling. Occom however; chose not to
follow this route. Instead, he gravitated towards a more “enthusiastic Christianity” approach
which as defined in the methods section is more focused on people and as such consists of an
emphasis on intimate temporal meetings for practitioners.
This practice of “enthusiastic Christianity” is perhaps an extension of Occom’s desire to
serve his people rather than an institution. Indeed, enthusiastic Christianity shares many
similarities with the traditional Mohegan oral culture that Occom was born into and embraced.
Perhaps then it isn’t more of a conscious decision on Occom’s part to partake in this but rather a
natural progression to which he gravitated towards. His adaptation of this particular style is
revealing in that he had so many other styles he could have pursued as a practicing reverend in
eighteenth-century America.

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A theory then can be put into place that the twelve years Occom spent traveling around
and speaking to his people facilitated the realization of the importance of self-autonomy for
Natives and the burgeoning anti-colonialism sentiments he displayed in later prose and sermons
such as “The most Remarkable and Strange State Situation and Appearance of Indian Tribes in
this Great Continent” (1783) and To all the Indians… (1784). Indeed, this time in his life
influenced him so much that he chose to become a member of the Brotherton community and
spent the remainder of his life being a spiritual leader to primarily Native peoples. Occom’s
devotion to his people and his embracing of enthusiastic Christianity then challenges the
prevailing theory that Occom was indeed a product of the white civilizing mission. While Occom
may have been a product of Christianity, he certainly resisted colonialism and advocated for
Native autonomy and spirituality especially towards the latter half of his life.
In conclusion, the relatively unexplored gap of publication in Occom’s life occurring
from 1772-1784 when held to a magnifying glass; reveals that he perhaps wasn’t such a clear-cut
product of the white civilizing mission after all. By ignoring this period in Occom’s life, scholars
aren’t able to see him as an enthusiastic spiritual leader with the interests of his people forefront
in his mind. Indeed, without knowledge about this time in his life it would be relatively simple to
draw the prevailing conclusion that Occom was a successful product of the white civilizing
mission. It is then paramount to future scholarship that scholars pay attention to this period in
Occom’s life as it is a key moment in both early American literature and Native history.

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Works Cited
Blodgett, Harold. Samson Occom. Hanover: Dartmouth College, 1935. Print.
Brooks, Joanna. The Collected Writings of Samson Occom, Mohegan. New York City: Oxford
University Press, 2006.
Chiles, Katy L. "Becoming Colored in Occom and Wheatley's Early America." PMLA 123.5
(2008): 1398-1417. Print.
Kilgore, John Mac. "Rites of Dissent: Literatures of Enthusiasm and the American Revolution."
Early American Literature 48.2 (2013): 367-398. Web.
Occom, Samson. "A Sermon, Preached at the Execution of Moses Paul, an Indian." American
Antiquarian Society Catalog. New Haven: T. Green, 1772. Printed Sermon.
—. "Indians must have Teachers of their own Coular or Nation." Samson Occom Papers.
Hartford: Connecticut Historical Society, November 1791. Print.
—. "The most remarkable and Strange State Situation and Appearence of Indian Tribes in this
Great Continent." Samson Occom Papers. Hartford: Connecticut Historical Society,
1783. Print.
—. "To all the Indians in this Boundless Continent." Samson Occom Papers. Hartford:
Connecticut Historical Society, 1784. Printed Sermon.