2. Importance - Chronicles Pilgrim life from
insiders / subjective point of view -
portrays Puritan Piety as it was practiced
Scope of History is large – Began writing
history in 1630 - 10 years after
establishment of Plymouth Plantation and
coincidental with the establishment of
Massachusetts Bay colony - rival Puritan
group.
History is Retrospect – written after fact
as attempt to preserve history of Pilgrims
against large Mass. Bay Colony –
preservation
Chronicles Puritan/Pilgrim experience
from Separation in England thro
experiences in Holland to
immigration to New World
Shows daily struggles of common
people - anointed people - to fulfill
their destiny, live by the word of
God and carry out God's will
Portrays Pilgrims as Honest, Sensible,
Hard-working people working to
realize God’s plan
3. History:
Sees no conflict between providential causes and natural causes - seeks to
discover the Providential design of history - recognizes that the faithful search for
God's will was the major quest of Pilgrim's life
Recognized that belief in Providence caused as many problems for them as it
solved - especially effects of prosperity as a major cause of conflict within and
among the Puritan/Pilgrim community - recognizes pattern of evolution common
to secular history - Mobility and prosperity harm the community
History is dialectic of the chosen people - acting out Christian typology (plan)
search to find God's will while mediating world around them - disease and remedy,
prosperity and adversity, friend and enemy
4. Summary
1. History is dialectic of the chosen people -
acting out Christian typology (plan) search
to find God's will while mediating world
around them - disease and remedy,
prosperity and adversity, friend and enemy
2. History appeals to law as the true
foundation of liberty (church law) -
Mayflower Compact -
3. History of transformation - complex
historical forces that work to transform
church and the commonwealth
History provides early instances of
themes prevalent in American
immigration and frontier literatures –
civilized people struggling against savage
unrelenting environment - cycle of
struggle, survival, and decline
(assimilation - Americanization)
