AP American Literature Four Important People to Know from the Massachusetts Bay Colony The Massachusetts Bay Colony began to produce literature (and conflict) almost as soon as it was founded. Not all critics agree that it was good literature, but most of it was useful – in one way or another. It was largely orthodox literature, prose based on the beliefs held by the political and spiritual leaders of the colony, and some poetry. John Cotton (1584-­‐1652) Considered the colony’s first great spiritual leader and the pastor of the First Church of Boston, Cotton was called the “Patriarch of New England”. Fun fact: the first biography about an American was written about him. Among his collections of sermons is The Way of Life (1641), which summarizes the orthodox Puritan viewpoint, though congregations sometimes differed slightly in their interpretations. Cotton and others are clear that the Puritans believed firmly in the doctrine of the Trinity (Three Personed God, or Father, Son, and Holy Ghost). Cotton outlined the five points of John Calvin, the heart of Puritanism. 1. TOTAL DEPRAVITY – The blot of original sin, because of Adam’s fall, stains all mankind, which is not capable of bringing about its own salvation. 2. UNCONDITIONAL ELECTION – Neither faith nor works can save anyone; the elect are those chosen – before birth – for salvation by God. 3. LIMITTED ATONEMENT – Though Christ died for humanity’s sins, only those predestined for salvation are saved by His sacrifice. 4. IRRESISTIBLE GRACE – Just as God’s mercy cannot be earned, nor can it be denied. Those who are saved cannot avoid God’s grace; those who are not cannot avoid damnation. 5. PERSEVERANCE OF THE SAINTS – Nothing can be done to lose salvation once God has given it. The “elect” cannot ever lose their status as the elect. According to Cotton, there are seven virtues by which Puritans needed to live: 1. Industry 2. Dependence upon and unswerving loyalty to God 3. Exemplary conduct towards one’s fellow man 4. Humility 5. Cheerfulness, even in the face of the greatest adversity 6. Modesty 7. Resignation under the blows of fate Cotton also published The Keys to the Kingdom of Heaven (1644), which is the chief individual statement of the Congregational principle of the Puritan churches in New England. Each congregation is free to call, ordain, and dismiss its clergy and free to admit, exclude, and admonish its own membership. Because there is not a central, institutional control, uniform discipline was to be maintained through the congregations’ absolute adherence and fidelity to The Bible. John Winthrop (1588 – 1649) Richard Mather (1596-­‐1699) An attorney, Winthrop served as governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony for 12 of the colony’s first 20 years. His contributions – in addition to serving as the governor of the colony – included the composition of The History of New England, which detailed his time from sailing to the new world to his death. In addition, he is credited with first describing the new colonies as “a city upon the hill” – which he first used in a 1630 sermon entitled “A Model of Christian Charity”. This concept holds that the colonists would serve as a model for all others by their shining moral and religious example. The first of the celebrated “Mather dynasty,” Mather was the patriarch of three generations of clerics rigorously intent upon maintaining the Puritan theocracy. He wrote many sermons and other religious writings. He was also the one of the authors of the famous Bay Psalm Book (1640), a popular religious text used to teach religious doctrine that may have been the first text printed in America. Anne Hutchinson (1591-­‐1643) A follower of John Cotton, Hutchinson was at the center of a fierce debate – that ultimately resulted in a court case – in the Massachusetts Bay Colony from 1636 to 1638. In short, the conflict centered around Hutchinson’s espousal of antinomianism, or the belief that the following of moral laws in this world is no evidence of salvation in the next. This was in direct contrast to the predominant belief of the clergy, which was that the elect would evidence their election on earth through their good works. Ultimately, Hutchinson was brought to trial for speaking out against clergy whom she perceived as preaching a “gospel of works” (or that salvation could be earned through adherence to moral laws while living). In the end, she was banished from Boston and publically admonished by Cotton. She was exiled from Boston to Providence after the trial, but eventually relocated to New Netherland and settled in what we now call The Bronx. Shortly after her relocation, she was killed in a reprisal massacre that occurred as part of an ongoing conflict between Dutch settlers and the Siwanoy tribe. Wikipedia also says that she could fly and speak Parseltongue.