F. Scott Fitzgerald
American History and Literature
English Dept.
ISK/Linköping University
Margarette Connor
• “France was a land,
England was a
people, but
America, having
about it still that
quality of an idea,
was harder to utter.
. . it was a
willingness of the
heart.”
• ”The Swimmers,”
1929
Roots of Christian humanism
Biblical injunction
• Greco-Roman-Hebrew-Christian
“cultural soup”
• Sources:
• The entire verse I refer to is 2
Corinthians 6:17
• “Wherefore come out from among
them, and be ye separate, saith the
Lord, and touch not the unclean thing;
and I will receive you.” (King James
Bible)
• Plato, Aristotle, the Bible—Old and New
Testaments
• 2 Korinthierbrevet 6:17 (Levande Bibeln)
• Det är därför som Herren har sagt: Lämna dem, skilj er
ifrån dem. Rör inte det som är orent. Då ska jag ta emot er
Well educated populace
• “It is likely that no other colonists in
the history of the world were as
intellectual as the Puritans. Between
1630 and 1690, there were as many
university graduates in the
northeastern section of the United
States, known as New England, as in
the mother country.”
Harvard College
Harvard College drawn by
Joseph Chadwick and engraved
by Paul Revere, shows the
College in about 1767.
Source:http://www.hno.harvard.edu/guide/intro
/index.html
The seal of Harvard University.
For those of you who forget
your Latin, veritas means
”truth”.
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Harvard’s original mission
Place of higher learning
• "To advance Learning and perpetuate
it to Posterity; dreading to leave an
illiterate Ministry to the Churches."
• In 1776, when the Americans declared
independence, there were about four million
of them.
• They had at least seven colleges and
universities.
• The ability to read Latin writers such as
Cicero, Livy, and Horace extemporaneously
was an entrance requirement at colonial
schools such as Harvard.
Want to try some Horace?
European leaders of the Reformation
• Maecenas atauis edite
regibus,
o et praesidium et
dulce decus meum,
sunt quos curriculo
puluerem Olympicum
collegisse iuuat
metaque feruidis
euitata rotis palmaque
nobilis
• terrarum dominos
euehit ad deos;
• Maecenas, born of
monarch ancestors,
The shield at once and
glory of my life!
There are who joy them
in the Olympic strife
And love the dust they
gather in the course;
• (From the Odes, I)
Jean Calvin, the French
theologian whose writings are
the basis for Reformed
Christianity.
Source: www.raffiniert.ch
The Reformation Monument
Geneva, where Calvin had his ministry, was considered by
Reformed Christians to be the most perfect Christian
community on Earth since Jesus and his apostles. Early
colonists aimed to bring this Paradise to the New World.
John Knox, who brought the
Reformation to Scotland.
Source: www.johnknox.ch
Puritan rule in England
• From 1649-1660,
England was ruled
by a Puritancontrolled
Parliament led by
army General Oliver
Cromwell, as Lord
Protector,
considered a hero of
the Reformation
Source: http://www.olivercromwell.org/
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Huguenots
New Netherland
The coastline
claimed by New
Netherland and
some prominent
settlements
shown relative
to modern
borders
Scenes like this in France were one of the reasons the
Huguenots fled to the New World. Protestant churches
and houses were burned and destroyed, and their bibles and
hymn books burned. Many Huguenots were burned at the stake
Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
New_Netherland
Source: http://members.tripod.com/DuToit.F/the_huguenot.htm
New Netherlands, map of 1650
Pennsylvania
• “Penn's holy
experiment was firstly
his plan, and secondly
idealistic to the point of
utopianism. He wanted
to establish a society
that was godly,
virtuous and exemplary
for all of humanity. This
grandiose, visionary
thought was not out of
place in the history of
American colonization”
Who are the Quakers?
• The message centred on
"The Inner Light". More
correctly this should be
termed the "Inner Light of
Christ", because a basic part
of the message was that
"Christ had come to teach
his people himself".
• No longer did they have to
look to Priest, or Church, or
Book as the final authority;
• the authority and the
"Truth" was to be found by
the individual through direct
knowledge of the spirit of
Christ - the "Christ in the
heart". (from Murray-Rust, ch 2)
Coffin ships
Harper's Weekly
image of the
"coffin ships"
showing the
cramped,
unhealthy
accommodations
for the Irish
immigrants.
Source:
http://www.victoriana.com/Iri
sh/coffin.htm
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Europeans flock to America
Swedes in America
John Alexis Edgren,
left founded Swedish
Baptist Seminary
(now Bethel), Chicago
in 1871.
Swedish
immigrants made
the hazardous
Atlantic crossing in
ships such as this
one. Many were
penniless upon arrival
in the U.S.
Source:
http://www.loc.go
v/rr/european/imd
e/images/shipmed.jpg
Predestination
Source:
http://www.bgcworld.org/in
tro/howwegrew/roots.htm
Swedish immigrants on the
American plains (see Willa
Cather’s books). Source: pbs.org
NYC Churches, 1771
• The Biblical basis for predestination comes
from this verse:
• According as he hath chosen us in him
before the foundation of the world, that we
should be holy and without blame before
him in love (Ephesians 1:4, KJV)
• För länge sedan, redan innan han skapade världen, valde Gud
ut oss till att bli hans egendom. Vi skulle tillhöra honom och
vara hans egna. I hans ögon skulle vi vara heliga och utan
minsta fel och leva omslutna av hans kärlek.
Source:
http://www.nhc.rtp.nc.us/tserve/eighteen/ekeyinfo/midcol.htm
Deism
Deists in control—The Age of Reason
• All of these
Founding Fathers
subscribed to
Deism, which is not
the same thing as
Christianity.
•
Source:
http://www.goatstar.org/foundingfathers
.jpg
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Don’t mess with Americans!
Paul Revere’s political engraving
This man is
being tarred
and
feathered for
being an
English
supporter.
Source:http://acad
emic.brooklyn.cuny.
edu/history/dfg/cor
e/c4-vi.htm
Description of Revere’s engraving
• "The Able Doctor, or America Swallowing the Bitter Draught,"
portrays the Indian woman being held down by British officials,
forced to drink "the vile Bohea."
• Lord Mansfield, in a wig and judicial robe, holds America down
as Lord North, with the Port Act in his pocket, pours the tea
down her throat. Lord Sandwich occupies his time peering
under "America's" skirt as Lord Bute stands by with a sword
inscribed "Military Law."
• The bystanders (Spain and France) consider aid for the
colonies. In the background, Boston's skyline is labelled
"cannonaded;" a petition of grievances lies shredded in the
foreground, symbolic of the British government's failure to
provide justice for America
• This engraving, published in the Royal American Magazine's
June, 1774 edition, was copied from a similar work in
England's London Magazine two months earlier.
•
Source: http://www.ratical.org/many_worlds/6Nations/EoL/chp7.html
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