Lecture 1: ‘’a city upon a hill’’ New England Puritanism
Perry Miller is a historian/author who took an active role in the revisionist view of the colonial
puritan theocracy. He ‘’reinvented’’ puritanism and made it an important topic again.
The first English settlement that was successful was Plymouth Plantation (1620). Jamestown and
Roanoke weren’t successful. Plymouth Plantation was a Puritan settlement.
Puritanism
The protestant reformation happened from 1517 until 1648. Complaints about the catholic church
led to a campaign to reform the church and change it from within. In England, king Henry VIII
contributed to the changes. He took over the church in England and turned it into the Church of
England/Anglican Church. The king became the head of this church. A problem with the Anglican
Church was that the church didn’t change much; the church organisation stayed the same. The
Anglican Church sticked to the hierarchal tradition of the catholic church. Protestants wanted to get
rid of this organisation. This led to the emergence of groups of reformers within the Anglican Church.
Puritans wanted to purify this church.
The moment you criticised the Anglican Church, you also criticised the king or queen, since they were
head of the church. Radical puritans, called separatists, thought it was better to completely leave the
Anglican Church, because they believed change from within wasn’t possible. They established their
own church and preached a decentralised church organisation in which the local people were the
primary figures. They rejected authority of bishops and the king/queen. Because of this kings and
queens would persecute these separatists, which led to separatists fleeing the country and
establishing themselves elsewhere. They settled in the Dutch Republic because of its freedom of
religion and protestant beliefs and because the Dutch and English were allies and there were already
quite a few English people in the Dutch Republic.
In 1608 Puritans/separatists settled in Amsterdam. In 1609 they settled in Leiden.
The moment the separatists started printing and spreading separatist pamphlets, the English
authorities intervened and asked the Dutch to get rid of the separatists. The separatists now got
arrested by the Dutch authorities. This is one of the reasons why the separatists decided to leave the
Dutch Republic in 1620. Another reason for leaving Holland was the Dutch War of Independence that
resumed in 1620. Identity issues were also a reason for leaving; separatists were afraid that the
younger generations would be influenced by Dutch culture and beliefs.
The separatists decided to leave for North America. They ended up in what is currently
Massachusetts.
Plymouth Colony, New England was founded in 1620.
The group of settlers (that survived) was very small.
In 1630 a larger group of puritans (non-separatists) settled in the same area; Massachusetts Bay
Colony.
Massachusetts became a key area for British settlement, next to Virginia. Unlike Virginia it had a very
strong religious, puritan tradition.
The puritans who moved to this area after 1630 were less radical than the first puritan settlers; the
first settlers were explicitly separatist, but most of the later settlers weren’t.
The first group of separatists settlers (those who came from Leiden) are called the pilgrims. William
Bradford was part of the first group of settlers. He became governor and he helped shape and
stabilise the political institutions of the first permanent colony. John Winthrop came with the 1630
group and he became one of the leading figures in founding the Massachusetts Bay Colony.
,People from the 1630 group of settlers would establish new colonies.
The ministers would write about religion and society and they would establish a culture.
The influence of puritans on American history
The protestant puritan tradition established a strong presence in the New England area. (Religion and
religious persecution also played a role in other areas).
According to many historians the anti-hierarchical tradition of the separatists helps explain the arrival
of American democracy. These settlers indeed helped to establish a congregational tradition. They
were anti-authority to a certain extend and therefor can be considered democratic. On the other
hand, not all settlers were puritans and these settlers who weren’t had different ideas and views than
the puritans. Not all settlers came to America for religious reasons, some came for economic reasons.
Puritans didn’t want to lose control over the colony and therefore took power, establishing a form of
authority. They linked the right to vote to church membership and church membership was decided
by the ministers. This, of course, wasn’t democratic.
The puritans persecuted those with different beliefs, including the Catholics and the quakers. This
also wasn’t democratic.
Officially, church and state were separated, but in practice religious ministers had political positions.
This also was not democratic.
Puritan theology:
Calvinism: 3 doctrines
- Original sin: in Adam’s fall, we sinneth all
- Saving grace and election
- predestination
Puritans were heavily influenced by John Calvin and were strict Calvinists.
Calvinists/puritans had this negative view that whatever we can do wrong, we will do wrong. People
are sinners.
Puritans didn’t believe in free will. They believed in predestination. There is no saving grace; you
cannot gain your way into heaven, God decides if you will go to heaven or not when you are born.
People had to go through conversion experiences and tests. Some ministers would let anyone into
their churches and some ministers were very strict.
Arminianism was a reaction to the Calvinist doctrine of predestination that asserted that Gods
sovereignty and mans free will are compatible.
A jeremiad is a literary work in which the author complains about the state of society and its morals
in a serious tone of sustained invective and always contains a prophecy of society’s downfall. The
jeremiad was a favourite literary device of the puritans.
There was not one American identity created by puritans, there were many American identities, but
puritans did have an important impact on American society.
,Lecture 2: the American Revolution
The events that led to the American Revolution were part of a tradition of western colonialism.
Multiple European countries had a presence in North America, including England, France and The
Netherlands. This led to an imperialist struggle about who was going to rule the continent. The
British succeeded in getting rid of the French. The imperial struggle led to the French Indian War.
Canada became part of the British empire.
The UK government had to come up with new politics to make the country (financially) healthy again.
They came up with tax policies to make sure the English settlers paid for their own defence. These
kinds of policies were not popular in North America. Settlers used to be relatively free because of
communication issues between England and North America. When the British government became
more active in North America the settlers responded aggressively. They refused to accept the
measures the English government was trying to impose, because they were used to and wanted to
keep their freedom. This situation would lead to the American Revolution, also called the War of
Independence. The more efficient the British government tried to be, the more it stimulated some
kind of reaction.
Historians have connected the American Revolution and the European Enlightenment tradition. In
order to justify the claim for independence Americans would refer to European thinkers (intellectual
tradition).
It wasn’t only the Enlightenment tradition that led to revolutionary thinking. The republican theory
also played a huge part.
Republican ideology
The republican ideology shared some ideas with the Enlightenment tradition (which is considered a
liberal tradition). Both want the government to remain small. Local independence was important, so
the republicans were against a strong centralised government.
The Americans didn’t want a monarch or an aristocratic elite, but they wanted a republic. In the US
any sense of power was considered a threat. Power corrupts. Desired were amateur politicians,
people who did not see politics as a job. Professional politicians were considered dangerous. That’s
why George Washington, who was a general, was popular. First Washington refused the title of
president, but later he accepted. He only accepted the presidency for one term. For republicans this
was the ideal political response, because this way Washington showed he wasn’t hungry for power.
Republicans wanted non-politicians to be their leaders, because they could be trusted more than
professionals. A professional, according to the republicans, would always abuse their power.
The military wasn’t idolised, but seen as a threat because of the distrust of power.
The republican tradition differs from the liberal tradition in that it doesn’t emphasise individualism.
The republican tradition emphasises the public wellbeing. Individualism was considered a danger to
society. Citizens should work together to create a community.
Public wellbeing was linked to anti-capitalism (to a certain extend). Capitalist development was a
problem to the sense of community. Capitalism creates inequality and divides people.
Jefferson was against industrialisation and praised farmers. Industrialisation wasn’t supposed to be
part of the ‘republican experiment’. The Louisiana Purchase was important for this experiment,
because it added land and would create farms. Glorification of agricultural life was part of the anti-
capitalist ethos.
The idea was to create a community of fellow citizens who would work together and were not
strongly divided by social and economic measurements.
,The republican ideology originated in England and was important to the American Revolution.
The republican tradition started a discussion about what and who is a good citizen. What does good
citizenship involve? How do you create strong citizenship?
The republican tradition also raised the question about political representation. What is
representation like and how does it work? How can anyone represent a group perfectly? Political
representation is to a certain extend fiction.
,Lecture 3: the American Constitution and the transition to democracy
During and after the war, certain Americans started thinking about creating a new political system.
The US would need a new political tradition to get rid of the ties with the UK. People started thinking
about an American identity and culture. A new political system was needed. The Americans wanted
and needed a system that would bring the states together.
The Articles of Confederation were the first US constitution. There was no separation of power found
in the Articles of Confederation. The articles emphasised the power of the individual states. The
constitution gave priority to the individual states.
Quickly it became clear that the newly established system didn’t work. This was because states didn’t
work together and there were issues with taxes, land and the military (wars with the Natives).
Foreign affairs were also an issue because there were no people or institutions that represented
America as a unified country.
In 1780 the Articles of Confederation got rewritten the American Constitution.
Philadelphia Convention 1787, the constitutional convention
The Philadelphia Convention was a meeting that lasted throughout the summer. 55 politicians
participated. Some states didn’t send any representatives.
At some times it seemed like the convention would fail, but they succeeded due to many
compromises.
At the convention the representatives discussed principle ideas and issues like finances.
James Madison is called the father of the constitution, but he didn’t really succeed because he had to
compromise a lot. His notes on the convention are the most important we have.
Jefferson and Adams were not part of the deal.
The system created was a federal system. The power was divided, the authority was with the people.
A unitary system is built on concentrated power and centralised authority.
A confederation is built on decentralised power and concentrated authority. (zie schrift)
American politics consisted of a quarrel between state government and national government.
Republicans distrusted power so they divided it. The national division of power knows 3 branches:
1. Legislative (makes law)
2. Executive (carries out laws)
3. Judicial (interprets laws)
The legislative branch consists of the congress, the senate and the House of Representatives.
The executive branch consists of the president, the vice president and the cabinet.
The judicial branch consists of the supreme court and other federal courts.
The congress was considered the most important branch of government.
The judicial branch wasn’t considered that important.
The senate was so important that it couldn’t be completely voted out of office during an election; a
part of the senate was up for re-election after 2 years and another part after 4 years. This was to
keep a ‘tradition of wisdom’ in place.
The system remained hierarchal and not completely democratic.
Power was (is) so divided that it was chaotic. America can become ungovernable because of quarrels
between the different institutions.
When the proposal came out of Philadelphia it got send around the states for ratification. 9 states
had to sign the proposal for it to become the constitution of the US.
Hamilton, John Jay and Madison wrote the Federalist Papers to defend the proposal. This was
propaganda.
,Constitution Article 1, Section 8: the congress shall have power to……
When Washington started his administration, Alexander Hamilton wanted to start a national bank.
The congress did not have the power to do that according to the constitution.
How far can the government go to do things? The congress had the right to make all laws which shall
be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers and all other powers
vested by the constitution in the government or in any department or office thereof.
Commerce falls within the power of congress. Because of this the congress had quite a say in
economic affairs.
A broad reading or interpretation of the constitution usually meant support of a strong national
government.
A strict reading or interpretation of the constitution was usually represented by the states rights
representatives.
Section 8 of Article 1 is the most important section.
Article 2 deals with the president of the United States.
The Bill of Rights indicates the relationship between citizens and the federal government.
Article 3 is about the judicial power. This power is vested in the Supreme Court.
The system invited quarrels. It fits into a republican perspective by inviting people to become part of
the system. The moment you disagree with something the system allows you all kinds of
opportunities to undermine decisions. This is one of the reasons why the US is ungovernable, but it
also stimulates creativity and activism.
Article 4, Section 2:
The citizens of each state shall be entitled to all privileges and immunities of citizens in the several
states.
No person held to service or labour in one state, under the laws thereof, escaping into another, shall
in consequence of any law or regulation therein be discharged of service or labour, but shall be
delivered on claim of the party to whom such service or labour may be due.
This part of the article is about enslaved people. Runaway slaves must be returned to their masters,
is what this section says. It was a compromise between the North and the South. Slavery itself is not
mentioned in the text. The section was written in a passive way and doesn’t explicitly mention
slavery to create confusion.
Question in the 1780’s was if enslaved people count as people or not. Northern representatives said
they didn’t. Enslaved people didn’t count as population, so the South got less representatives in the
government, since a big part of the population of the South consisted of enslaved people. This would
eventually lead to a compromise between the North and the South: 3/5 of enslaved people would
count as population.
The South made sure the national congress couldn’t undermine the international slave trade. The
congress wasn’t allowed to undermine the slave trade for 20 years. After those 20 years the congress
did abolish the slave trade. This led to the South breeding slaves.
The Haitian Revolution led to the abolition of slavery in Haiti, which was a horrific event in the eyes of
the South. The South didn’t want rebellious slaves and therefor went along with the abolition of the
slave trade.
, The political system wasn’t democratic; the president was chosen indirectly, the senate was chosen
indirectly, politics were dominated by white men more than elsewhere, African Americans and
women didn’t have political rights etc.
The elite was supposed to take care of the common good and they were supposed to rule over the
country.
The republican tradition idolises self-sacrifice. It demands from politicians and citizens that they
sacrifice their own selves for the common good and the public wellbeing. At the same time the
republican tradition distrusts citizens and politicians.
Political parties were distrusted by some republicans because political parties stand for division. They
represent divisions within society.
First Party System: 1790s – 1830s:
Republican Federalist
Thomas Jefferson Alexander Hamilton
James Madison John Adams
James Monroe
Transition: 1824 – 1830
Democratic republican National republican
Andrew Jackson John Quincy Adams
Second Party System: 1830s – 1850s
Democrat Whig
Andrew Jackson Henry Clay
Martin van Buren Daniel Webster
John Calhoun W. H. Harrison
James Polk
Third Party System: 1856 – 1890s
Democrat Republican
Stephan Douglas Abraham Lincoln
Franklin Pierce William Seward
James Buchanan
The moment Hamilton started working on his idea of creating a national bank his opponents began
to organise. Among his opponents were Madison and Jefferson. This led to the First Party System. In
this system existed the division of supporters of the state government and supporters of the national
government, a division of strict readers of the constitution and the broad readers.
The Federalist Party ruled in the 1790s. Then Jefferson became president in 1800 and the democratic
republicans took over. Jefferson’s states’ rights tradition was powerful. The First Party System ended
because the republican party was so dominant.
The democratic party that got founded after the First Party System is the same democratic party we
know today and is the ‘successor’ of the democratic republican party (Jefferson’s party).
