ON APRIL 7, 1630, A FLEET OF SHIPS CARRYING ABOUT 1,000
BRITISH MEN, WOMEN, AND CHILDREN BEGAN A THREE-MONTH VOYAGE TO
THE NEW WORLD.
THEY WOULD SOON ARRIVE IN WHAT IS NOW BOSTON,
MASSACHUSETTS- THE CITY THEY CREATED.
THEY WERE THE PURITANS.
THEIR LEADER WAS THE REV. JOHN WINTHROP, WHOM NOTED HISTORIAN
PAUL JOHNSON HAS DUBBED "THE FIRST GREAT AMERICAN."
ABOARD THE SHIP, ARABELLA, WINTHROP PREACHED A SERMON TO
HIS FOLLOWERS CALLED "A MODEL OF CHRISTIAN CHARITY."
HIS VOICE CARRIED SO THAT THOSE IN ALL OF THE SHIPS
COULD HEAR HIM.
“WE SHALL FIND THAT THE GOD OF ISRAEL IS AMONG US, AND TEN OF
US SHALL BE ABLE TO RESIST A THOUSAND OF OUR ENEMIES.
THE LORD WILL MAKE OUR NAME A PRAISE AND GLORY, SO THAT MEN
SHALL SAY OF SUCCEEDING PLANTATIONS: ‘THE LORD MAKE IT
LIKE THAT OF NEW ENGLAND.’ FOR WE MUST CONSIDER THAT WE SHALL
BE LIKE A CITY UPON A HILL, THE EYES OF ALL PEOPLE ARE ON US.”
-JOHN WINTHROP
THE CITY UPON A HILL REFERENCE OF REV. JOHN WINTHROP (WHO WAS
QUOTING JESUS) WAS A FAVORITE PHRASE OF RONALD REAGAN.
IN 1989, IN HIS LAST RADIO ADDRESS, OUTGOING PRESIDENT
RONALD REAGAN, REFERENCED IT.
"THE HOPE OF HUMAN FREEDOM, THE QUEST FOR IT, THE ACHIEVEMENT OF
IT IS THE AMERICAN SAGA.
AND I'VE OFTEN RECALLED ONE GROUP OF EARLY SETTLERS MAKING A
TREACHEROUS CROSSING OF THE ATLANTIC ON A SMALL SHIP WHEN
THEIR LEADER, A MINISTER, NOTED THAT PERHAPS THEIR VENTURE WOULD
FAIL AND THEY WOULD BECOME A BYWORD, A FOOTNOTE TO HISTORY.
BUT PERHAPS, TOO, WITH GOD'S HELP, THEY MIGHT FOUND A NEW
WORLD, A CITY UPON A HILL, A LIGHT UNTO NATIONS."
THE PURITANS ARE OFTEN MALIGNED TODAY.
THEY’RE THROWN INTO, YOU KNOW, PUT A’S ON WOMEN’S CHESTS AND
THE WITCH HUNTS OF SALEM IN THE 1690S.
THESE SIDELIGHTS OF HISTORY SHOULD BE PUT IN CONTEXT THAT
THESE PURITANS, THE VAST MAJORITY OF THEM, NOT ONLY WERE
THEY BIBLICAL THINKERS, THEY WERE OPEN-MINDED AND DEVELOPED A
FORM OF GOVERNMENT THAT ALLOWED LIBERTY AND JUSTICE FOR ALL.
IF YOU BELIEVE IN AMERICA’S CONSTITUTION AND IN THE FREEDOMS
WE HAVE TODAY, YOU CAN LOOK NO FURTHER THAN THE PURITANS.
THE PURITANS GAINED THEIR MONIKER BECAUSE THEY HAD
ATTEMPTED TO WORK FOR THE PURITY OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND.
A TINY SUBSET OF PURITANS WERE THE SEPARATISTS, WHO THOUGHT
REFORM WITHIN THE CHURCH WAS HOPELESS.
THE MOST FAMOUS OF THESE SEPARATISTS WERE THE PILGRIMS, A
PARTICULAR CONGREGATION WHO FOUNDED A COLONY IN PLYMOUTH,
MASSACHUSETTS.
THUS, PLYMOUTH IN 1620 PAVED THE WAY TO NEW ENGLAND, BEGINNING IN
EARNEST IN 1630.
ALTHOUGH THE PURITANS HAD PLANNED TO STAY IN ENGLAND AND
CONTINUE TO WORK FOR THE CHURCH’S REFORM, PERSECUTION IN
ENGLAND GREW EXCEEDINGLY BITTER FOR THEM.
WHAT HAPPENED WAS THAT IF YOU DIDN’T BELIEVE EXACTLY THE WAY
THE KING DID, YOU WERE PERSECUTED, AND THERE WOULD BE
BURNING AT THE STAKE, THERE WOULD BE DRAWN AND QUARTERING,
IT WAS A PRETTY SERIOUS THING.
SOMETIMES IN ENGLAND, IN THE STAR CHAMBER, THEY WOULD BRAND
THEM ON THE FACE AS A HERETIC WITH THE LETTERS SL FOR
SEDITIOUS LIABLE OR CUT OFF AN EAR OR EVEN CUT SOMEONE’S NOSE
IN HALF.
IT WAS SERIOUS FOR NOT BELIEVING THE WAY THE KING DID.
AND SO, FOR CONSCIENCE SAKE, THAT’S WHEN PEOPLE BEGAN TO FLEE
AND EVENTUALLY FLED TO THE COLONIES IN AMERICA.
IN 1625, KING JAMES THE FIRST, A PERSECUTOR OF CHRISTIAN
NON-CONFORMISTS, DIED.
HIS SON CHARLES THE FIRST ASCENDED TO THE THRONE.
AS BAD AS JAMES MIGHT HAVE BEEN AS PERSECUTOR, CHARLES
WAS WORSE.
WITHIN TWO DECADES, THE RELIGIOUS CONFLICT IN ENGLAND
GREW SO SEVERE THAT THE NATION WAS PLUNGED INTO CIVIL WAR.
THE PURITANS LED BY AN INDEPENDENT,
OLIVER CROMWELL, WON.
AND KING CHARLES WAS BEHEADED IN 1649.
MEANWHILE, BACK IN 1630, PURITANS WERE LEAVING ENGLAND IN
A GREAT MIGRATION THAT WOULD RESULT, EVENTUALLY, IN SEVERAL
THOUSANDS OF THEM UPROOTING TO THE NEW WORLD---SPECIFICALLY IN
NEW ENGLAND.
THUS, THE PILGRIMS HAD PAVED THE WAY FOR THIS MASS UPROOTING.
FOR THE MOST PART, THESE PURITANS WERE NOT YOUR “HUDDLED
MASSES, YEARNING TO BREATHE FREE.” THESE MEN AND WOMEN WERE
AMONG THE CREAM OF SOCIETY; THEY WERE THE WELL-EDUCATED AND THE
WELL-TO-DO, BUT THEY WERE RELIGIOUS NONCONFORMISTS.
AND THEY ALL CHERISHED THE BIBLICAL CONCEPT OF
COVENANT---AN AGREEMENT FOR SELF-GOVERNMENT, UNDER GOD.
THE PURITANS WERE CRITICAL TO THE RISE OF COVENTALISM AND TO
REPUBLICANISM AND TO AMERICAN FREEDOM, AT LARGE.
NOW, YOU HAVE TO SAY, THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY WAS, AS
HISTORIANS PUT IT, TEEMING WITH FREEDOM.
YOU HAD THE PURITANS, YES, BUT YOU HAD THE LEVELERS AND THE
RANTERS AND THE SHAKERS AND THE QUAKERS AND THE AGITATORS.
THEY ARE ABSOLUTELY DECISIVE IN SHAPING OF THE AMERICAN FREEDOM.
EARLIER, WHEN HE HAD STUDIED AT CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY, PURITAN
LEADER JOHN WINTHROP JOINED WITH OTHER LIKE-MINDED STUDENTS AT
CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY MADE A COVENANT WITH EACH OTHER,
COMMITTING THEMSELVES TO GOD FIRST AND THEN TO EACH OTHER.
WINTHROP HAD A SIZABLE ESTATE, WHICH HE SPENT TO HELP FURTHER
THE COLONY.
HE LOST MUCH MATERIAL GOODS, BUT HE WAS COMMITTED TO THE CAUSE.
“MANY WERE THE AFFLICTIONS OF THIS RIGHTEOUS MAN!
HE LOST MUCH OF HIS ESTATE IN A SHIP, AND IN AN HOUSE, QUICKLY
AFTER HIS COMING TO NEW ENGLAND, BESIDES THE PRODIGIOUS EXPENSE
OF IT IN THE DIFFICULTIES OF HIS COMING [HERE].”
-REV. COTTON MATHER
THIS UPROOTING FROM THEIR HOMES AND THEIR WIDER FAMILIES MUST
HAVE BEEN TRAUMATIC.
ABOUT 100 OR SO OF THE ORIGINAL SETTLERS WHO CREATED BOSTON IN
1630 DECIDED TO RETURN TO ENGLAND AFTER SEVERAL MONTHS.
HOWEVER, THE VAST MAJORITY STAYED, EVEN AS SOME OF THEIR
BRETHREN CONTENDED WITH FATAL DISEASES.
REV. JOHN WINTHROP WAS ONE OF THE 1ST GREAT AMERICANS.
HE IS THE ONE THAT TALKED ABOUT THE SHINING CITY ON A HILL, AND
THIS IS REALLY IMPORTANT TO UNDERSTAND---THAT THE AMERICAN
EXPERIMENT AND THE IDEA OF SELF-GOVERNANCE, AND OBJECT
MORAL TRUTH IS IMBEDDED IN SOCIETY ISN’T SOMETHING THAT
JUST CAME OUT OF A VACUUM OR SOMEONE WOKE UP WITH A GREAT
IDEA ONE DAY.
IT WAS SOMETHING THAT CAME FROM A LONG LINE OF
UNDERSTANDING---BIBLICAL TRUTH THAT HAS BEEN AROUND ETERNALLY.
WHEN THEY HAD SET SAIL TO AMERICA, JOHN WINTHROP'S WIFE
WAS NOT WITH THEM.
SHE WAS PREGNANT AT THE TIME HE SET SAIL FOR AMERICA, AND THEY
BOTH DECIDED IT WAS BETTER FOR HER TO COME WHEN IT WAS SAFE FOR
HER AND THE CHILD.
DESPITE A HARSH WINTER AND DESPITE A NUMBER OF
DIFFICULTIES, JOHN WINTHROP WROTE A LETTER TO HER BACK IN
ENGLAND, IN WHICH HE EXPLAINED ONE CHALLENGE AFTER ANOTHER, BUT
THEN HE REMINDED HER OF THE SINGLE PURPOSE OF THEIR
SETTLEMENT.
“WE HERE ENJOY GOD AND JESUS CHRIST, AND IS NOT THIS ENOUGH?”
-JOHN WINTHROP
REV. JOHN WINTHROP'S SETTLEMENT OF BOSTON IN 1630 WAS THE FIRST
MAJOR WAVE OF PURITANS TO COME TO AMERICA.
THE PURITANS HELD THE FIRST SECRET BALLOTS IN AMERICA- TO
ELECT THEIR MINISTER.
EVEN THE TERM “ELECTION” WAS USED BY THE PURITANS BECAUSE
THEY BELIEVED IN THE CALVINIST DOCTRINE OF ELECTION.
THAT SOME WERE CHOSEN BY GOD TO BE SAVED.
WHEN AN ELECTION WAS HELD, THE QUESTION WAS: WHICH OF THESE
CANDIDATES SEEMS TO EXHIBIT THE CHARACTERISTICS OF SOMEONE WHO
IS ELECT?
FURTHERMORE, THE PURITANS IMPLEMENTED THE PRACTICE OF
HAVING ELECTION DAY SERMONS
AN ELECTION DAY SERMON IS THAT ON THE DAY OF THE ELECTION THEY
WOULD HAVE THE MINISTER, THEY WOULD CHOOSE A MINISTER IN A
LOCAL COMMUNITY OR IN A COLONY, TO ACTUALLY GIVE A SERMON ABOUT
THE MORALITY AND CHARACTER OF THE MEN THAT SHOULD BE ELECTED
THAT DAY OR WOMEN ELECTED TO OFFICE.
AND THEY DID THIS IN AMERICA THROUGHOUT THE COLONIAL ERA AND
REALLY CAUSED THE ELECTORATE TO THINK MORALLY AND SPIRITUALLY
THAT THEIR VOTE COUNTED, THAT THEY WERE MAKING A DECISION THAT
WOULD DETERMINE THEIR FREEDOM.
THE DEVOUT MEN AND WOMEN WHO SETTLED NEW ENGLAND---THE
PILGRIMS AND THEN THE PURITANS---SAW THEMSELVES AS
BEING ON AN “ERRAND INTO THE WILDERNESS,” ACCORDING TO
REV. COTTON MATHER, WHO LIVED FROM 1663 UNTIL 1728.
COTTON MATHER WAS A PROLIFIC PURITAN DIVINE, FROM WHOM WE
LEARN SO MUCH ABOUT THEIR SETTLEMENTS.
MATHER, WHO GRADUATED FROM HARVARD IN 1678 WHEN HE WAS 15,
WROTE HUNDREDS OF BOOKS---INCLUDING A LARGE,
TWO-VOLUME SET, “MAGNALIA CHRISTI AMERICANA” OR THE GREAT
WORKS OF CHRIST IN AMERICA.
IT WAS FIRST PUBLISHED IN 1702, AND IT PROVIDES AN EARLY ACCOUNT
OF SO MUCH FROM THAT ERA, INCLUDING HIS PIOUS ANCESTORS.
“WHEREVER THEY SAT DOWN, THEY WERE SO MINDFUL OF THEIR ERRAND
INTO THE WILDERNESS, THAT STILL ONE OF THEIR FIRST WORKS WAS TO
GATHER A CHURCH INTO THE COVENANT AND ORDER OF THE
GOSPEL.” -COTTON MATHER
THIS WAS NOT AN EASY ERRAND.
THE SHORES WERE INHOSPITABLE, AS WERE THE WINTERS, WHICH PROVED
SO FATAL AT FIRST.
THE INDIANS WERE HOSTILE.
MANY THINGS WERE GOING AGAINST THE PURITANS.
NONETHELESS, THEY VIEWED THEIR EFFORTS AS BEING BLESSED BY GOD.
SPEAKING OF NEW ENGLAND AT LARGE, COTTON MATHER WOULD
DECLARE....
“NEVER WAS ANY PLANTATION BROUGHT UNTO SUCH A
CONSIDERABLENESS, IN A SPACE OF TIME SO INCONSIDERABLE!
AN HOWLING WILDERNESS IN A FEW YEARS BECAME A PLEASANT LAND,
ACCOMMODATED WITH THE NECESSARIES---YEA, AND THE
CONVENIENCES OF HUMANE LIFE; THE GOSPEL HAS CARRIED WITH IT A
FULLNESS OF ALL OTHER BLESSINGS . . .”
-COTTON MATHER
ALTHOUGH INITIALLY, THE PURITANS WERE TECHNICALLY MEMBERS OF THE
CHURCH OF ENGLAND, WHICH HAS A RULE-BY-BISHOPS MODEL, IN
AMERICA, THEY CHOSE TO ADOPT THE CONGREGATIONAL MODEL---THE ONE
PRACTICED BY THE PILGRIMS.
THIS MODEL STRESSED SELF-GOVERNMENT FOR EACH
CONGREGATION.
THEY WOULD VOTE IN THEIR OWN PASTORS.
“IN A SENSE, THE CLERGY WERE THE FIRST ELECTED OFFICIALS OF THE
NEW AMERICAN SOCIETY, A SOCIETY WHICH TO THAT EXTENT HAD A
DEMOCRATIC ELEMENT FROM THE START . . .”
-PAUL JOHNSON
BOSTON FLOURISHED AS A TOWN THE PURITANS BUILT FROM SCRATCH.
“THE DISPENSATIONS OF THE GOSPEL WERE NEVER ENJOYED BY ANY TOWN
WITH MORE LIBERTY AND PURITY FOR SO LONG A WHILE TOGETHER.”
-COTTON MATHER
MATHER POINTED OUT THAT BOSTON HAD BEEN THREATENED MANY TIMES,
SO THE CITY OFFICIALS CALLED FOR DAYS OF FASTING AND PRAYER.
THEY CALLED ON GOD TO SPARE THEM FROM MULTIPLE FIRES, FROM A
POTENTIAL FRENCH INVASION, AND FROM OUTBREAKS OF SMALL-POX.
THEY REPEATEDLY SAW ANSWERS TO THEIR PRAYERS.
AND WHAT WAS THE PRACTICAL IMPACT OF PERSONAL PIETY ON
BOSTON IN THAT ERA?
A 17TH CENTURY TRAVELER FROM LONDON SAID “I HAVE LIVED IN A
COUNTRY WHERE IN SEVEN YEARS I NEVER SAW A BEGGAR, NOR HEARD AN
OATH [A CUSS WORD], NOR LOOKED UPON A DRUNKARD.” HE WAS TALKING
ABOUT BOSTON.
“IT MAY BE THERE NEVER WAS ANY REGION UNDER HEAVEN HAPPIER THAN
POOR NEW-ENGLAND HATH BEEN IN MAGISTRATES, WHOSE TRUE PIETY
WAS WORTHY TO BE MADE THE EXAMPLE OF AFTER-AGES.”
-COTTON MATHER
THE PURITANS WERE DEDICATED TO THE RULE OF LAW.
SO THEY COMMISSIONED A MINISTER WHO HAD LEGAL TRAINING TO
ASSEMBLE TOGETHER PRINCIPLES OF THE BIBLE THAT WOULD SPELL OUT
CIVIL LIBERTIES THAT THE COLONISTS COULD IMPLEMENT.
REV. NATHANIEL WARD THUS CREATED IN 1641, THE MASSACHUSETTS BODY
OF LIBERTIES.
THE PURITANS CARED VERY MUCH ABOUT CIVIL LIBERTIES.
AND, OF COURSE, WERE VERY RIGHTEOUS IN THEIR UNDERSTANDING
OF GOD’S DESIGN IN THE WORLD.
CIVIL LIBERTIES SPELLED OUT IN THE MASSACHUSETTS BODY OF
LIBERTIES INCLUDED DUE PROCESS AND AVOIDING DOUBLE JEOPARDY.
JOHN WINTHROP, THE KEY PURITAN LEADER IN BOSTON, WAS A STRONG
LEADER, AND IN SOME CASES, HE WAS ACCUSED OF BEING TOO STRONG.
BUT SOME HISTORIANS, LIKE PAUL JOHNSON, AUTHOR OF A HISTORY OF
THE AMERICAN PEOPLE, NOTE THAT WINTHROP HAD TO BE STRONG TO
BUILD UP EVERYTHING FROM SCRATCH.
IN ONLY A FEW DECADES, REV. JOHN WINTHROP HAD OVERALL SUCCEEDED
IN CREATING A SETTLEMENT BASED ON THE BIBLE.
THE "CITY ON A HILL" WAS BECOMING ESTABLISHED.
NONETHELESS, SOME OF THEM WANTED TO START THEIR OWN
SIMILAR SETTLEMENTS.
ONE OF THE EARLIEST PURITANS TO HAVE A FALL-OUT WITH WINTHROP
AND OTHER FELLOW PURITANS WAS REV ROGER WILLIAMS, WHO LIVED
FROM 1603-1683.
HE WAS A STICKLER FOR CONSCIENCE.
HE WAS NON-COMPROMISING AND NOT EASY TO GET ALONG WITH.
HISTORIAN PAUL JOHNSON, WHO CALLED WINTHROP “THE FIRST GREAT
AMERICAN,” CALLED ROGER WILLIAMS “THE SECOND GREAT AMERICAN.”
IF PURITANISM MEANS BEING STRICT BECAUSE OF RELIGION THAN ROGER
WILLIAMS OUT-PURITANED THE PURITANS.
ROGER WILLIAMS SPENT A SHORT TIME AS A TEACHER AND MINISTER
IN SALEM, IN PLYMOUTH, BACK TO SALEM, AND THEN IN BOSTON.
WHEN THE PURITAN LEADERS BEGAN A POLICY OF REQUIRING OATHS- THAT
IS, FORCING MEN TO MAKE VOWS OF ALLEGIANCE TO THE COLONY, TO
INSURE ITS SURVIVAL, SINCE THERE WAS TROUBLE WITHIN AND TROUBLE
WITHOUT, WILLIAMS FELT THAT TAKING OATHS LIKE THIS VIOLATED
THE BIBLE.
JESUS SAID, DON'T SWEAR OR TAKE OATHS, BUT LET YOUR YES BE YES
AND YOUR NO, NO.
SO REV. WILLIAMS COULD NOT IN GOOD CONSCIENCE SWEAR ALLEGIANCE
TO THE COLONY (OR TO ANY COLONY).
WILLIAMS' PRICKLY DISSENT WAS NOT WELCOME.
AND THIS REFUSAL TO TAKE THE FREEMAN'S OATH WAS
THE LAST STRAW.
THEY ORDERED HIM TO RETURN TO ENGLAND.
AND FOR THE FIRST TIME, ROGER WILLIAMS DISOBEYED THEM.
BUT IT WAS WINTER TIME.
REV. WILLIAMS FLED INTO THE WILDERNESS, BUT HE WAS HELPED BY
INDIANS ALONG THE WAY DURING THE 14 WEEK FLIGHT.
HE WAS SO GRATEFUL TO GOD THAT HE NAMED THE CITY HE FOUNDED IN
HONOR OF GOD.
THE NAME HAS STUCK TO THIS DAY- PROVIDENCE.
THE CAPITAL OF THE COLONY HE FOUNDED- RHODE ISLAND, WHICH HE
DETERMINED TO MAKE A PLACE OF REFUGE FOR CONSCIENCE SAKE.
ROGER WILLIAMS, I THINK, WAS A MAN AHEAD OF HIS TIME
IN MANY WAYS.
MANY OF US THINK THAT SOMEHOW OR OTHER RELIGIOUS LIBERTY IS
SOMETHING THAT HAS ROOTS WAY, WAY DEEP IN HISTORY.
ACTUALLY, RELIGIOUS LIBERTY IS A VERY UNUSUAL THING
IN HUMAN HISTORY.
AND IT ACTUALLY TOOK SEVERAL CENTURIES FOR US TO GO FROM
STATE-SPONSORED RELIGION TO A LITTLE BIT OF RELIGIOUS
TOLERATION TO MORE TOLERATION TO FULL RELIGIOUS LIBERTY.
ROGER WILLIAMS WAS SOMEONE WHO BELIEVED THAT IT WAS IMPORTANT
THAT A MAN’S CONSCIENCE BEFORE GOD COMES BEFORE HIS
RESPONSIBILITY TO OBEY CIVIL AUTHORITIES.
A FEW YEARS LATER, REV. ROGER WILLIAMS RETURNED TO ENGLAND TO
APPLY FOR PERMISSION TO CREATE THE COLONY OF RHODE ISLAND,
WHICH HE VIEWED AN EXPERIMENT IN RELIGIOUS LIBERTY.
THERE WOULD BE NO RELIGIOUS TEST FOR ANYONE TO
BE A RESIDENT THERE.
"I DESIRED . . .
IT MIGHT BE FOR A SHELTER FOR PERSONS DISTRESSED FOR
CONSCIENCE.” -ROGER WILLIAMS
RHODE ISLAND BECAME A PLACE WHERE, "GOD ALONE WAS RESPECTED
AS THE RULER OF CONSCIENCE.” HISTORIAN PAUL JOHNSON NOTES
THAT RHODE ISLAND INTRODUCED “THE PRINCIPLES OF COMPLETE
RELIGIOUS FREEDOM,” THE SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE,
AND “THE PRACTICE OF RELIGIOUS COMPETITION.”
HIS GREAT CONTRIBUTION WAS FREEDOM
OF CONSCIENCE AND A CLARION CALL AGAINST USING THE
FORCE OF THE STATE TO ENFORCE CORRECT DOCTRINE.
FORCING PEOPLE AGAINST THEIR WILL ISN’T WHAT LOVE IS ABOUT,
IT’S NOT WHAT TRUE FAITH IS.
JESUS NEVER, NEVER USED VIOLENCE TO TELL PEOPLE THEY HAD TO BE
HIS FOLLOWER.
HE LET THEM GO FREELY.
ROGER WILLIAMS DECRIED THE BLOOD OF SO MANY THAT HAD BEEN SHED IN
THE NAME OF RELIGION.
IN 1644, HE WROTE A TREATISE AGAINST THIS, THE BLOODY TENANT
OF PERSECUTION, IN WHICH HE DECLARED THAT THE ONLY TYPE OF
SWORD TO BE USED BY THE CHRISTIAN WAS THE "SWORD OF THE
SPIRIT"---ANOTHER PHRASE FOR THE WORD OF GOD, THE BIBLE.
"GOD NEEDETH NOT THE HELP OF MATERIAL SWORD OF STEEL TO
ASSIST THE SWORD OF THE SPIRIT." -ROGER WILLIAMS.
THUS, RHODE ISLAND BECAME A HAVEN FOR CONSCIENCE SAKE,
INCLUDING ANNE HUTCHISON, A SELF-PROCLAIMED PROPHETESS WHO
FLED PERSECUTION IN BOSTON.
RHODE ISLAND BECAME THE HOME OF AMERICA'S OLDEST, STILL-STANDING
JEWISH SYNAGOGUE.
GEORGE WASHINGTON WROTE A NOW FAMOUS LETTER TO THAT SYNAGOGUE
THAT WAS ESTABLISHED IN NEWPORT, RHODE ISLAND.
"MAY THE CHILDREN OF THE STOCK OF ABRAHAM, WHO DWELL IN THIS
LAND, CONTINUE TO MERIT AND ENJOY THE GOOD WILL OF THE OTHER
INHABITANTS, WHILE EVERY ONE SHALL SIT IN SAFETY UNDER HIS
OWN VINE AND FIG-TREE, AND THERE SHALL BE NONE TO MAKE HIM
AFRAID." -GEORGE WASHINGTON
THE COVENANT WAS ALL ABOUT THE RECIPROCAL RESPONSIBILITY
OF ALL FOR ALL.
THE RABBIS CALLED IT THE POLITICS OF LOVE, YOU LOVE THE
LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, SOUL, AND STRENGTH, YOU
LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF, AND YOU LOVE THE STRANGER,
BECAUSE YOU WERE A STRANGER IN EGYPT.
IT WAS REDISCOVERED BY CALVIN, ZWINGLI, KNOX.
YOU KNOW, IN SCOTLAND, THEY CALL THEMSELVES THE COVENANTERS, AND
THE LEADER WOULD WHIG, WHICH BECAME A WORD FOR FREEDOM, IS
ACTUALLY FROM THE SCOTTISH WORD, WHIGAMORE, WHICH WAS A
COVENANTER, YOU KNOW.
AND SO, IN ENGLAND, OLIVER CROMWELL, IN THE ENGLISH
REVOLUTION, HE SAYS EXODUS IS THE DIRECT PARALLEL OF WHAT HE’S
TRYING TO DO, AND HE FAILED.
THE REPUBLIC IN ENGLAND WAS SHORT-LIVED, A FAILURE.
SO, IT’S CALLED, HISTORIANS, THE LOST CAUSE.
BUT HERE’S THE POINT, THE LOST CAUSE IN IN ENGLAND, BECAME THE
WINNING CAUSE IN NEW ENGLAND.
SO THE MAYFLOWER COMPACT IS A COVENANT TO WILLIAM BRADFORD.
THE MODEL OF CHRISTIAN CHARITY ON THE ARABELLA FROM JOHN
WINTHROP IS A COVENANT.
AND YOU CAN SEE COVENANTS CAME, NOT ONLY IN THE CHURCHES IN
BOSTON, NEW ENGLAND, IN THE TOWNSHIPS AND IN MARRIAGES, AND
THEN, JOHN ADAMS DESCRIBES HIS WRITTEN CONSTITUTION IN
MASSACHUSETTS AS A COVENANT.
IN CONNECTICUT AND RIGHT THROUGHOUT NEW ENGLAND, THE IDEA
AND SEPARATISTS WERE VERY RADICAL.
THE STATE OF CONNECTICUT CALLS ITSELF “THE CONSTITUTION
STATE”- YET THE CONSTITUTION WAS WRITTEN IN PENNSYLVANIA.
TO UNDERSTAND WHY, WE HAVE TO GO BACK TO ITS FOUNDING.
AFTER DISAGREEING WITH THE MASSACHUSETTS' LEADERSHIP ON
SOME POINTS, A SPLINTER GROUP OF PURITANS DECIDED IT BEST TO FORM
THEIR OWN COLONY, WHICH THEY WERE FREE TO DO.
SO IN 1638, UNDER THE LEADERSHIP OF REV. THOMAS HOOKER, THIS
GROUP LEFT BOSTON AND WENT TO CONNECTICUT TO FORM
THEIR OWN COLONY.
HOOKER PREACHED A SERMON UNDER A BIG TREE THAT YEAR.
THAT SERMON WAS BASED ON TWO VERSES FROM MOSES IN THE BOOK OF
DEUTERONOMY.
"'TAKE YOU WISE MEN, AND UNDERSTANDING, AND KNOWN AMONG
YOUR TRIBES, AND I WILL MAKE THEM RULERS OVER YOU.’....SO I
TOOK THE CHIEF OF YOUR TRIBES, WISE MEN, AND KNOWN, AND MADE
THEM HEADS OVER YOU, CAPTAINS OVER THOUSANDS, AND CAPTAINS
OVER HUNDREDS, AND CAPTAINS OVER FIFTIES, AND CAPTAINS OVER TENS,
AND OFFICERS AMONG YOUR TRIBES." -DEUTERONOMY 1:13, 15.
EARLY THE NEXT YEAR, HE AND THE PEOPLE OF THIS NEW COLONY WROTE
THE FIRST FULLY DEVELOPED CONSTITUTION ON AMERICAN SOIL.
THAT'S WHY TO THIS DAY, CONNECTICUT LIKES TO CALL
ITSELF, THE CONSTITUTION STATE.
WE...DO, FOR OURSELVES AND OUR SUCCESSORS...ENTER INTO
COMBINATION AND CONFEDERATION TOGETHER, TO MAINTAIN THE
LIBERTY AND PURITY OF THE GOSPEL OF OUR LORD JESUS WHICH WE NOW
PROFESS..." -THE FUNDAMENTAL ORDERS OF CONNECTICUT.
" . . . THE FOUNDATION OF AUTHORITY IS
LAID IN THE FREE CONSENT OF THE
PEOPLE, THAT THE CHOICE OF PUBLIC MAGISTRATES BELONGS UNTO
THE PEOPLE BY GOD'S OWN ALLOWANCE."
-REV. THOMAS HOOKER
REVEREND HOOKER BRINGS HIS HUNDRED AND FIFTY PEOPLE DOWN TO
CONNECTICUT AND FOUNDS THIS COLONY, AND WHEN HE DOES, HE
USES THE BIBLE, THE BOOK OF DEUTERONOMY AS THE FOUNDATION
FOR HIS CONSTITUTION.
HE WRITES IT IN 1639.
THAT CONSTITUTION BECOMES THE FOUNDATION FOR THE AMERICAN
CONSTITUTION IN 1787.
SO, THE PURITANS WERE THE ONES THAT WERE THINKING
THROUGH LIBERTY.
WRITING ABOUT THE FUNDAMENTAL ORDERS OF CONNECTICUT 2 AND HALF
CENTURIES LATER, ONE AUTHOR SAID OF THIS PIVOTAL DOCUMENT:
"[THE FUNDAMENTAL ORDERS OF CONNECTICUT] MARKED THE
BEGINNINGS OF AMERICAN DEMOCRACY, OF WHICH THOMAS
HOOKER DESERVES MORE THAN ANY OTHER MAN TO BE
CALLED THE FATHER.
THE GOVERNMENT OF THE UNITED STATES TODAY IS IN LINEAL
DESCENT MORE NEARLY RELATED TO THAT OF CONNECTICUT THAN TO THAT
OF ANY OF THE OTHER THIRTEEN COLONIES." -JOHN FISKE
AND SO WHEN THE NEW ENGLAND PASTORS WERE FORMING THEIR
DIFFERENT COMMUNITIES OF HARTFORD AND EXETER, NEW
HAMPSHIRE, AND THESE DIFFERENT PLACES, THEY WERE USING THIS
BOTTOM UP FORM OF GOVERNMENT, THIS CONGREGATIONAL FORM OF
GOVERNMENT, NOT JUST FOR THEIR CHURCH, BUT IT TRANSITIONED TO
THEIR COMMUNITY GOVERNMENT.
SO, WE HAVE A DIRECT LINE, WHERE IT WAS THE BIBLE AND THESE
PASTORS THAT EFFECTED THE FORMATION OF GOVERNMENT IN NEW
ENGLAND, AND EVENTUALLY, CONNECTICUT BEING THE
CONSTITUTION STATE, EFFECTED OUR U.S.
CONSTITUTION, WHICH STARTS OFF STARTS OFF WITH WE THE PEOPLE.
BY 1643, THE VARIOUS COLONIES OF NEW ENGLAND CAME TOGETHER TO
CREATE THE NEW ENGLAND CONFEDERATION.
“[W]E ALL CAME TO THESE PARTS OF AMERICA, WITH ONE AND THE SAME
END AND AIM, NAMELY, TO ADVANCE THE KINGDOM OF OUR LORD JESUS
CHRIST.” -THE NEW ENGLAND CONFEDERATION, 1643
THIS DOCUMENT WAS AN AGREEMENT FOR SELF-PROTECTION IN
THE EVENT OF INVASION.
IT WOULD SOON BE TESTED.
THE PILGRIMS WHO SETTLED PLYMOUTH HAD SIGNED A TREATY OF
PEACE WITH THE INDIANS THAT LASTED MORE THAN HALF A CENTURY.
THAT TREATY WAS NEGOTIATED BY CHIEF MASSASOIT AND, ON BEHALF
OF THE PILGRIMS, BY EDWARD WINSLOW, A PASSENGER ON THE
MAYFLOWER.
HIS SON WAS UNWITTINGLY INVOLVED IN THE CENTER OF THE CONTROVERSY
WHICH UNDID THAT TREATY OF PEACE OF 1621.
FIFTY YEARS LATER, WE HAVE THE KING PHILIP WAR.
KING PHILIP WAS NOT A EUROPEAN, HE WAS MASSASOIT’S SON.
HIS CHRISTIAN NAME WAS PHILIP.
HE WENT TO NEGOTIATE NOT TO GO TO WAR WITH THE THEN GOVERNOR OF
PLYMOUTH, JOSIAH WINSLOW, EDWARD WINSLOW’S SON.
WHILE IN NEGOTIATING, PHILIP SAID TO WINSLOW, HE SAYS HEY,
I’M A CHIEF, YOU’RE JUST A GOVERNOR, I’M NOT GOING TALK TO
YOU, I’LL ONLY TALK TO KINGS.
THEY BROKE OFF THE NEGOTIATIONS AND WENT TO WAR.
FROM THAT DAY FORWARD, PHILIP WAS REFERRED TO AS KING PHILIP,
BECAUSE HE WOULD ONLY TALK TO KINGS.
AND THE TWO MEN WHO BECAME GREAT FRIENDS, THEIR TWO SONS WENT TO
WAR A GENERATION LATER.
TWO ISSUES HERE.
DID THE PILGRIMS TREAT THE INDIANS WITH RESPECT?
YES.
DO YOU HAVE A GENERATIONAL PROBLEM?
YES.
EDWARD WINSLOW WAS THE BEST NEGOTIATOR WE EVER HAD.
HE WAS INSTRUMENTAL IN HELPING MASSASOIT SURVIVE AND WRITING
THE PEACE TREATY.
HIS SON WAS INSTRUMENTAL IN THE STARTING OF THE KING PHILIP WAR.
THE FIGHTING BEGAN ON THE OUTSKIRTS OF PLYMOUTH, BUT
QUICKLY SPREAD TO OTHER REGIONS IN NEW ENGLAND.
WELL, AS A MATTER OF FACT, THE KING PHILIP WAR HARDLY TOOK
PLACE IN PLYMOUTH AT ALL.
THE ONE ATTACK IN PLYMOUTH WAS WHERE THE PLANTATION IS TODAY,
WHERE YOU SEE THEIR RECEPTION HALL.
THAT IS WHERE THE ONLY PLYMOUTH ATTACK WAS, SO WE DID LOSE SOME
PILGRIMS IN THAT ATTACK, BUT IT WAS MOSTLY DOWN IN RHODE ISLAND
AND CONNECTICUT AND DOWN IN THAT AREA, NOT HERE IN PLYMOUTH.
VIRTUALLY EVERY COLONIAL FAMILY IN NEW ENGLAND WAS IMPACTED BY
THIS WAR.
ALTHOUGH IT WAS VICIOUS, THIS WAR WHICH BEGAN IN 1675, LASTED
ONLY ABOUT ONE YEAR.
IT CAME TO AN END, WHEN AN INDIAN FIGHTING AGAINST KING
PHILLIP, SHOT HIM.
THE PURITANS ARE LITTLE REMEMBERED TODAY FOR THEIR
CONTRIBUTIONS TO DEMOCRACY, TO CONSTITUTIONALISM, TO EDUCATION
(LIKE HARVARD, YALE, AND DARTMOUTH).
INSTEAD THEY ARE OFTEN REMEMBERED FOR AN UGLY AND SHORT
EPISODE IN 1692 IN THE CITY OF SALEM.
THE DEVIL HIMSELF TOLD ME HE PICKED HER TO BE HIS QUEEN.
SHE MURDERED 13 PEOPLE.
THE SALEM WITCHCRAFT TRIALS BEGAN WHEN THE PURITANS IN THAT
TOWN BEGAN TO ALLOW FOR ACCUSATIONS EVEN BY JUST ONE
PERSON (AN UNBALANCED ONE AT THAT) TO BE GOOD ENOUGH TO
CONVICT SOMEONE OF SUPPOSEDLY BEING A WITCH.
19 PEOPLE, MOSTLY WOMEN- VIRTUALLY ALL OF WHOM
DECLARED THEIR INNOCENCE- WERE PUT TO DEATH.
MOST OF THEM WERE HANGED.
ONE ACCUSED MAN WAS CRUSHED TO DEATH UNDER A LARGE STONE.
NONE WERE BURNED.
“I AM INNOCENT.
I AM INNOCENT.”
MEANWHILE, WHEN THE FATHER OF COTTON MATHER, INCREASE MATHER,
RETURNED FROM ENGLAND IN THE FALL OF 1692, HE WAS SHOCKED
THAT HIS FELLOW PURITANS WERE NOT FOLLOWING THE BIBLE'S CLEAR
COMMAND THAT ANY CRIME MUST BE ESTABLISHED BY THE TESTIMONY OF
2 OR 3 WITNESSES, NOT JUST ONE [DEUTERONOMY 17:6].
ONCE THAT PRINCIPLE WAS RE-ESTABLISHED, THE ACCUSATIONS
STOPPED, AND THE JAIL WITH OTHER SUPPOSED WITCHES WERE OPENED AND
THEY WERE RELEASED.
SOON AFTER THE HYSTERIA, THOSE JURY MEMBERS WHO HAD BEEN
INVOLVED IN CONVICTING THE CONDEMNED SIGNED A STATEMENT OF
REGRET.
I DO NOT PETITION YOU FOR MY OWN LIFE.
I ONLY PLEAD FOR OTHERS.
“INCREASE MATHER-AND HE ALONE-BROUGHT THE MURDERS TO AN
END.” -PERRY MILLER
“THE REAL WORK OF THE DEVIL WAS THE HANGING OF AN INNOCENT OLD
WOMAN.” -INCREASE MATHER
LONG BEFORE THERE WAS A MASSACHUSETTS, THERE WAS A
VIRGINIA...WHICH INITIALLY WENT THROUGH A NUMBER OF STEPS UNTIL
IT BECAME PERMANENT.
THE FIRST TWO BRITISH ATTEMPTS TO CREATE A SETTLEMENT IN THE
NEW WORLD WERE CALLED VIRGINIA, IN HONOR OF QUEEN ELIZABETH,
THE VIRGIN QUEEN.
THESE ATTEMPTS FAILED, INCLUDING THE LONG LOST COLONY OF ROANOKE.
THE ORIGINAL MAP OF VIRGINIA WAS HUGE, INCLUDING MANY PORTIONS OF
OTHER STATES USING TODAY’S MAP.
IN THE DAYS OF KING JAMES THE FIRST IN 1606, A CHARTER FOR
WHAT WOULD BECOME JAMESTOWN IN 1607 WAS CREATED.
THIS 1606 CHARTER STATED THAT ONE OF THE GOALS OF THE COLONY
WAS “IN PROPAGATING OF CHRISTIAN RELIGION TO SUCH PEOPLE AS YET
LIVE IN DARKNESS.” PERHAPS WITH THE FAILED COLONIES IN MIND,
THIS NEW CHARTER STATED, “EVERY PLANTATION WHICH OUR HEAVENLY
FATHER HATH NOT PLANTED SHALL BE ROOTED OUT.”
THE FIRST ACT OF THE JAMESTOWN COLONY WAS TO PLANT A CROSS AND
CLAIM THE NEW LAND FOR THE LORD.
JAMESTOWN WAS SETTLED BY BRITISH MEN, MANY OF WHOM EXPECTED
OTHERS TO DO THE WORK.
THEY ENCOUNTERED MANY DIFFICULTIES THERE, INCLUDING
WITH THE INDIANS.
BUT POCAHONTAS, THE DAUGHTER OF AN INDIAN CHIEF
BECAME A BELIEVER.
HER BAPTISM AS “LADY REBEKAH” IS THE SUBJECT OF A GIANT PAINTING
IN THE ROTUNDA OF THE US CAPITOL TO THIS DAY.
JAMESTOWN EXPERIENCED A STARVING TIME AND NEARLY SHUT DOWN UNTIL
A SHIP FROM ENGLAND SAVED THE DAY.
ALSO TOBACCO BECAME THEIR NUMBER ONE STAPLE OF SURVIVING
FINANCIALLY.
JAMESTOWN HAD A CHURCH, BECAME THE FIRST COLONY TO ISSUE A DAY
OF THANKSGIVING---IN 1619, TWO YEARS BEFORE THE PILGRIMS.
IT ALSO BECAME THE FIRST COLONY IN THE NEW WORLD TO CREATE A
LEGISLATURE, WHICH MET FOR THE FIRST TIME IN 1619 IN THE CHURCH
IN JAMESTOWN AND OPENED IN PRAYER.
TRAGICALLY, SOMETHING HAPPENED IN JAMESTOWN IN 1619 THAT WOULD
FOREVER ALTER THE COURSE OF AMERICA.
A HANDFUL OF SLAVES FROM AFRICA WERE BROUGHT INTO
THE NEW COLONY.
OUR DESTINY IS TIED UP WITH THE DESTINY OF AMERICA.
BEFORE THE PILGRIM FATHERS LANDED AT PLYMOUTH, WE WERE
HERE.
IN AMERICA, WHEN WE CONSIDER THE CONCEPT OF SLAVERY, WHERE ONE
RACE OF PEOPLE WAS FORCED INTO SERVITUDE IN SLAVERY.
WE THINK ABOUT THAT CONCEPT OF RACISM BASED UPON THE SLAVERY OF
THE BLACK RACE.
HOWEVER, THERE’S NO BLACK RACE, RED RACE, YELLOW, WHITE RACE,
THERE’RE ONLY PEOPLE GROUPS AND PEOPLE FAMILIES.
SO, WHEN MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. TALKED ABOUT MAN’S
INHUMANITY TO MAN, MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. WAS NOT THINKING ABOUT
SEPARATE RACES.
HE WAS THINKING ABOUT HOW ONE GROUP OR ONE FAMILY OF PEOPLE
COULD TAKE ANOTHER FAMILY OF PEOPLE AND OPPRESS THEM BECAUSE
OF SKIN COLOR AND CALL THEM AN INFERIOR RACE.
THERE’S NO SUCH THING AS AN INFERIOR RACE, BECAUSE WE ARE
THE HUMAN RACE.
SLAVERY HAS BEEN MANKIND’S STANDARD FARE THROUGHOUT HIS
ENTIRE HISTORY.
UH...
AND EVEN THE WORD, SLAVE, IN MOST LANGUAGES IS SLAV, THAT IS
BECAUSE THE SLAVIC PEOPLE ARE AMONG THE FIRST TO BE ENSLAVED.
AND AFRICANS WERE AMONG THE LAST TO BE ENSLAVED.
AND THE GREAT THING ABOUT THE WESTERN WORLD IS THAT WE SPENT
MANY RESOURCES ON ELIMINATING SLAVERY.
I HAVE NO IDEA WHY MY GREAT-GREAT-GRANDMOTHER
WAS A SLAVE.
I DO KNOW ONE THING, THAT MY GREAT-GRANDMOTHER DIED WHEN SHE
WAS A HUNDRED AND TWO YEARS OLD, AND SHE WAS A BIG PART OF THE
OLD HYMNS THAT I SING LIKE BLESSED ASSURANCE, NEARER THE
CROSS, JESUS, KEEP ME NEAR THE CROSS, PASS ME NOT, O GENTLE
SAVIOR.
MY GREAT-GRANDMOTHER SUNG THOSE SONGS, BECAUSE OF THE BONDAGE
THAT THEY WERE THAT THEY WERE IN, BUT IT WAS THE SOUL, IT WAS
THE SPIRIT THAT BROUGHT THEM OUT.
MANY OTHER COLONIES IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA HAD A UNIQUELY
RELIGIOUS CHARACTER TO THEM.
CATHOLICS WERE THE FIRST OFFICIAL SETTLERS OF WHAT WOULD
LATER BECOME MARYLAND, NAMED AFTER MARIA, THE WIFE OF CHARLES
I, WHO GRANTED THEIR CHARTER IN 1632.
THE CHARTER SAID THE MOTIVATION FOR THE SETTLEMENT WAS A “PIOUS
ZEAL FOR EXTENDING THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION, AND ALSO THE
TERRITORIES OF OUR EMPIRE.”
LORD BALTIMORE AND THE CALVERT FAMILY CREATED A DISTINCTLY
CATHOLIC SETTLEMENT AT FIRST IN MARYLAND.
PEOPLE CAME TO THIS COUNTRY BECAUSE OF RELIGIOUS FAITH AND
SEEKING RELIGIOUS FREEDOM.
WHEN THEY CAME HERE, ALL THE COLONIES WERE CREATED, YOU KNOW,
TO FORM AND TO FOLLOW A CERTAIN RELIGIOUS CREED UH...
OR RATHER JUST TRADITION.
I KNOW THE CATHOLIC TRADITION WAS ROOTED IN MARYLAND FOR A
TIME AND THAT WAS THROUGH THE GIFT OF THE CALVERT FAMILY.
BUT IT WAS ABOUT FINDING RELIGIOUS FREEDOM OUT OF
ENGLAND, BECAUSE THE CATHOLIC CHURCH WAS BEING PERSECUTED BY
THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND AT THE TIME.
BUT ALL THESE OTHER GROUPS FOUND THEMSELVES WANTING TO BE THE
CITY ON THE HILL, THAT WONDERFUL IMAGE IN THE SCRIPTURES THAT
AMERICA COULD BE THE LIGHT WHERE ALL PEOPLE COULD LIVE IN AT
LEAST RELIGIOUS FREEDOM, RELIGIOUS HARMONY WITH THEIR OWN
PEOPLES.
AND SO, I THINK IT WAS JUST THE GREAT EXPERIMENT OF LEAVING
EUROPE, THE OLD WORLD, IN A SENSE.
OVER TIME, THE CATHOLIC POPULATION BEGAN TO BE
OUTNUMBERED BY MOSTLY CHURCH OF ENGLAND SETTLERS...SO MUCH SO
THAT BY THE TIME OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION, ONLY 10 PERCENT OF
MARYLAND WAS CATHOLIC.
THE ONLY REPRESENTATIVES AT THE CONTINENTAL CONGRESS THAT WERE
ROMAN CATHOLIC CAME FROM MARYLAND.
IF MARYLAND BEGAN FOR CATHOLICS, GEORGIA, WHICH BEGAN IN THE
EARLY 18TH CENTURY, INITIALLY EXCLUDED CATHOLICS (THAT IS,
PAPISTS).
GEORGIA WAS FOUNDED IN 1733 BY BRITISH SOLDIER AND
PHILANTHROPIST JAMES OGLETHORPE, AND HIS FIRST OFFICIAL ACT AS A
TRUSTEE IN SAVANNAH WAS TO KNEEL WITH HIS COMPANY TO OFFER
THANKSGIVING AND PRAYER TO GOD.
OH, LORD, WE THANK THEE...
ANOTHER COLONY TO BE SET UP WAS THAT OF CAROLINA, NAMED AFTER
KING CHARLES.
INITIALLY ONE COLONY IT SOON DIVIDED INTO TWO, NORTH AND
SOUTH CAROLINA.
ITS CHARTER WAS WRITTEN BY JOHN LOCKE, AND IT WAS CREATED FOR
RELIGIOUS REASONS.
KING CHARLES THE SECOND GRANTED THIS CHARTER IN 1663 BECAUSE OF
“A LAUDABLE AND PIOUS ZEAL FOR THE PROPAGATION OF THE CHRISTIAN
FAITH.”
THE CHARTER OF CAROLINA STIPULATES THAT “GOD IS PUBLICLY
AND SOLEMNLY TO BE WORSHIPPED.” THE CHARTER ALSO INSTRUCTS THE
COLONISTS TO ACT KINDLY TOWARD THE INDIANS FOR CHRISTIANITY’S
SAKE AND IT ENTREATS THE COLONISTS TO LIVE IN SUCH A WAY
“THAT CIVIL PEACE MAY BE MAINTAINED AMIDST DIVERSITY OF
OPINIONS.” THIS WAS SO THAT, STIPULATES THE CHARTER, “THAT
JEWS, HEATHENS, AND OTHER DISSENTERS FROM THE PURITY OF
CHRISTIAN RELIGION MAY NOT BE SCARED AND KEPT AT A DISTANCE
FROM IT.”
IN 1637, QUEEN CHRISTINA OF SWEDEN GRANTED A COLONIAL
CHARTER TO ENCOURAGE TRADE, SETTLEMENT AND THE SPREADING OF
THE GOSPEL IN DELAWARE.
LATER, SHE WOULD WRITE TO HER SETTLERS.
"ALL PERSONS, BUT ESPECIALLY THE YOUNG, SHALL BE DULY INSTRUCTED
IN THE ARTICLES OF THEIR CHRISTIAN FAITH AND ALL GOOD
CHURCH DISCIPLINE SHALL IN LIKE MANNER BE DULY
EXERCISED AND RECEIVED.”
- QUEEN CHRISTINA OF SWEDEN
SHE ALSO SPELLED OUT THAT THE NATIVE-AMERICANS SHOULD LEARN
THE TRUTHS OF THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION.
AS A NATIVE-AMERICAN, I THANK GOD FOR THE EUROPEANS THAT
BROUGHT US THE GOSPEL AND BROUGHT US WESTERN CIVILIZATION.
AND I THANK GOD FOR THAT FACT.
THE NATIVE AMERICANS WERE JUST AS PAGAN AS THE REST
OF THE WORLD.
THEY PRACTICED CANNIBALISM, THEY PRACTICED DEVIL WORSHIP, THEY
PRACTICED SLAVERY, THEY PRACTICED POLYGAMY, THEY
PRACTICED ALL THE SINS OF THE FLESH THAT THE REST OF
THE WORLD PRACTICED.
AND WE DON’T HEAR THAT MENTIONED VERY OFTEN, BECAUSE THERE IS SO
MUCH OF A MISEDUCATION TODAY IN OUR CULTURE ABOUT THE NATIVE
AMERICANS AND THE NOBLE SAVAGE AND ALL OF THAT.
BUT THEY NEEDED GOD JUST LIKE THE REST OF THE WORLD.
I TOLD THE PRINCIPAL CHIEF OF THE CHEROKEES HEY, WE’RE THE
MOST PROUD PEOPLE OF ALL THE WORLD, WE CONTRIBUTED MORE TO
THIS COUNTRY THAN ANYBODY ELSE.
WE WERE HANDPICKED BY GOD TO KEEP THE LAND PRISTINE FOR THE
BUILDING OF THE GREATEST NATION IN THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD.
IT’S HARD TODAY TO FIND A SWEAT WHERE YOU CAN GO AS A NATIVE
AMERICAN AND GO INSIDE AND SMOKE OUT YOUR SINS, BUT IT’S EASY TO
FIND NATIVE AMERICANS IN ANY CONGREGATION IN THE UNITED
STATES, WORSHIPING THE LORD JESUS CHRIST BECAUSE OF THE
EUROPEANS.
AND I THANK GOD FOR THAT.
MOST OF THE COLONIES ALL ALONG THE EASTERN SEABOARD, BY AND
LARGE, WERE SETTLED BY DIFFERENT ENGLISH SPEAKING GROUPS THAT
WERE CONNECTED WITH THE ANGLICAN TRADITION, THE CHURCH OF
ENGLAND, THE CONGREGATIONAL TRADITION, WHICH WERE THE
PURITANS THAT WERE SEPARATING FROM THE ANGLICAN CHURCH, AND
THAT WAS LARGELY IN NEW ENGLAND.
AND THEN, WE ALSO HAD THOSE THAT WERE MORE NON-CONFORMISTS LIKE
THE QUAKERS, WHICH WERE SETTLING IN PENNSYLVANIA PRIMARILY.
THE ROMAN CATHOLICS HAD THEIR PRESENCE IN MARYLAND WHERE THEY
WANTED TO HAVE A PLACE OF SETTLEMENT AND PROTECTION.
BUT AS YOU GO DOWN THAT LIST, PROTESTANT, CATHOLIC,
NONCONFORMIST, ALL OF THEM BELIEVED THE BIBLE.
THAT IS THE JEWISH-CHRISTIAN TRADITION.
“IT STILL MATTERS WHAT [WILLIAM] PENN DID TWO HUNDRED YEARS AGO
OR WHAT [BEN] FRANKLIN DID A HUNDRED YEARS AGO.
I NEVER COULD FEEL IN NEW YORK THAT IT MATTERED WHAT ANYBODY
DID AN HOUR AGO.”
-G. K. CHESTERTON
WILLIAM PENN WAS BORN IN 1644 IN LONDON.
HE WAS THE SON OF A BRITISH NAVAL OFFICER-SIR WILLIAM PENN.
AT THE AGE OF ELEVEN, THE YOUNG WILLIAM HAD A STRONG CHRISTIAN
EXPERIENCE THAT WOULD AFFECT THE REST OF HIS LIFE AND WOULD LEAD
DIRECTLY TO HIS STRONG BELIEF THAT EVERY PERSON HAS THE
GOD-GIVEN RIGHT TO DETERMINE HOW HE WILL WORSHIP AND WITH WHOM HE
WILL FELLOWSHIP.
PENN HAD BECOME A FOLLOWER OF GEORGE FOX, A QUAKER, A NAME
DERIVED IN DERISION BECAUSE THEY WERE SO PIOUS THEY WOULD
REPORTEDLY TREMBLE OR QUAKE AT THE WORD OF GOD.
WILLIAM PENN, AS A QUAKER, HAD HIMSELF SUFFERED SOME
PERSECUTION BACK IN ENGLAND.
THOUGH HE WAS OF THE NOBILITY, NONETHELESS, THERE WERE
POSITIONS NOT OPEN TO HIM IN ENGLAND BECAUSE HE WAS A QUAKER.
PENN WAS EXPELLED FROM CHRIST CHURCH COLLEGE AT OXFORD BECAUSE
OF HIS DISSENTING CHRISTIAN VIEWS, WHICH WERE NOT IN
CONFORMITY WITH THE PREVAILING VIEWS OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND.
I ASKED YOU A QUESTION, SIR.
I’M SORRY, YOUR HIGHNESS, I CANNOT APOLOGIZE.
WILLIAM.
WHAT DID YOU SAY, SIR?
HIS FATHER, ADMIRAL PENN, WAS CONCERNED ABOUT HIS SON'S
UNWELCOME NONCONFORMIST VIEWS.
SO HE SENT HIM TO FRANCE, HOPING THE SON WOULD SHED THESE
RELIGIOUS CONVICTIONS.
BUT PENN STUDIED AMONG THE HUGUENOTS, WHO WERE THEMSELVES
BEING PERSECUTED BECAUSE THEY WERE FRENCH CALVINISTS.
HIS RELATIONSHIP WITH THE HUGUENOTS ONLY CONFIRMED YOUNG
WILLIAM’S DISSENTING RELIGIOUS VIEWS.
PENN RETURNED TO ENGLAND TO STUDY LAW, BUT HE WAS EVEN
IMPRISONED ON OCCASION IN THE TOWER OF LONDON BECAUSE OF HIS
NON-CONFORMIST RELIGIOUS VIEWS.
BUT HIS FORTUNES WOULD SOON CHANGE.
BEGINNING IN 1674, WILLIAM PENN ARBITRATED A LAND DISPUTE
REGARDING PROPERTY IN WEST NEW JERSEY OVER IN AMERICA.
THE DISPUTE WAS BETWEEN TWO ENGLISH QUAKERS.
THIS BECAME HIS FIRST CONNECTION TO THE NEW WORLD.
WILLIAM PENN BECAME THE MAIN AUTHOR OF THE FOUNDING
GOVERNMENTAL DOCUMENT FOR THIS LAND.
THE DOCUMENT WAS CALLED “THE CONCESSIONS” AND WAS AN
IMPORTANT DOCUMENT IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF AMERICAN LIBERTY.
BY 1680, THE CONCESSIONS HAD 150 SIGNERS, AND IN THE QUAKER
SPIRIT, IT PROVIDED FOR FAR-REACHING LIBERTIES NEVER
BEFORE SEEN IN ANGLO-SAXON LAW.
"WE HAVE MADE CONCESSIONS BY OURSELVES . . .
[AND] WE LAY A FOUNDATION FOR AFTER AGES TO UNDERSTAND THEIR
LIBERTY AS MEN AND CHRISTIANS, THAT THEY MAY NOT BE BROUGHT IN
BONDAGE, BUT BY THEIR OWN CONSENT, FOR WE PUT THE POWER IN
THE PEOPLE.... NO PERSON TO BE CALLED IN QUESTION OR MOLESTED
FOR HIS CONSCIENCE, OR FOR WORSHIPING ACCORDING TO HIS
CONSCIENCE.” - WILLIAM PENN
THE CONCESSIONS ADDED, “THAT NO MAN NOR NUMBER OF MEN UPON EARTH
HATH POWER OR AUTHORITY TO RULE OVER MEN’S CONSCIENCES IN
RELIGIOUS MATTERS.” UNDER THESE CONCESSIONS, THE INDIANS WERE
ALSO ENCOURAGED TO BRING THEIR PROBLEMS TO COMMISSIONERS AND TO
HAVE A FAIR TRIAL BEFORE A COURT OF SIX INDIANS AND SIX SETTLERS.
KING CHARLES II DISAPPROVED OF PENN’S DISSENTING RELIGIOUS
VIEWS, BUT THE MONARCHY OWED A DEBT TO PENN’S FATHER.
THEREFORE, IN MAY 1680, THE KING PRESENTED TO WILLIAM PENN THE
TITLE TO THE LAND WE NOW KNOW AS PENNSYLVANIA (WITH A SLIGHTLY
DIFFERENT BOUNDARY) AS A REPAYMENT OF THAT DEBT.
KING CHARLES ALSO SAW THIS GIFT AS A WAY OF GETTING RID OF A
TROUBLESOME SUBJECT.
WILLIAM PENN'S NAME FOR THE LAND WAS SYLVANIA- LATIN FOR
“WOODS.” BUT KING CHARLES RETITLED IT TO PENNSYLVANIA TO
HONOR PENN’S FATHER, SIR WILLIAM, WHO HAD BEEN A FRIEND
OF THE CROWN.
THE YOUNG PENN OBJECTED THAT THIS NAME WAS TOO VAIN.
BUT HE OBJECTED IN VAIN.
THUS, PENNSYLVANIA- "PENN'S FOREST"- WAS BORN.
WHEN HE WAS ABLE TO COME TO PENNSYLVANIA, WHAT LATER BECAME
CALLED PENNSYLVANIA, HE WANTED A PLACE WHERE PEOPLE COULD
EXPERIENCE RELIGIOUS LIBERTY, WHERE NOT ONLY QUAKERS, BUT
OTHERS WOULD BE WELCOME AS WELL.
PENN NOW SOUGHT VISIONARY AND GODLY PEOPLE TO GO TO
PENNSYLVANIA-THOSE WHO WERE BRAVE AND ADVENTUROUS WITH A
VARIETY OF TALENTS AND SKILLS.
PENN WROTE A LETTER TO ONE OF THOSE WHO CHOSE TO SETTLE IN
PENNSYLVANIA.
"AFTER MANY WAITINGS, WATCHINGS, SOLICITINGS, AND DISPUTES IN
COUNCIL, MY COUNTRY WAS CONFIRMED TO ME UNDER THE GREAT
SEAL OF ENGLAND.
GOD WILL BLESS IT AND MAKE IT THE SEED OF A NATION....YOU
SHALL BE GOVERNED BY LAWS OF YOUR OWN [MAKING], AND
LIVE...FREE, AND IF YOU WILL, [AS] A SOBER AND INDUSTRIOUS
PEOPLE.
I SHALL NOT USURP THE RIGHT OF ANY, OR OPPRESS HIS PERSON."
-WILLIAM PENN
PENN ENVISIONED FOR HIS COLONY FREEDOM OF RELIGION- A
GOVERNMENT THAT RESPECTED THE RELIGIOUS CONSCIENCES OF ALL ITS
CITIZENS.
HE ENVISIONED A PLACE WHERE EVERY MAN WAS FREE TO PRACTICE
HIS RELIGION IN PEACE, TO HAVE THE RIGHT TO RULE HIS OWN
ESTATE, AND TO PARTICIPATE IN MAKING LAWS AND ENFORCING THEM.
INDIVIDUAL FREEDOM COULD ONLY WORK, HE FELT, IF THE PEOPLE
WERE SELF-GOVERNED AND INDUSTRIOUS.
“LIBERTY WITHOUT OBEDIENCE IS CONFUSION, AND OBEDIENCE WITHOUT
LIBERTY IS SLAVERY.” - WILLIAM PENN
BEFORE LEAVING ENGLAND, WILLIAM PENN AND SOME FRIENDS WROTE UP
HIS FIRST VERSION OF THE DOCUMENT "FRAME OF GOVERNMENT,"
ESSENTIALLY THE CHARTER OF THE NEW COLONY.
"WHEN THE GREAT AND WISE GOD HAD MADE THE WORLD, OF ALL HIS
CREATURES, IT PLEASED HIM TO CHOOSE MAN HIS DEPUTY TO RULE
IT....BUT LUST PREVAILING AGAINST DUTY, MADE A LAMENTABLE
BREACH UPON IT, AND THE LAW, THAT BEFORE HAD NO POWER OVER
HIM, TOOK PLACE UPON HIM, AND HIS DISOBEDIENT POSTERITY"
-WILLIAM PENN
SOON AFTER HE CREATED HIS FRAMES OF GOVERNMENT, PENN WAS TEMPTED
TO VIOLATE IT FOR A HEFTY REWARD.
HE WAS OFFERED LOTS OF MONEY IF HE WOULD CHEAT A GROUP OF
INDIANS OUT OF SOME OF THEIR LAND- WITHOUT THEIR PERMISSION
AND PROPER RECOMPENSE.
HE REFUSED TO TAKE THE BAIT.
IN 1682, NEARLY A HUNDRED QUAKERS SAILED WITH PENN TO JOIN
EARLIER SETTLERS IN THE NEW PROVINCE OF PENNSYLVANIA.
THEY ARRIVED IN LATE OCTOBER.
BY DECEMBER 7TH, WILLIAM PENN NEGOTIATED A FAIR AND JUST
TREATY OF PEACE WITH THE INDIANS, KNOWN BY HISTORY AS
"THE GREAT LAW." THIS MOMENT OF HISTORY IS CAPTURED IN STONE IN
THE ROTUNDA OF THE US CAPITOL.
PENN BOUGHT LAND FROM THE NATIVE-AMERICAS AT FAIR PRICES,
INCLUDED THEM IN JURIES, AND ASSURED THEM OF FAIR TRIALS.
UNDER THE GREAT TREATY OF SHACKAMAXON, THE INDIANS AND THE
SETTLERS LIVED TOGETHER IN PEACE FOR ABOUT SEVENTY YEARS.
“THERE IS ONE GREAT GOD AND POWER THAT HATH MADE THE WORLD
AND ALL THINGS THEREIN, TO WHOM YOU AND I AND ALL PEOPLE OWE
THEIR BEING AND WELL BEING, AND TO WHOM YOU AND I MUST ONE DAY
GIVEN AN ACCOUNT, FOR ALL THAT WE DO IN THE WORLD.”
-WILLIAM PENN
WILLIAM PENN CREATED ONE OF AMERICA’S GREAT
CITIES- PHILADELPHIA, AS THE CAPITAL OF HIS “HOLY
EXPERIMENT.” HE NAMED THIS CITY AFTER THE BIBLICAL NAME IN
GREEK, WHICH MEANS “BROTHERLY LOVE.” HE WANTED HIS CITY TO
BE A PLACE WHERE BROTHERS WOULD LOVE EACH OTHER, BECAUSE OF THE
FREEDOM THAT EACH WERE BEING GIVEN FOR THEIR CONSCIENCES,
ACCORDING TO THEIR RELIGION.
PENN VIEWED HIS NEW COLONY AS A HOLY EXPERIMENT- WHERE PEOPLE
COULD WORSHIP FREELY ACCORDING TO THE DICTATES OF CONSCIENCE.
PHILADELPHIA, NAME FROM THE BIBLE, BROTHERLY LOVE,
ESTABLISHED ON THE GOLDEN RULE, FREEDOM OF CONSCIENCE TO
EACH OTHER.
THAT BECOMES, THEN, THE MODEL OF AMERICA.
WHEN THOMAS JEFFERSON AND GEORGE WASHINGTON LOOK AT PHILADELPHIA,
THEY SAY THAT PLACE HAS SUCCEEDED FAR BETTER THAN
VIRGINIA THAT IMPOSES RELIGION ON OTHERS.
THEIR VIEW OF CONSCIENCE, THEIR VIEW OF FREEDOM IS
EXTRAORDINARY.
WE WOULD BE GOOD TO LEARN FROM IT.
TO HOLD PUBLIC OFFICE IN PENNSYLVANIA, ONE HAD TO BE A
CHRISTIAN, BUT THERE WERE NO RESTRICTIONS ON
DENOMINATIONAL AFFILIATION.
FURTHERMORE, LIKE ROGER WILLIAMS’ COLONY IN RHODE
ISLAND, NO ONE COULD BE PUNISHED FOR ALLEGED HERESY.
[NO ONE SHALL BE] “MOLESTED OR PREJUDICED FOR THEIR RELIGIOUS
PERSUASION, OR PRACTICE, IN MATTERS OF FAITH AND WORSHIP,
NOR SHALL THEY BE COMPELLED, AT ANY TIME, TO FREQUENT OR
MAINTAIN ANY RELIGIOUS WORSHIP, PLACE OR MINISTRY WHATSOEVER.”
-WILLIAM PENN
NOT ONLY WAS FREEDOM OF RELIGION IMPORTANT TO PENN, BUT SO ALSO
WAS GODLY MORALITY.
"PENN HELD MORALITY OF SUPREME IMPORTANCE TO THE SUCCESS OF A
STATE AND SEVERAL OF THE LAWS FORBADE CORRUPTION, FRAUD,
BRIBERY, EXTORTION, SLANDER, AND A LONG LIST OF OFFENSES AGAINST
GOD INCLUDING SWEARING, LYING, DRUNKENNESS, INCEST, SODOMY,
WHOREDOM, DUELS, FELONY, BULL- AND BEAR-BAITING, COCKFIGHTS AND
ANY THINGS 'WHICH EXCITE THE PEOPLE TO RUDENESS, CRUELTY,
LOOSENESS AND IRRELIGION.'" -CATHERINE OWENS PEARE
"IF THOU WOULDST RULE WELL, THOU MUST RULE FOR GOD, AND TO DO
THAT, THOU MUST BE RULED BY HIM....THOSE WHO WILL NOT BE
GOVERNED BY GOD WILL BE RULED BY TYRANTS." -WILLIAM PENN
PENNSYLVANIA WAS INSTRUMENTAL IN SECURING RELIGIOUS LIBERTY IN
AMERICA.
THE PENNSYLVANIA STATE HOUSE, NOW CALLED INDEPENDENCE HALL IN
PHILADELPHIA, IS THE PLACE WHERE BOTH THE DECLARATION OF
INDEPENDENCE AND THE UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION WERE DRAFTED
AND SIGNED.
THE INITIAL BELL IN THAT TOWER WAS THE LIBERTY BELL.
THAT’S THE ICONIC SYMBOL OF LIBERTY AND AMERICA, THE
LIBERTY BELL, IT HAS ONLY ONE VERSE ON IT,
ONE STATEMENT, ONE ANYTHING, EXCEPT FOR WHO
MADE THE BELL, THE COMPANY THAT MADE THE BELL, AND
THAT IS FROM THE TORAH FROM THE FIRST FIVE BOOKS OF THE HEBREW
BIBLE, THE OLD TESTAMENT.
AND THEY KNEW THEIR HEBREW SCRIPTURES REAL WELL.
ANYONE WHO KNOWS LEVITICUS KNOWS HIS STUFF, BECAUSE NOT EVERYBODY
READS LEVITICUS.
AND THAT IS WHERE, YOU SHALL PROCLAIM LIBERTY THROUGHOUT THE
LAND TO ALL ITS INHABITANTS COMES FROM, FROM THE BOOK OF
LEVITICUS, WHICH ALSO HAS LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.
EVENTUALLY, PENNSYLVANIA BECAME THE CULTURAL CAPITAL OF AMERICA.
“IT WAS THE LAST GREAT FLOWERING OF PURITAN POLITICAL INNOVATION,
AROUND ITS GREAT CITY OF BROTHERLY LOVE.” - PAUL JOHNSON
WHAT WILLIAM PENN ESTABLISHED REMAINS TO THIS DAY.
“I BESEECH GOD TO DIRECT YOU IN THE WAY OF RIGHTEOUSNESS, AND
THEREIN PROSPER YOU AND YOUR CHILDREN AFTER YOU.”
-WILLIAM PENN
TRAGICALLY, FINANCIAL WOES BROUGHT WILLIAM PENN BACK TO
ENGLAND WHERE HE REMAINED UNTIL HIS DEATH IN 1718.
HAVING BEEN SWINDLED BY A TRUSTED FRIEND, PENN ENDED UP
DYING PENNILESS.
BUT DESPITE HIS POVERTY, HE HAD LEFT A RICH LEGACY IN AMERICA,
WHICH WOULD LATER HAVE A RICH IMPACT AROUND THE WORLD.
A MAJOR ASPECT OF THAT LEGACY IS GENUINE FREEDOM OF CONSCIENCE.
AND SO, WHEN HE DEFENDED THE FREEDOM OF CONSCIENCE, HE WROTE
A GREAT BOOK ON IT.
HE PUT ON ITS COVER MATTHEW, CHAPTER SEVEN AND VERSE TWELVE.
NOT EVERYONE KNOWS THAT REFERENCE, BUT IT’S THE GOLDEN
RULE, DO UNTO OTHERS AS YOU’D HAVE THEM DO UNTO YOU.
WILLIAM PENN, WHO WAS BOTH A PREACHER, A LAWYER, AND NOW, A
GREAT LEADER SAID, “WE NEED FREEDOM OF CONSCIENCE FOR
EVERYONE AND WE FIND IT IN JESUS CHRIST, WHO SAID, ‘DO UNTO
OTHERS AS YOU’D HAVE THEM DO UNTO YOU.’” BASICALLY, WHAT HE
WAS SAYING IS: I DIDN’T LIKE IT WHEN I WAS PUT IN THE TOWER OF
LONDON FOR MY CONSCIENCE.
NOW THAT I’M BUILDING MY OWN CIVILIZATION, I’M NOT GOING TO
PUT YOU IN PRISON BECAUSE YOU DISAGREE WITH MY QUAKER FAITH.
HE SAID, “THE FREEDOM WE WANT FOR OURSELVES WE MUST
GIVE TO OTHERS.”
ALL THESE OTHER GROUPS FOUND THEMSELVES WANTING TO BE THE
CITY ON THE HILL, THAT WONDERFUL IMAGE IN THE SCRIPTURES THAT
AMERICA COULD BE THE LIGHT WHERE ALL PEOPLE COULD LIVE IN THE
LEAST RELIGIOUS FREEDOM, RELIGIOUS HARMONY WITH
THEIR OWN PEOPLES.
AND SO, I THINK IT WAS JUST THE GREAT EXPERIMENT OF LEAVING
EUROPE, THE OLD WORLD, IN A SENSE, THAT THE OLD TRADITIONS
HAD STUMBLED AND FALLEN AND THE RELIGIOUS WARS OF EUROPE, THEY
DIDN’T WANT TO RECREATE IN THE NEW WORLD, ESPECIALLY AMERICA.
COTTON MATHER PUT IT THIS WAY, “RELIGION BEGAN PROSPERITY, BUT
THE DAUGHTER HATH CONSUMED THE MOTHER.” NONETHELESS, THE CITY
ON A HILL THAT JOHN WINTHROP ENVISIONED WAS BEGINNING
TO TAKE PLACE.
SO MANY OF THE EARLY SETTLERS THAT CAME TO THESE SHORES CAME
FOR THE GLORY OF GOD AND FOR RELIGIOUS FREEDOM.
JOHN WINTHROP, THE GREAT PURITAN LEADER, FOUNDER OF BOSTON, HE
ENCAPSULATED THEIR VISION FOR AMERICA IN ONE BIBLICAL PHRASE,
“A CITY ON A HILL.”
AND HOW STANDS THE CITY ON THIS WINTER NIGHT?
MORE PROSPEROUS, MORE SECURE AND HAPPIER THAN IT WAS
EIGHT YEARS AGO.
BUT MORE THAN THAT, AFTER 200 YEARS, TWO CENTURIES, SHE STILL
STANDS STRONG AND TRUE ON THE GRANITE RIDGE, AND HER GLOW HAS
HELD STEADY NO MATTER WHAT STORM.
AND SHE'S STILL A BEACON, STILL A MAGNET FOR ALL WHO MUST HAVE
FREEDOM, FOR ALL THE PILGRIMS FROM ALL THE LOST PLACES WHO ARE
HURTLING THROUGH THE DARKNESS, TOWARD HOME.