Thy Lord hath saved us from certain doom,
from the British, our fierce foes,
in the battles, when cannons go boom,
when in our just fright, we froze.
Thy Lord hath saved us, when in our eyes,
we lost the war already,
but thy Lord will help, and we shall rise,
for you we shall be ready.
Thy Lord hath saved us from the British,
now we are free from our woes,
the war, with thy Lord’s help, we finished,
and we have beat our old foes.
Is there anyone you think is more of the archetypal American than Franklin? What is an archetypal? According to the dictionary, an archetypal is “a very typical example of a certain person or thing.” Why is Benjamin Franklin considered an archetypal American? It was because he was industrious. According to Bartleby, “He was industrious. Franklin continually put forth the idea of the industrious American. He had support from the middle-class who did not care if he was rich but he was a man who was self-made and worked hard. This American attitude was formed early and most of it by him.” He was considered an archetypal American because of his beliefs on self-improvement, religion, determination, and even somewhat of his sort of prideful spirit. At a young age, he found an interest in reading and writing, so he began printing. He was sort of an amateur in this profession of his. However, he showed much promise in this. He never gave up on trying to achieve his life goals. This man is worth modeling yourself after. This is why he is a perfect model of an archetypal American. I do not think that anyone could be more of an archetypal American than Benjamin Franklin. This is why:
Why do I think that Franklin is the perfect example of an archetypal American? He was a middle class person who did not care about being rich. He did not care about having a lot of money. This is a good trait to have. You should not care about being rich or having a lot of money, but you should focus on the important things. He was also self-made. Now, what does it mean to be self-made? According to Wikipedia, “A “self-made man” is a person whose success is of their own making. In the intellectual and cultural history of the United States, the idea of the self-made man as an archetype or cultural ideal looms large, but has been criticized by some as a myth or cult.” Your success is of your own doing. Do not ask other people do do things for you, do it yourself and you will become a better person. Franklin was also a hard worker. Now this is important. If you want to do things in life, you need to work hard for it. Franklin never gave up trying to achieve his life goals, and neither should you. If you hit an obstacle, remove it or work around it. I am absolutely sure that Franklin met several obstacles in his time, and knowing his position when he died, I assume that he defeated the obstacles. He never gave up reaching for his life goals, and neither should you. Franklin was also industrious. What does it mean to be industrious? It means to be diligent, to work hard. This is what Franklin was best at. Franklin is the perfect model of an archetypal American, and I do not think that anybody could be better at that than him.
Marks of a True Conversion was a sermon written and spoken by George Whitefield. George Whitefield lived from 1714-1770, which means he was alive during the Great Awakening which lasted from 1720-1780. According to Wikipedia, “George Whitefield, also known as George Whitfield, was an Anglican cleric and evangelist who was one of the founders of Methodism and the evangelical movement. Born in Gloucester, he matriculated at Pembroke College at the University of Oxford in 1732.” He was best known for being the central figure in the Great Awakening. According to Bartleby.com, “It (the sermon) is representative of the Great Awakening. It was a revival sermon, the goal was to gain conversions to Christ, the sermon used detailed imagery as rhetoric, it was Calvinistic. But, it didn’t focus on the role of the local church. It assumed the conventional preaching had not produced conversions.“
Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God was a sermon written by Johnathan Edwards. According to Wikipedia, “”Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” is a sermon written by the American theologian Jonathan Edwards, preached to his own congregation in Northampton, Massachusetts, to profound effect, and again on July 8, 1741 in Enfield, Connecticut. The preaching of this sermon was the catalyst for the First Great Awakening.” This was another sermon preached during the Great Awakening preached by Johnathan Edwards. According to Wikipedia, “Jonathan Edwards was an American revivalist preacher, philosopher, and Congregationalist theologian. A leading figure of the American Enlightenment, Edwards is widely regarded as one of America’s most important and original philosophical theologians.”
If you had heard the sermons “Marks of a True Conversion” and “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God”, would you have assumed that you were the target? If you read or listened to these sermons, would you assume that you were the target of the sermon? According to Bartleby.com, “His (Edwards’) sermons were intended as a wake-up call for those who underplayed the majesty of a holy God and overemphasized their own worthiness as a decent, hard-working, successful citizens. Edwards believed strongly that only a genuine conversion experience should qualify a person for church membership.” His and Whitefield’s sermons were intended as ‘wake-up’ calls for people who were already Christians. In fact, the sermons were intended for Christians. The goal of these sermons was not to convert people to Christianity, but to strengthen the faith of those who were already Christians. This was the entire reason for the Great Awakening.
So, if I had heard the sermons “Marks of a True Conversion” and “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God”, would I have assumed that I was the target? I feel like I was the target of the sermon. The target audience of the sermon were people who are Christians, and this sermon was not meant to convert people to Christianity, because that means that the sermon would be completely different, but rather to strengthen the faith of those who were already Christians. That refers to me and everybody else who is a Christian who read or listened to this sermon.
If you had been a member of the General Court, how would the sermon Theopolis Americana have influenced your politics? The book Theopolis Americana was a sermon written by Cotton Mather. This book was an extended interpretation of the Bible verse Revelation 21:21, here is what it says: “The twelve gates were twelve pearls, each gate made of a single pearl. The great street of the city was of gold, as pure as transparent glass.” According to Wikipedia, Cotton Mather was “a New England Puritan child prodigy, clergyman, theologian, and writer. Beginning his Harvard College undergraduate education at age twelve, he is the youngest person ever to be admitted there.”
Cotton Mather wrote this sermon to Massachusetts General Assembly (also known as the General Court). He was hoping that this sermon would persuade the General Court into changing how they viewed politics, how they change laws, and he was even hoping that he would change their way of thinking. His sermon was kind of messy and in some parts his ideas were way too extreme to be taken seriously (besides a few good points found in the sermon). The reason for this was that, like many other sermons in his day, he was trying to be general and vague. He tried to keep it civil because he could not afford to divide up the legislators by being more specific than need be. Many pastors may alienate a large amount of the congregation, and they may try to get him fired, or they might leave the church, reducing the income of the church, and this was something he could not afford.
Mather uses many criticisms in his sermon, like the free market. Many of his criticisms were heard of, or maybe even dealt with. Many of the criticisms include contract violations, commercial dishonesty, business corruption, and this includes the kidnapping of African slaves. He used Richard Baxter quotes to enforce his idea of how horrible it was to kidnap people from another country and force them to become slaves. And contract violations were already dealt with in England for centuries by the common law. Like I said, the General Court already knew of these criticisms, and probably just ignored him. He also describes his extreme dislike of alcohol and the excessive use of it. He explains that he is not against the use of alcohol, or that he encourages it, he does not do any of this. He just says that he does not like the excessive use of it, but he does not want to ban it, he never says this. However, he never gives an explanation for the excessive use of alcohol, and he did not tell the legislator what to do about it. He just simply states that he dislikes the excessive use of it, and expects the General Court to solve it themselves, depending on how they liked his sermon.
Honestly, if I were on the General Court, I would not have cared. The General Court was already aware of the things he criticized, and were doing what they could to stop it. He just told them things they did not already know.
In what ways was Penn an advocate of middle class morality? According to Wikipedia, “William Penn was an English writer, religious thinker, and influential Quaker who founded the Province of Pennsylvania during the British colonial era.” Penn is best known for being the founder of Pennsylvania, and for being one of the first ever champions of expressive freedoms in the American colonies. In fact, the name Pennsylvania is actually derived from “Penn’s Woods”. This term refers to William Penn’s father, Admiral Sir William Penn, a British naval officer. Founding Pennsylvania was actually Penn’s greatest accomplishment. He was also one of the most important people to influence religious freedom in the states. William Penn also wrote a book of aphorisms called “Fruits of Solitude”.
What is middle class morality? According to Wikipedia, “The term middle-class values is used by various writers and politicians to include such qualities as hard work, self-discipline, thrift, honesty, aspiration and ambition. Thus, people in lower or upper classes can also possess middle-class values, they are not exclusive to people who are actually middle-class.“
In what ways was Penn an advocate of middle class morality? In his book the “Fruits of Solitude”, he includes numerous aphorisms with several themes, such as ignorance, pride, luxury, truth, discipline, apparel, promising, knowledge, master, servant, respect, passion, patience, religion, and several others. Aphorisms are usually short and memorable, so you can easily remember them. They are also clever and must sound plausible to the reader. And they usually always have a moral lesson to them, however, in Penn’s “Fruits of Solitude”, this is unfortunately a rare occurrence. Some of his so-called aphorisms follow some or even none of these rules. It is rare when there is an aphorism that we find in his book that is a true aphorism. Penn’s evidence of living in a middle class morality is manifested through his book “Fruits of Solitude”. In this book, he makes it perfectly clear that he is fully content with taking “the middle path”. He encourages the reader to achieve satisfaction by taking “the middle path” for all goals in life. He gives examples around the themes I mentioned earlier. He tells us to chose to be in the middle between rich and poor, luxury and rags, things like that. He tells us these things so we want to choose the “middle path” so that we can have a healthy balance in life. In fact, one of the themes regarded in this book is ‘balance’.
He was a Quaker leader, so he took religion very seriously. Religion actually took up the longest section of this book. He recommends a lot of spiritual advice to his readers, which all ties into his spiritual outlook, which was majorly Protestant. He urged his readers not to ‘stuff’ themselves, which concerned all aspects of middle class Puritan life. He thought the middle road to be the safe road in life. This idea of middle class morality was constant throughout his observations. He truly believed the middle road to be the best and safest road to be on in life.
In this essay, I will give the views of these three people, Cotton, Winthrop, and Rowlandson, regarding the Puritans’ errand in the wilderness. Lets look at them one at a time, shall we?
1) John Cotton: He wrote and was the well known speaker of the famous sermon “God’s Promise to His Plantation”. In this sermon he spoke to the Pilgrims who were leaving for America, and in this sermon he tells that the Pilgrims that going to America is God’s will. He also said that The land will be free fro settlement once the Pilgrims got there. He elaborates on the several many ways that God has lead the Pilgrims to starting their own colony. Cotton’s reason for leaving was mainly for better business opportunities for the Pilgrims, for the Pilgrims to plant their own colony, better employment, and to have the freedom to have their own form of worship and religion, different than what the Parliament was forcing them to follow back in Europe. He specifies numerous different Biblical passages and quotes them, as was done in Puritanism. This leaving England and going to a different country is just like what happened in the Bible, when the Israelite’s departed for Canaan, leaving a country where they were not allowed to freely worship, to move to a different country so that they could worship, just like the Israelite’s.
2) John Winthrop: He was another great influential figure of this movement. Winthrop actually served as governor of the colony for some time. He also wrote a speech for the departing Pilgrims. He too, wrote in several Biblical passages into his speech. His account is set up in an odd kind of question and answer format. In this ‘different’ account, he tells of the struggles of not knowing what to look forward to in this place where they were setting up this new colony. His hope was that the Puritans would work together to build a strong working body, but it did not turn out as hoped. Many Puritans disobeyed laws and grew further from the reason they even set foot in America in the first place. This is also just like the Israelite’s departure for the land of Canaan.
3) Mary Rowlandson: A minister’s wife, would have been expected to be devout, submissive to her husband, quiet, and even hard working, just like any other wife during that time. In this colony, feminism could destroy the patriarchy, and were not allowed to make other women to differentiate from the group, but she wrote an account of Indian captivity from her own personal experience. While she was in captivity, she experienced the harshness of the wilderness. She was dragged around by her Indian masters and was forced to live in extreme hunger. However, she kept returning to her belief that God had kept her alive and was sustaining her, and that it was Him that caused her to be rescued, and that He caused her to be brought through the trial of Indian captivity to bring her closer to Him.
How did Cotton and Winthrop view the emigrating people’s connection with the Old Testament? According to Wikipedia, “John Cotton was a clergyman in England and the American colonies, and was considered the preeminent minister and theologian of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. He studied for five years at Trinity College, Cambridge, and nine years at Emmanuel College, Cambridge.'” and “John Winthrop was an English Puritan lawyer and one of the leading figures in founding the Massachusetts Bay Colony, the second major settlement in New England following Plymouth Colony. Winthrop led the first large wave of colonists from England in 1630 and served as governor for 12 of the colony’s first 20 years.” John Winthrop is best known for being the first governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony and for being a leading Puritan founder of New England. One thing that these men have in common is that they are both authors, and they both have books on the emigration to New England in America from Europe. They sailed to America to resist forced religion coming from the Parliament. When they left for America, they did not know what to expect, but thought it was worth it to start their religion with their fellow Puritans.
Cotton is the well known speaker of the famous sermon “God’s Promise to His Plantation”. In this sermon Cotton explained that leaving Europe and emigrating to America was part of God’s will and said that the land in America would be free for settlement for the Pilgrims once they arrived. It is still debated today whether this sermon was spoken before the departure from Europe, or during. Cotton’s reason for leaving was mainly for better business opportunities for the Pilgrims, for the Pilgrims to plant their own colony, better employment, and to have the freedom to have their own form of worship and religion, different than what the Parliament was forcing them to follow back in Europe. I think that this departure for America is very similar to the Israelite’s departure for Canaan in the Bible. Both groups had no idea what was laid ahead of them, but were willing to risk everything in order to make the journey. Cotton also quotes many Biblical passages in his sermon.
Winthrop was in charge of the Puritan fleet going to America. His account is set up in an odd kind of question and answer format. In this ‘different’ account, he tells of the struggles of not knowing what to look forward to in this place where they were setting up this new colony. This is kind of like the account of the Israelites. His hope was that the Puritans would work together to build a strong working body, but it did not turn out as hoped. Many Puritans disobeyed laws and grew further from the reason they even set foot in America in the first place.
Cotton and Winthrop spoke about a lot of Old Testament commandments and regulations that they put into their accounts that they spoke to the Puritans. You could tell that despite their lack of knowledge of knowing the future, they were confident that is was in God’s will to go to America and set up a new colony.
William Bradford was an emigrant to Plymouth Colony in 1620. He wrote a book called Of Plymouth Plantation while he was in Plymouth Colony. According to Study.com, “ This book focuses mainly on the journey of the pilgrims from England to North America and discusses the founding of the Plymouth settlement. It gives his opinions on the biblical importance of the pilgrims reaching America and their struggles. The second book was not completely finished because of Bradford’s death.” Of Plymouth Plantation was William Bradford’s journal that he wrote in while he was in Plymouth Colony. The purpose of this journal was to inspire others in the Plymouth community with a history of the origin of Plymouth Colony, and the challenges that the first settlers overcame. Here is a summary of this journal:
To start, many Christian Europeans fled England because of persecutions, so many emigrants moved to Leiden. There they stayed for around 12 years. A debate began to leave or stay. They chose to leave, and they hired a ship and some left Holland. It turned out that they learned at Southampton that the promised supplies were less than expected, so they had to sell goods to raise 100 Pounds.They had a leaking ship problem on the Speedwell, so 11 people boarded the Mayflower; 20 returned to London while 103 departed for America. It was about winter time in New England. The Pilgrims, as we call them now, landed at Cap Code, and spent November there. In December, they sent 10 men to go look for a better place, and Indians attacked where the 10 men landed. Firearms scared away the Indians, and miraculously, no one was hurt. The 10 men moved on, and they found a harbor.The Pilgrims then moved to the harbor. They then build a storehouse and a small house. Sadly, half of the Pilgrims died due to the harsh cold, the lack of food, and a disease called scurvy. Almost half of the seamen died as well. Then one day, the famous Indians Samoset and Squanto arrive. Squanto had lived in England for a time, so he understood the language of the Pilgrims. He had become a valuable translator between the Indians and Pilgrims. They also showed the Pilgrims how to plant food in that area and how to hunt. Then the Indian chief Massasoit arrives. The Pilgrims and Indians then make a peace treaty. Threats from local Indians (different Indians) forced the Pilgrims to build a fence, and then later, a fort due to their fear of the Indians. At this point, Bradford is now governor.The harvest was sparse. A ship arrives with over 40 people, and the Pilgrims fear that these newcomers will eat their crops, and the newcomers feared that the Pilgrims would eat there food, so to solve this problem, each group at their own food. The Pilgrims then began trade with England. The Pilgrims began using wampum for trade, and the Indians noticed this. The Indians had not previously used it for money, but they started to and got into the trade. The king declared a law against selling guns to Indians. When Captain Wollaston and Morton arrive. Wollaston leaves for Virginia, but Morton stays. He was a lawyer and took over the colony as soon as Wollaston left. Morton began selling guns to Indians. Towns tried pressuring him to stop, but he refuses. Captain Miles Standish is then sent to arrest him, and Morton is taken to England. The region was now very prosperous in 1632.
Was Bradford’s account a morality tale for future generations? According to Study.com, “Overall, Bradford’s account is considered accurate and telling of the time period, but it is also considered biased with a bit of propaganda intent on inspiring future generations of Pilgrims. Even though his text is now over 400 years old, the majority of it is still legible“
Cabeza de Vaca’s book Adventures in the Unknown Interior of America Is what this title is talking about. Here is a brief summary of his book:
The story begins 49 years after Columbus found the New World, and there were huge interests in the New World. The story begins after a hurricane flattened Trinidad’s port town. Four ships arrive and 400 men and 80 horses set sail. Two more storms hit them, and they landed in a Florida bay. The governor was on one of the ships, and said that they would march further inland. Vaca advised against leaving the ships, but was overruled by the governor, and 300 men marched. on the way they met Indians. They also spent 25 days in empty land and were attacked by different Indians. Later, one third of their party became sick. They needed to build boats, so they built 32-foot barges. The river current took them farther inland where a storm hit. They encountered more Indians with which they traded with. They reached the Mississippi river and the water current was so strong that they could not reach land. The barge that had the governor got separated and another barge sank in a storm.Vaca’s boat was left and they finally reached land at Galveston Island. There were Indians who lived on the Island and the Indians feed them and gave them drinkable water. A wave capsized the barge so they went home with the Indians. They later came upon another crew of a different barge which had also capsized. Men began to die from the cold and disease. At this point there were 15 men left. Half the Indians got sick and died and the Indians blamed the Spaniards, so they enslaved them and killed three of them. He was there from 1528-1532. Then they escaped and a different tribe helped them. The Spaniards also healed people, and they healed the Indians who were sick, they even preformed surgeries. Lots of Indians were healed by the very few Spaniards. They moved west and along the way, they were welcomed by all Indian tribes because of there healing skills. The tribes even paid them to heal people from their tribe. In one tribe, they met an Indian wearing a Spaniard belt buckle. Vaca asked were he got it, and the Indian said that he took the belt buckle from a Spaniard who killed two of the Natives. The Spaniards were enslaving Indians, so the Indians, along with Vaca and his group, fled to the mountains. There, 600 Indians showed up with food, and Vaca convinced them to go to the governor. The captain of the ship who was acting for the governor treated the men well and preached to the Indians, and the Indians agreed to become Christians. The captain swore he would not invade. Vaca then went to Mexico City, and from there, Veracruz City to get a ship to Spain. Only 4 out of 300 men survived.
Las Casas’ book A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies is more of an account of all the horrific things that went on in the New World, like murdering Indians, enslaving them, taking them to Europe to serve as slaves, and other just horrific things that went on. It summarizes all of the mistreatment’s of the Indians that went on after the discovery of the New World.
So which book was more memorable, Cabeza de Vaca’s or Las Casas’s? I think that Cadeza de Vaca’s book is more memorable because I like survival stories and it is just a very interesting book that I think you should read if you haven’t already.
What is the most memorable story or moment in Cabeza de Vaca’s book, Adventures in the Unknown Interior of America, and why? Before I reveale my answer, I would like to lay some ground work about the author and his book. Cabeza de Vaca was a Spanish explorer of the new world and his book Adventures in the Unknown Interior of America, is a kind of autobiography of his adventures in the New World. Now, he spent years in the New World, and all this time he did not have a notebook, or paper, or pen even to keep track of his adventures, and he only wrote about it after he returned to Spain, so this man had an amazing memory. Here is a summary of his adventures:
The story begins 49 years after Columbus found the New World, and there were huge interests in the New World. The story begins after a hurricane flattened Trinidad’s port town. Four ships arrive and 400 men and 80 horses set sail. Two more storms hit them, and they landed in a Florida bay. The governor was on one of the ships, and said that they would march further inland. Vaca advised against leaving the ships, but was overruled by the governor, and 300 men marched. on the way they met Indians. They also spent 25 days in empty land and were attacked by different Indians. Later, one third of their party became sick. They needed to build boats, so they built 32-foot barges. The river current took them farther inland where a storm hit. They encountered more Indians with which they traded with. They reached the Mississippi river and the water current was so strong that they could not reach land. The barge that had the governor got separated and another barge sank in a storm.Vaca’s boat was left and they finally reached land at Galveston Island. There were Indians who lived on the Island and the Indians feed them and gave them drinkable water. A wave capsized the barge so they went home with the Indians. They later came upon another crew of a different barge which had also capsized. Men began to die from the cold and disease. At this point there were 15 men left. Half the Indians got sick and died and the Indians blamed the Spaniards, so they enslaved them and killed three of them. He was there from 1528-1532. Then they escaped and a different tribe helped them. The Spaniards also healed people, and they healed the Indians who were sick, they even preformed surgeries. Lots of Indians were healed by the very few Spaniards. They moved west and along the way, they were welcomed by all Indian tribes because of there healing skills. The tribes even paid them to heal people from their tribe. In one tribe, they met an Indian wearing a Spaniard belt buckle. Vaca asked were he got it, and the Indian said that he took the belt buckle from a Spaniard who killed two of the Natives. The Spaniards were enslaving Indians, so the Indians, along with Vaca and his group, fled to the mountains. There, 600 Indians showed up with food, and Vaca convinced them to go to the governor. The captain of the ship who was acting for the governor treated the men well and preached to the Indians, and the Indians agreed to become Christians. The captain swore he would not invade. Vaca then went to Mexico City, and from there, Veracruz City to get a ship to Spain. Only 4 out of 300 men survived.
What is the most memorable story or moment in Cabeza de Vaca’s book, Adventures in the Unknown Interior of America, and why? I think that the most memorable part of the book is them healing the Indians because they were not only being kind to the Indians, but they were also saving lives. Also, if it were not for their popularity that had spread among the Indians, they probably would not have survived.