Puritans in New England

Transcription

1 Puritans in New England Teaching Objectives: Core Subjects Threads: History Teacher s Notes, p Lower Grammar Upper Grammar Learn about the journey of the Separatists and Strangers aboard the Mayflower. Learn about Squanto, the American Indian who helped the Pilgrims survive in the New World. Read about the Mayflower Compact, a document that became a cornerstone of civil liberties in the United States. Learn about the events and people involved in the founding of Plymouth. Learn about the relationship between the Plymouth colonists and their Indian neighbors. Understand the challenges that the Pilgrims faced in the New World. Learn more details about the Mayflower Compact and its importance to early settlers. Read about the explorations of Henry Hudson in North America. Read how the Thirty Years War raged in Europe while the Pilgrims were founding Plymouth. Learn that the Dutch trading empire dominated the oceans of the world during these years. Threads Dialectic Rhetoric Learn about the events and people involved in the founding of Plymouth. Learn about the relationship between the Plymouth colonists and their Indian neighbors. Understand the daily challenges that the Pilgrims faced in the New World. Compare the Plymouth and Jamestown settlements. Learn about Henry Hudson s explorations and the founding of New Netherland. Learn about the social and financial aspects of European society during the reign of James I. Note James s negative view of Calvinist Christians who came to be called Puritans and Separatists. Read about the historic voyage and hard conditions of the Plymouth settlers. Learn about the founding of the Puritan Massachusetts Bay Colony. Learn how the Dutch founded New Amsterdam after the explorations of Henry Hudson. Read about general conditions in Europe concerning money, commerce, and mercantilism. Threads: Writing Writing Assignment Charts, p All Levels Student assignments are found in the Writing Assignment Charts contained in this week-plan. Make sure your child writes every week! Teachers should consult Writing Aids or their choice of writing handbook each week for additional help in teaching the week s assignment. Threads: Literature Teacher s Notes, p Lower Grammar Upper Grammar Complete a worksheet by answering questions about this week s reading assignment. Determine if provided statements are fact or opinion. 1

2 Puritans in New England Threads: Literature Teacher s Notes, p Dialectic Write quotations that provide instances of emotions. Discuss how historical fiction gives more insight into the lives of the Pilgrims. Threads Rhetoric Begin Continue Discuss the genre of Pilgrim s Progress. Discuss the genre of the apology and Bunyan s Author s Apology for His Book. Discuss symbolism and personification as allegorical devices, and look at examples of these from Pilgrim s Progress. In addition to those listed above: Learn about the lives, times, and schools of the seventeenth-century English poets Ben Jonson, John Donne, and George Herbert. Learn the metaphysical style of poetry, including the metaphysical conceit, and discuss the poems of Donne and Herbert as examples of this style. Teaching Objectives: Electives Threads: Geography Teacher s Notes, p Lower Grammar Dialectic Upper Grammar Rhetoric Study the landforms and climate of New England, focusing on Cape Cod in par tic ular. Continue memorizing the original thirteen colonies. Study the landforms, climate, and native crops of New England, focusing on Massachusetts in par tic ular. Talk about the conditions the Pilgrims would have encountered as they arrived in Cape Cod Bay in November. Continue reviewing and memorizing the original thirteen colonies. Threads: Fine Arts and Activities Teacher s Notes, p. 56 Lower Grammar Dialectic Upper Grammar Complete activities that relate to the early colonists. Make a costumes to wear to your Unit Celebration at the end of this unit. Memorize the Mayflower Compact in preparation for your Unit Celebration. Make a display board about famous individuals involved in the founding of Plymouth Colony. Make a Pilgrim costume to wear to your Unit Celebration at the end of this unit. Make toys like the ones Native Americans may have made. Read about (and listen to, if possible) the music of Heinrich Schütz. 2

3 Puritans in New England Threads: Church History Teacher s Notes, p Upper Grammar Dialectic Read about Gustavus Adolphus, the king of Sweden, who fought courageously for his faith. Read about the spiritual reformation in England promoted by the Puritans. Learn about the Puritans and the Separatists, two groups of people who, influenced by Calvinist teachings, wanted to change religious practices in England. Threads Rhetoric Read about the spiritual reformation in England promoted by the Puritans. Learn about the Puritans and the Separatists, two groups of people who, influenced by Calvinist teachings, wanted to change religious practices in England. Read about how the gospel changed the Puritans everyday lives. Threads: Government Teacher s Notes, p Rhetoric Begin learning about America s contributions to government by studying Puritan experiments in self-government. Threads: Philosophy Teacher s Notes, p Rhetoric This week, Simplicio will explore a whole new kind of philosophy as he meets René Descartes, the first of the modern philosophers. The First Thanksgiving at Plymouth, by Edward Winslow 3

4 Puritans in New England Primary Resources Reading Assignments History: In-Depth History: Core The New Americans, by Betsy Maestro (J 970) p The Voyage of the Mayflower, by Allison Lassieur (J 974) The Awakening of Europe, by M.B. Synge, chapters 27, Making Thirteen Colonies, by Joy Hakim (J 973) chapters The Plymouth Colony, by Pamela Dell (J 974) Exploration and Conquest, by Betsy Maestro (J 970) p This Country of Ours (Yesterday s Classics version), by H.E. Marshall, chapters XXII-XXIV, XXVI Our Island Story (Yesterday s Classics version), by H.E. Marshall, chapter LXXV Courage and Conviction, by Mindy and Brandon Withrow, p Explorers Who Got Lost, by Diane Dreher, p (Week 3 of 3) Suggested Read-Aloud Colonial Living, by Edwin Tunis (J 917) p (middle), The Colonial Period: , edited by Brenda Stalcup (973) p The Age of Religious Wars, , by Richard S. Dunn (940) p , 208-2, 4-6 Government Elective Mayflower Compact; A Model of Christian Charity, by John Winthrop; Massachusetts Body of Liberties (Key Documents in Government Studies 2) Worldview Arts/Activities Literature Three Young Pilgrims, by Cheryl Harness (JUV FICTION) Colonial Kids, by Laurie Carlson (J 973) p. 1-14, 16-17, Church History William Bradford, Pilgrim Boy, by Bradford Smith, p (Week 2 of 2) America: Ready- To-Use Interdisciplinary Lessons & Activities, by Dwila Bloom, sections 1-2, 1-5, 1-6, 1-7, 1-8, 1 9, 1-10, 1-12, 1-13, 1-14, and 1-15 Church History Trial and Triumph, by Richard Hannula, chapter 27 Almost Home, by Wendy Lawton (JUV FICTION) (Week 2 of 2) More than Moccasins, by Laurie Carlson (J 973) p The Gift of Music, by Jane Stuart Smith and Betty Carlson, chapter 1 Church History The Church in History, by B.K. Kuiper, p. 248; chapter 31 (sections 1-4), chapter 32 (sections 1-5), chapter 41 (sections 3-4) Beginning Level Pilgrim s Progress (Oxford World s Classic edition), by John Bunyan (FICTION), p (Week 1 of 2) Readings in Poetics Continuing Level Poems by Jonson, Donne, & Herbert (Year 2 Shorter Works Anthology) Church History Elective Church History in Plain Language, by Bruce L. Shelley, p (stop at Attack) Worldly Saints, by Leland Ryken (285) Foreword, Preface, and chapters 1-4 (Week 1 of 3) Philosophy Elective Pageant of Philosophy supplement: Descartes s Deductions The Story of Philosophy, by Bryan Magee (180) p Lower Grammar Upper Grammar Dialectic Rhetoric 4

5 Puritans in New England Alternate or Extra Resources Textbooks History: Supplement The Thirteen Colonies, by Brendan January (J 973) p (stop at end of full paragraph) If You Sailed on the Mayflower in 1620, by Ann McGovern (J 974) Squanto & The First Thanksgiving, by Joyce Kessel (JUV BIO) The Story of the World Volume 3, by Susan Wise Bauer, chapters 4-6 (first section only) and 7-9 Eating the Plates, by Lucille Recht Penner (J 974) Squanto, Friend of the Pilgrims, by Clyde Bulla (JUV BIO) The Mayflower Compact, by Philip Brooks (J 974) Stories of the Pilgrims, by Margaret B. Pumphrey (J 973) (Week 1 of 3) Henry Hudson, by Ruth Manning (JUV BIO) Streams of Civilization, Volume 2, by Garry J. Moes, p (Descartes), (stop at Lutheran and Moravian Pietism ) Heritage of Freedom, by Lowman, Thompson, and Grussendorf, p (stop at Other New England Colonies ) The Story of the Thirteen Colonies, by H.A. Guerber, p The World of Captain John Smith, by Genevieve Foster (J 909) p The Landing of the Pilgrims, by James Daugherty (J 974) Daily Life in the Pilgrim Colony, by Paul Erickson (J 974) Western Civilization (Combined Volume, Sixth Edition), by Jackson J. Spielvogel, p , (stop at Spinoza ) The Story of Liberty, by Charles Coffin, chapters XXX-XXXI Sweet Land of Liberty, by Charles Coffin, chapters III-VIII Good Newes from New England, by Edward Winslow (982) Oliver Cromwell, by Peter Gaunt (941) (Week 1 of 2) Reading Assignments Enrichment Worldview Arts/Activities Literature Kids America, by Steven Caney (J 745) American Family of the Pilgrim Period Paper Dolls, by Tom Tierney Homes in the Wilderness, edited by Margaret Brown (J 974) Pocahontas and the Strangers, by Clyde Bulla (JUV BIO) (Week 2 of 2) Native Americans (Make It Work!) by Andrew Haslam (J 970) p. 8- Where Am I? by A.G. Smith (J 912) p The Double Life of Pocahontas, by Jean Fritz (J 975) (Week 2 of 2) Galileo for Kids, by Richard Panchyk (JUV BIO) chapter 2 The King s Book, by Louise A. Vernon (Week 2 of 2) For Those Who Dare, by John Hudson Tiner, p Of Plimouth Plantation, by William Bradford (974) Preface, chapters 1-10 of Book 1; chapters 1-4 of Book 2 The Journal of John Winthrop, by John Winthrop The Plimoth Colony Cook Book, edited by Sally Larkin Erath (641) Music: An Appreciation (Sixth Brief Edition), by Roger Kamien, p From Plato to Derrida, by Forrest Baird and Walter Kaufmann, selections on René Descartes A History of Christianity in the United States and Canada, by Mark Noll, p Characters of the Reformation, by Hilaire Belloc, chapters and Visible Saints: The History of a Puritan Idea, by Edmund Morgan (285) Lower Grammar Upper Grammar Dialectic Rhetoric 5

6 Puritans in New England Weekly Overview Student Threads Read about the Separatists and Strangers traveling together to the New World. Learn how God used a very special man named Squanto to help the colonists survive. Read about the Mayflower Compact. Learn how the Dutch founded New Amsterdam after the explorations of Henry Hudson. Study the Pilgrims and the founding of Plymouth. Note how God used the Indians to help the colonists survive in the New World. Read about the challenges and difficulties that the settlers faced. Learn more details about the Mayflower Compact. Read about the Thirty Years War that happened in Europe at the same time the Pilgrims founded Plymouth. Learn about the Dutch domination of trading in the oceans of the world during this time. Learn about events and people involved in the founding of Plymouth. Learn about the relationship between the Plymouth colonists and their Indian neighbors. Understand challenges that the Pilgrims faced daily in the New World. Compare the settlements of Plymouth and Jamestown. Learn about the explorations of Henry Hudson, and the founding of New Netherland. Learn about conditions in England under James I and James s view of the Calvinist Puritans and Separatists. Read about the historic voyage and hard conditions of the Plymouth settlers. Learn about how the Puritans founded Massachusetts Bay Colony. Learn about the founding of New Amsterdam. Read about general conditions in Europe concerning money, commerce, and mercantilism. People Vocabulary/Time Line Dates John Robinson John Carver William Bradford William Brewster Miles Standish Squanto Recognize or spell (optional) these words: smallpox pneumonia Pilgrim charter compact congregation pastor voyage John Carver Samoset Squanto William Bradford Miles Standish Henry Hudson All lower-grammar words, plus these: merchant grant scurvy treaty native emigrant passage Separatist John Carver Samoset Squanto William Bradford Miles Standish Henry Hudson John Winthrop John Carver Samoset Squanto William Bradford Miles Standish Henry Hudson John Winthrop René Descartes William Brewster Anne Bradstreet Add the following dates to your time line this week: Life of Heinrich Schütz Henry Hudson explores North American waterways and landforms. Plymouth is founded by English Separatists and others. Mayflower Compact is signed. William Bradford serves as governor of Plymouth Plantation (except for five years in which he assists). The Dutch found New Netherland. Dutch colonist Peter Minuit buys Manhattan Island from the Native Americans for about $ The Puritans found Massachusetts Bay Colony under John Winthrop. Lower Grammar Upper Grammar Dialectic Rhetoric 6

7 Puritans in New England Activities Group Activity Geography Continue the Colonial America project that you chose last week. Make a model of a ship. Create your own working compass. Learn how to decoupage and cover a small box or vase. Make a band box to hold some of your treasures. Continue the Colonial America project that you chose last week. Design a Pilgrim costume. Learn how to tie various kinds of knots. Make silhouettes of those in your co-op. With bread dough clay, create your own figure. Learn how to create beautiful artwork by quilling. Continue the Colonial America project that you chose last week. Complete worksheets and activities found in your resource for this week. Continue the Colonial America project that you chose last week. Design a Pilgrim costume. Finish your salt map of North America. Locate or label landforms and cities of New England. Learn about the climate and crops of New England. Continue memorizing the locations of the original thirteen colonies. Continue the Colonial America project that you chose last week. Memorize the Mayflower Compact and plan a time to recite it. Make and play with some toys that young Native Americans may have enjoyed: Make a cradle- board and charm. Make a corncob doll and its clothing. Try your hand at making a spear with its own arrowhead. Put together a travois for a stuffed animal or doll. Continue the Colonial America project that you chose last week. Memorize the Mayflower Compact and plan a date to recite it. Make a display board about famous individuals involved in the Plymouth Colony. Design a Pilgrim costume. Make and play with some toys that young Native Americans may have enjoyed. Make a deer hat for younger siblings or co-op members. Make and paint a Kachina doll. Create a top that really spins. Locate and label landforms and cities of New England. Study the coastline, climate, and native crops of New England. Continue to review and memorize locations of the original thirteen colonies. Weekly Overview Lower Grammar Upper Grammar Dialectic Rhetoric 7

8 Puritans in New England Level Genres Instructions and Topics Writing Assignments 1 Cluster and Describe Descriptive Writing Paragraph Construction Making Books (Week 2 of 11) Once you ve clustered ideas, the next step is to turn ideas into sentences. Write the paragraph on Jamestown that you and your teacher clustered last week. You can type or write out your sentences yourself, or dictate them to your teacher. If you have time, you can cluster and describe, and write a paragraph about life in Plymouth as well. You might want to add illustrations to your Colonial America book. You can find pictures on the Internet or in coloring books, or you can use your own drawings. 2 Fables (Week 2 of 4) Work on your fable from last week. Continuing thinking about any problems that your characters may be having, and consider how to resolve them. File your story under Work in Progress in your Grammar and Composition Notebook. 3 Playwriting (Week 2 of 4) 4 Historical Fiction (Week 2 of 4) This is drafting week. If you re writing by yourself, spend this week hammering out the lines your actors will speak. If you re working in a group, meet towards the end of the week to share and coordinate your drafts. File your work under Work in Progress in your Grammar and Composition Notebook. When you made your story map, you probably thought of things you weren t quite sure of in your story, such as what people ate, wore, or how they spoke. As you write your rough draft this week, stop to research these things as needed. Try to complete a very rough draft this week. Just attempt to get the basic story down on paper. File any work under Work in Progress in your Grammar and Composition Notebook. 8

9 Puritans in New England Level Genres Instructions and Topics 5 Personal Narrative (Week 2 of 4) Write your draft this week. Be sure to use concrete nouns, verbs, and adjectives the most specific ones you can find! File your rough draft under Work in Progress in your Grammar and Composition Notebook. Writing Assignments 6 Playwriting (Week 2 of 4) This is drafting week. If you re writing by yourself, spend this week hammering out the lines your actors will speak. If you re working in a group, meet towards the end of the week to share and coordinate your drafts. File your work under Work in Progress in your Grammar and Composition Notebook. 7 Reports Use all the steps in the writing process to write a one-page report about the Jamestown experience that you read about this week. File your report under Completed Work in your Grammar and Composition Notebook. 8 Compare/Contrast Essay This week, you will learn to write a new kind of analytical essay: the compare and contrast essay. Review compare and contrast writing in Writing Aids or a handbook. Print and read the Talking Points about compare and contrast essays in Writing Aids, noting the unique characteristics of this type of analytical essay. Look also at the Writing Aids Grading Rubric for this assignment, so you will know how your teacher will be grading you. Below is a choice of two suggested essay topics for you to attempt this week, using all the steps in the writing process: Compare and contrast the settlements of Jamestown and Plymouth. Look at the characters of the settlers, their relationships with neighboring Indian tribes, and the geographic features of both settlements. Compare and contrast the settlements of Plymouth and Massachusetts Bay. Discuss their goals for their settlements, the styles of governing in each colony, and events of the formative, early years in each of them. File your essay under Completed Work in your Grammar and Composition Notebook when it is done. 9

10 Puritans in New England Level Genres Instructions and Topics Writing Assignments 9 Playwriting (Week 2 of 4) This is drafting week. Spend this week hammering out the lines your actors will speak. If you re working in a group, meet towards the end of the week to share and coordinate your drafts. File your work under Work in Progress in your Grammar and Composition Notebook. 10 Essay of Argumentation Practice writing another essay of argumentation using one of the topics below: God caused Plymouth Colony to be founded in order to reveal His glory through provision, faith, and perseverance. The Pilgrims of Plymouth were some of the true heroes of history and the Christian church. Today s Christians could learn lessons of faith, perseverance through trial, and retaining the courage of our convictions from the Pilgrims of Plymouth. 11 Story Writing (Week 2 of 3) 12 Historical Fiction (Week 2 of 5) Begin your rough draft and try to get the complete story down on paper without worrying about grammar and word choice. Self-proof your draft. Look for nouns, verbs, and adjectives that you can improve to be more concrete and specific. Try to catch your grammatical and punctuation mistakes. (You may want to standardize your Proofing Marks using the Writing Aids disc.) Ask your teacher for her input on how your story flows, and talk about any characterization flaws, trouble with transitions, and errors in grammar and punctuation that she may have found. All works of fiction require behind the scenes work on the part of the author. One very useful step in writing a really excellent historical fiction is to develop details of your characters lives. Though these details may never appear explicitly in your story, they nonetheless provide you, the author, with the opportunity to make characters fully real and developed in your mind. The result is invariably a richer story! Read about writing character sketches in Writing Aids or your handbook. Using the Story Map and Characterization Grids (Writing Aids Supplements) that you worked on last week, write two or three character sketches for your story this week. 10

11 Puritans in New England General Information for All Grades This week, in addition to studying the founding of the Dutch colony of New Amsterdam, we will be focusing on the settlement of Plymouth, another early English colony well north of Jamestown. There are some similarities to note between the two English colonies, but the differences between them are more strik ing. As we saw last week, Englishmen who formed a joint-stock company to get rich quick sent those who were primarily looking for quick monetary gain in the New World to found James town. They met with problem after problem, and the colony was a sickly, fretful entity for many years. As with Jamestown, Englishmen who wanted to make money in America financed the Plymouth ex pe di tion, but a sizeable number of those who actually emigrated did not go to increase their worldly wealth. To understand these men and women well, we must continue to follow the history of the Reformation under James I. James was a Protestant, as we have learned. As the English king, he presided over both the English government and the Church of England (or Anglican Church). In this capacity, the king appointed or dismissed church leaders, and church and state were so intertwined that, in many cases, to criticize the church was to engage in treason. During the reign of Elizabeth I, England had remained peaceful throughout times of religious turmoil as a result of a compromise between Protestant doctrines and Catholic practices called the Via Media (middle way). Student Activities When James came to the throne, those who wished for less Catholic ritual and a greater purification of Christian teaching and practices in the Church of England were very hopeful, especially when James appointed several prominent Puritans to elevated positions within the Church of England. Though he had been raised in Scotland, where Calvinist theology had resulted in a Presbyterian government, James was not a Puritan. He had adopted the view that he had a divinely appointed right to rule, absolutely and unquestioned, over both government and church in England. He therefore saw the Puritan movement, which upheld each individual s responsibility to interpret scripture, as potentially dangerous to his power in both arenas. His authorization of the King James Bible was given partially to reinforce Anglican orthodoxy and counter the influence of the Geneva Bible, which included anti-royalist interpretations of key Scriptures, as well as Calvin s notes on the submission of both church and secular leaders to the authority of Scripture. To separate from the established (meaning, state-sponsored and lawful) Anglican Church was both illegal and dangerous. Some chose to remain in the Church of England and work for purification from within. These people were dubbed Puritans. Some decided that they must shake the dust off their feet and separate themselves and their families from the church which, from their standpoint, compromised Scriptural directions for faith and practice. These people were called Separatists. Often, Separatists found it necessary to emigrate as part of their separation because the close connection between church and state made their decision of faith and conscience a state matter as well. They were harried and even persecuted if they did not attend Anglican services. In 1607, the year Jamestown was founded, a group of Separatists from the English East Midlands left England for Protestant Holland, where they lived for about twelve years. Forty-one Puritan Separatists and sixty-one other Englishmen who hoped to better their lives by moving to America founded Plymouth, with the support of the Plymouth Company based in London. The Separatist settlers felt that their children were in danger of becoming worldly Dutchmen and they feared that war would soon break out between Holland and Spain. So they dared to cross the ocean and begin a new life, despite the dreadful reports about living in America that they must have heard from Jamestown. As you study these colonists this week, look for the many examples of God s direct intervention to help His people create a new home in the wilderness. Note, too, that sometimes God does call His people to suffer and die in His service. These Pilgrims, as they came to be called, suffered much for their principles and profoundly affected the development of America in the process. 11

12 Puritans in New England Lower Grammar Level Student Activities Fine Arts and Activities 1. Continue the Colonial America project that you chose last week. (Week 2 of 8) 2. Design a realistic Pilgrim or Native American costume to wear to your Unit Celebration. From Colonial Kids: 3. Make a model of a ship using a brown paper bag, white paper, and a straw. 4. Learn how to tie various types of knots. 5. Create your own compass using a cork and a magnet. 6. Cut out your silhouette after a family member or friend traces your shadow. 7. Make bread dough clay and form a figure of your choice. 8. Learn the art of decoupage and cover a small box or vase using this technique. 9. Poster board and gift wrap are the main supplies you ll need to create your own band box. Make one to store some of your treasures. 10. Quilling is a beautiful art that you may enjoy. Choose a few patterns and then, with your teacher s help, try your hand at this skill. Geography Your teacher will tell you whether to do this work orally or on paper. 1. Find all these places on a map of New England: Cape Cod Boston Martha s Vineyard Island Provincetown Nantucket Island Connecticut River Cape Cod Bay Merrimack River Massachusetts Bay Narragansett Bay Plymouth 2. With your teacher s help, learn about the seasonal climate (temperature, average rainfall, etc.) of New England and in particular, Plymouth, using climate maps or your atlas. 3. Find out what native crops grew in Massachusetts at the time the Pilgrims lived there and also what foods Eng lish settlers might have been used to. What might the menu have been, both daily and at Thanks giving? 4. Finish your salt map of North America. (Week 2 of 2) 5. Throughout our study of Colonial America, we will be memorizing the names and locations of the original thirteen colonies. This week, we are studying the founding of Plymouth and the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Though these were only a small foothold in Massachusetts, color in the entire colony of Massachusetts this week on your map of the thirteen colonies as they appeared before the American Revolution. 12

13 Puritans in New England Literature Worksheet for Three Young Pilgrims, by Cheryl Harness Answer each question below. 1. What kinds of things were stored in the hold of the ship? 2. What was the name of the ship on which the people sailed? Student Activities 3. Why did the Pilgrims want to make a new colony? 4. What was the name of the new colony? 5. Who was the Indian that welcomed the settlers? 6. What did Samoset and Squanto teach the settlers? 7. Who was invited to the celebration feast? 8. What were the names of some of the Indians who went to the feast? 9. What was the name of the ship that was sighted three days after the feast? 10. What was one main reason that people went to the New World? 13

14 Puritans in New England Upper Grammar Level Student Activities Fine Arts and Activities 1. Continue the Colonial America project that you chose last week. (Week 2 of 8) 2. Design a realistic Pilgrim or Native American costume to wear to your Unit Celebration. From America: Ready-to-Use Interdisciplinary Lessons & Activities: 3. Complete one or more of the following worksheets: The Early New England Colonists What Will it Cost? New England Terms Folktales and Literature Seventeenth-Century Pastimes and Sports Sounds of New England Dried Pepper Hangings Basics of New England Cooking Seventeenth-Century New England Feasts Indian Pudding Cranberry-Nut Bread Geography Your teacher will tell you whether to do this work orally or on paper. 1. Find all these places on a map of New England: Cape Cod Boston Martha s Vineyard Island Provincetown Nantucket Island Connecticut River Cape Cod Bay Merrimack River Massachusetts Bay Narragansett Bay Plymouth 2. Learn about the seasonal climate (temperature, average rainfall, etc.) of New England and in particular, Plymouth, using climate maps or your atlas. 3. Find out what native crops grew in Massachusetts at the time the Pilgrims lived there and also, what foods Eng lish settlers might have been used to. What might the menu have been, both daily and at Thanks giving? 4. Finish your salt map of North America. (Week 2 of 2) 5. Throughout our study of Colonial America, we will be memorizing the names and locations of the original thirteen colonies. This week, we are studying the founding of Plymouth and the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Though these were only a small foothold in Massachusetts, color in the entire colony of Massachusetts this week on your map of the thirteen colonies as they appeared before the American Revolution. 14

15 Puritans in New England Literature Worksheet for William Bradford, Pilgrim Boy, by Bradford Smith Write F if the statement is a fact from your book. Write O if it is an opinion. 1. William is punished for going to Babworth several times. 2. King James of Scotland becomes the King of England upon the death of the queen. 3. William Bradford is three years older than Jonathan Brewster. Student Activities 4. A good breakfast consists of pease porridge, milk, bread, and slices of cold meat. 5. The men from Cambridge are a dangerous group. 6. William is not allowed to continue attending school. 7. William forgets that he has let the bull out in the pasture. 8. It is more important to take care of the lambs than to learn. 9. Learning enables Uncle Robert and William to take better care of the sheep. 10. William Brewster is arrested for being disobedient in matters of religion. 11. Sam White is afraid to meet with William unless it is after dark. 12. Freedom in the New World is worth the dangers the people have to overcome. 13. Life on board the Mayflower is very exciting! 14. William Bradford becomes the governor of the new colony. 15. The Narragansett Indians never trouble the Pilgrims while William is alive. 15

16 Puritans in New England Dialectic Level Student Activities History Accountability Questions 1. Outline the story of the Pilgrim settlers of Plymouth. Where did they journey from, and when? Where did they land and what were the first few years like for them? 2. Using the Venn Diagram below, or a copy of it that you ve expanded in your notebook, compare and contrast the settlers of Jamestown and Plymouth in terms of: Who sent them to America The main motives among settlers for colonizing The number of men, women, and children in the group Their behavior once they landed in their new colonial home Their means of making a living Their relations with nearby Native Americans BOTH Jamestown Plymouth 3. Which Native American tribes lived near Plymouth, and what were their social and political customs? How do you see the hand of God working in the Pilgrims relations with the Indians? How did their relations differ from those of the Jamestown colonists? 4. What was the name of the Puritan colony that settled just north of Plymouth? When did these settlers first arrive in New England? 5. Who was the English explorer who sailed for the Dutch? What were his great discoveries? 6. How was New Netherland formed, and where? Thinking Questions 1. What kinds of issues caused the Pilgrims to leave England? Would you have left a comfortable home to cross the ocean and live in a hostile land because of issues like these? Prepare to explain your answer. 2. Prepare to discuss ways in which the Pilgrims showed their Christian faith during their trials in Holland, on the Mayflower, and in the New World. 16

17 Puritans in New England Fine Arts and Activities 1. Continue the Colonial America project that you chose last week. (Week 2 of 8) 2. Memorize the Mayflower Compact and plan on reciting it at the end of the week or at your Unit Celebration. 3. Make a display board about famous individuals involved in the Plymouth Colony. 4. Design a realistic Pilgrim or Native American costume to wear to your Unit Celebration. From More Than Moccasins: 5. Make and play with toys that young Native Americans may have enjoyed. You may want to make and share these with younger siblings or co-op members. Fashion a cradleboard and a charm for a doll that you own. You ll need a paper milk carton and other miscellaneous supplies. Corncob dolls were popular with both Indians and colonists. Make your own doll and some clothing for it this week. Make a deer hat for your younger siblings or co-op members. Be careful to cover any staples you use. Make a spear out of cardboard. If you have access to carving materials such as a bone or stone, try to chip your own arrowhead. Be sure to get parental permission if you do this and be careful using any sharp tools. Although Indians learned about the spirits with Kachina dolls, make one for yourself as a reminder of what you are learning in this unit. If you want to make the project more advanced, use wood instead of cardboard and do some detailed painting. Make a travois for one of your stuffed animals or dolls. Create a spinning top out of wood or cardboard. Student Activities Geography 1. Label a paper map with these landforms and places: Cape Cod Martha s Vineyard Island Nantucket Island Cape Cod Bay Massachusetts Bay Plymouth Connecticut River Boston Provincetown Merrimack River Long Island Sound Manhattan Island Narragansett Bay 2. Learn about the seasonal climate (temperature, average rainfall, etc.) of New England and in particular, Plymouth, using climate maps or your atlas. 3. Find out what native crops grew in Massachusetts at the time the Pilgrims lived there and also what foods Eng lish settlers might have been used to. What might the menu have been, both daily and at Thanks giving? 4. Throughout our study of Colonial America, we will be memorizing the names and locations of the original thirteen colonies. This week, we are studying the founding of Plymouth and the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Though these were only a small foothold in Massachusetts, color in the entire colony of Massachusetts this week. Your map of the thirteen colonies should show these colonies as they appeared before the American Revolution. Church History The Church in History, by B.K. Kuiper Your recommended resource, The Church in History, has questions for discussion listed in each chapter. There are follow-up questions on pages 257 (questions 1-2), 265 (questions 1-2), and 342 (questions 2-5). As always, ask your teacher to help you choose the proper questions out of this list, and to look over your work when you finish and discuss with her anything you didn t understand. 17

18 Puritans in New England Literature Student Activities Worksheet for Almost Home, by Wendy Lawton Write quotations that provide instances of the following emotions from this week s reading assignment. Give page numbers so that your teacher can easily grade your work. 18

19 Puritans in New England Rhetoric Level History Accountability Questions 1. You will be comparing and contrasting Jamestown and Plymouth this week. Use the chart provided on page 20 to record your analysis. 2. What role did the Native Americans play in the founding of Plymouth? 3. List the similarities and differences between Plymouth Plantation and the Massachusetts Bay Colony. 4. How did the government and social makeup of New Netherland differ from both Plymouth Plantation and the Massachusetts Bay Colony? 5. What is the economic theory called mercantilism? How did it affect the actions of colonial Europeans? Student Activities Thinking Questions 1. Prepare to discuss Dunn s assertion in Age of Religious Wars that as Dutch prosperity proved, the merchant middleman was the prime catalyst in the seventeenth-century economy (117). 2. How did liberty and freedom mean different things to people of the seventeenth century than they do to us today? Why do these differences exist, and how did these concepts affect European and Colonial American society in the 1600 s? 3. Prepare to discuss ways that the Pilgrims showed their Christian faith during their trials in Holland, on the Mayflower, and in the New World. 4. Today, many Americans mourn the lack of heroes in our society. Prepare to discuss whether or not the Pilgrims are heroes worth emulating. Using the Bible, list the qualities of a hero. Do you think the Pilgrims were real heroes or not? (Prepare concrete reasons for your position.) What would you have found hardest about colonial life, and why? How does the Pilgrims example convict, inspire, or instruct you in this area? What do you find most inspirational in the Pilgrim story? (Pick at least two aspects to share.) Geography 1. Label a paper map with these landforms and places: Cape Cod Martha s Vineyard Island Nantucket Island Cape Cod Bay Massachusetts Bay Plymouth Connecticut River Boston Provincetown Merrimack River Long Island Sound Manhattan Island Narragansett Bay 2. Learn about the seasonal climate (temperature, average rainfall, etc.) of New England and in particular, Plymouth, using climate maps or your atlas. 3. Find out what native crops grew in Massachusetts at the time the Pilgrims lived there and also what foods Eng lish settlers might have been used to. What might the menu have been, both daily and at Thanks giving? 4. Throughout our study of Colonial America, we will be memorizing the names and locations of the original thirteen colonies. This week, we are studying the founding of Plymouth and the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Though these were only a small foothold in Massachusetts, color in the entire colony of Massachusetts this week. Your map of the thirteen colonies should show these colonies as they appeared before the American Revolution. 19

20 Puritans in New England Jamestown What type of people were the original colonists? Plymouth What type of people were the original colonists? Student Activities Original purpose, reasons for coming, and organization: Original purpose, reasons for coming, and organization: Physical conditions: Physical conditions: Relations with natives: Developments over the years: Relations with natives: Developments over the years: 20

21 Puritans in New England Literature Literary Introduction As I walk d through the wilderness of this world, I lighted on a certain place... John Bunyan, Pilgrim s Progress (10) First published in 1678, Pilgrim s Progress was written by John Bunyan, a pastor who lived in England during a time of great national upheaval. Bunyan s life ( ) spans some of Britain s most tumultuous spiritual and political controversies, which we will talk about more next week. What you need to know right now is that Bunyan was born twenty-three years after the first part of Don Quixote was published and twelve years after Shakespeare died, and that he wrote Pilgrim s Progress while serving twelve years in prison for his religious convictions. Student Activities The language and style of the story is seventeenth-century English, which you will find somewhat different from modern English but quite easy to read once you get used to it. As you read, try to make full use of the explanatory notes at the back of the book (beginning on page 291). Whenever you see a word with a little cross by it, you can be sure that there is a helpful note on that word or phrase in the back. What does Bunyan mean in the Apology when he describes his writing style or his book as dark, or speaks of dark figures? Dark figure (or its sister term, dark conceit ) doesn t mean a dark (or sinister or evil) literary technique. It is a specific term that refers to figurative storytelling in which ideas are embodied and represented by the story elements (characters, events, things, etc.). The word conceit now means a poetic figure of comparison (often an extended metaphor), but it is also used to mean simply a concept. The term dark conceit was coined by Spenser in his letter to Sir Walter Raleigh introducing The Faerie Queene. In his letter to Raleigh, Spenser defended his use of allegory against those who would prefer a sermon or clear precepts, not lessons clowdily enwrapped in Allegoricall devises. This phrase clowdily enwrapped is where the idea of dark becomes joined with a literary concept and forms the term dark conceit. It simply means that the author is veiling his ideas in images, personifications, symbolic characters, etc., rather than saying them straight in clear principles as he would in a treatise or a sermon. A dark conceit, therefore, might be a concrete element in a story, poem, or play that stands for more than itself. The term, however, generally refers to a whole story that is full of such figurative concrete elements. When used in this sense, it is basically synonymous with the term allegory. Bunyan and Spenser seem to be using very similar defenses; in fact, Bunyan may even be imitating Spenser as he argues at length that a dark figure which is basically synonymous with Spenser s dark conceit and with the term allegory that Bunyan also uses can set forth spiritual truths. Of course, the irony of a term like dark figure is the fact that often its actual function is to reveal and illuminate a reality that the reader may before have seen only dimly, as though in a cloud. Reading From Poetics Beginning and Continuing Level Students Book I Review IV.B.6.f: Symbolic and Allegorical Use of Characters Review IV.H.4.c: Personification Appendix A: Apology. Review Allegory, Dream Vision, Personification, and Symbol as necessary Appendix B: John Bunyan Continuing Level Students Only Book II V.B.1.a and e: Ten Poets and Metaphysical Poets: Donne and Marvell Appendix B: Ben Jonson, John Donne, George Herbert From the Year 2 Shorter Works Anthology, for Continuing Level Students only: Ben Jonson To the Memory of my Beloved, the Author, Mr. William Shakespeare, and What He Hath Left Us

22 Puritans in New England Student Activities To Penshurst On Something, That Walks Somewhere John Donne Holy Sonnet No. 1 The Canonization A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning George Herbert: The Altar Recitation or Reading Aloud Your teacher may allow you to choose your own selection for recitation or reading aloud, or have you do this selection: The Man of the City of Destruction (from As I walked through the wilderness of this world through What shall I do? Pilgrim s Progress, p. 10). Defining Terms You should continue your index card bank of literary terms this week, and make cards for whichever of these terms you do not already have. Be sure to write down exactly what you see here. Apology: An author s explanation of and justification for the ideas expressed in a literary work, or for the form through which he expresses them. Conceit: 1) In the Middle Ages, any literary device or means of expressing an idea; 2) later, a complex or extended metaphor figure. Dark Conceit (Dark Figure): A term invented by Edmund Spenser to describe the technique of allegory, in which an invisible reality is expressed through, but also veiled by, a story. Beginning Level 1. Written Exercises: Write out answers to each of the following questions. What is Bunyan s main point in the Apology? In other words, what is he defending? What metaphors, similes, allusions or other comparisons did you notice in Bunyan s Apology? (Write down at least one example.) Did they help to win you over to his argument? Which did you like best or find most compelling? What meter and rhyme scheme is Bunyan using in his Apology? Why do you think he wrote in poetry? 2. Written Exercise: In the first, small chart below, you will find the six options for filling in the boxes of the large chart s right column. Using these, fill in the far right column of the chart on the next page. 1 Some of them have already been done for you as examples. Personification Gives personality to something that is not a person or character Personification of an Abstract Idea or Quality, including Human Traits, Sins, and Virtues Personification of a Place, Thing, Event, or Action (this type is relatively rare) Symbolism Adds a secondary meaning to the usual or literal meaning of a concrete person, place, thing, event, or action Symbolic Event or Action Symbolic Place Symbolic Thing Symbolic Character 1 Many of the explanations of secondary meaning in the chart are drawn from the notes at the back of Oxford World s Classics edition of Pilgrim s Progress, edited by W.R. Owens (New York: Oxford University Press, 2003)

23 Puritans in New England Personification and Symbolism in Pilgrim s Progress: From the beginning of the story to Vanity Fair Person, Place, Thing, or Event in the Story Man (named Graceless, renamed Christian) Book Great Burden City (of Destruction) Secondary or Special Meaning The Man (whose name, we learn later, is Graceless) is both a literal character in the story and also represents every unbelieving human in the natural state of sin. Later he becomes Christian and represents all Christians. The Book is the Bible. The burden represents the collective sins Graceless has committed (and the weight of guilt they produce), which can only be removed by Christ. The City represents those who have original sin but not salvation, and are consequently marked for destruction. Type of Figurative Speech Symbolic Character Symbolic Place Student Activities Evangelist Evangelist represents Christian evangelists and godly Christian pastors. It is after meeting Evangelist that Graceless is first called Christian. Obstinate and Pliable Obstinate represents the human trait or characteristic of obstinacy (arrogant stubbornness) which may keep a person from believing the gospel. Pliable represents the human trait of pliability with regard to spiritual things. He accepts easily, but also gives up easily. Personifications (Sinful Human Traits) Slow of Dispond (or Slough of Despond) The Slough represents all the various doubts, misunderstandings, and lack of comprehension that may cause a man to despair of ever being saved from his sins. Help Help represents the help (which may come from a person, a sudden insight from God, etc.) that comes to a man and draws him out of despondency to believe in the reality of salvation. Personification (Abstract Quality) Steps in the Slough The steps are the promises in the Bible that declare that a person may indeed be saved. Falling into the Slough and being pulled out by Help A person seeking to be saved may be caught and almost drowned in his own misgivings, but God is able to send help to pull him out and set him on the way to salvation. Symbolic Event and Symbolic Action Mr. Worldly-Wiseman He represents those who have wisdom to get on in this world but cannot offer wisdom for the man who is seeking heaven. Beelzebub The narrow way, the King s High Way The Dust is removed with the help of Water Simple, Sloth, and Presumption The Hill of Difficulty Apollyon The Valley of the Shadow of Death Faithful Beelzebub is a real being in the real world. Bunyan occasionally refers to real persons (including God) directly, without any dark figure. This way is the way of Holiness, and Good-Will tells Christian that it is a road laid down by men of God, including the Patriarchs, the Prophets, Christ, and the Apostles. These represent the fact that original sin cannot be cleaned out of a Christian s life by law, but he will be cleaned easily if sprinkled with the grace of the gospel, as the dust is with water. These are three sinful human traits, all of which can dull and hinder a person from making progress along the way of Holiness. This hill represents a season in a Christian s life when trials or difficulties arise to test his faith. Apollyon is an actual demon named in the Bible. Bunyan may refer here to spiritual or demonic attack. This valley stands for a season of particularly fierce trials in a Christian s life, such as a dangerous illness. Like Christian, Faithful is a symbolic character who stands for Christians in general. Actual Person Personification (Human Trait or Action) Actual Person Faithful Helps Christian to Rise This action is symbolic of Christians need for each other s help in the process of sanctification and the journey towards Heaven. 23

24 Puritans in New England Student Activities 3. Written Exercise: Start filling in this literary analysis outline for as much as you read this week. You will probably need to expand this onto several sheets of paper or a computer document. You will go over your finished outline next week with your teacher. Frameworks Genre(s): Mode(s): Content Topic(s): Theme(s): Reality: Morality: Values: Settings Physical: Cultural: Temporal: Characters Christian Personal Traits and Abilities: Thoughts and Feelings: Responses to Events or People: Conflicts: Physical Conflict: Character Conflict: Inner Mental Conflict: Worldviews Conflict: Experiment in Living: Faithful Personal Traits and Abilities: Responses to Events or People: Experiment in Living: Hopeful Personal Traits and Abilities: Responses to Events or People: Experiment in Living: Plot Plot Structure (Proliferation): Suspense: Poetic Justice: Plot Frame: Texture Allusion: Personification Personification of an Abstract Idea or Quality: Personification of a Human Trait: Symbolism: Style Descriptive Style: Tone: Sentence Structure: 24

25 Puritans in New England Artistry Artistic Elements Contrast: Unified Progression: Variety in Unity Repetition: Recurrence (Rhythm): Meaning Through Form Continuing Level Do everything in the Beginning level above, plus the following: 4. Be prepared to describe the three Jonson poems, the three Donne poems, and Herbert s The Altar in class. 5. Written Exercise: This week you learned about metaphysical conceit. Give an example of it from your reading. Student Activities Church History Church History in Plain Language, by Bruce Shelley 1. In what two places did Puritans have the opportunity to apply the law of God to the life of a nation (or political body)? Has any later Christian movement had such an opportunity? 2. What does Shelley say are the three main periods of the Puritans crusade to remake England? 3. What are the two sides of Puritanism? Why is this significant? 4. What does Shelley say Elizabeth I s policy was towards Puritans? 5. Which books were on the Puritans short list of best sellers? What influence did these have on them? 6. Where and how was the first English Baptist church founded? Worldly Saints, by Leland Ryken Read the Introduction and the first four chapters (unless your teacher excuses you from reading chapter 3) in Worldly Saints. Then answer the following questions. 1. In the introduction to Worldly Saints, what does J.I. Packer say is the main reason we need to learn from the Puritans? In other words, what does he say they had that we don t? 2. What are five of the specific examples of their maturity that he goes on to list? 3. Which of these five examples impressed you the most as you read about the Puritans, and why? 4. Be prepared to share one interesting thing about the Puritans that you didn t know before you read about them this week. 5. Why have the Puritans been misrepresented in England and America for many years? List several false things that are commonly believed about the Puritans. 6. List ways that people misapply the term puritan today. Why do you think these misconceptions about the Puritan culture and beliefs persist to this day? 7. Please fill in an expanded copy of the following chart in your notebook as you read your assigned chapters this week. Bring the filled-in chart to your discussion time. Marriage Work Money and Sex Theological and biblical underpinnings of the Puritan view: Why How this view worked out in everyday life: What 25

26 Puritans in New England Government Student Activities This week our study of government takes us to the Pilgrims and early Puritan colonies in Massachusetts. These colonies had an enormous impact on world history. Their early experiments in self-government are like the headwaters of a great river the Mayflower Compact is a long way from the United States Constitution, but it flows directly to it. The three documents we will study this week are the Mayflower Compact, John Winthrop s A Model of Christian Charity, and the first code of laws we have from the Massachusetts Bay Colony, The Massachusetts Body of Liberties. They were each written about one decade apart in 1620, 1630, and The Mayflower Compact is a covenant, which had special significance for the Pilgrims, who were Calvinists. John Calvin was a lawyer before he was a Reformer, and his concept of God s covenant with man is a central feature of his theology. Even though the Mayflower Compact is just one paragraph long, it creates a new government of the people, by the people, and for the glory of God. It reads like a set of marriage vows, and for good reason the words of this compact create a new society, just the way that marriage vows create a new family. John Winthrop wrote his Model of Christian Charity on board the Arabella as he sailed for Massachusetts in 1630, ten years after the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth. Winthrop, a Puritan, was governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. His discourse on the role of Christian love deals forthrightly with matters like poverty and debt as he challenges the community to live as a city on a hill in the new world. The Massachusetts Body of Liberties was the first legal code in New England. As the colonists established a government for their new society, they took pains to protect individuals from tyranny. This bill of rights protects individual freedom by setting explicit limits on the power of the new government. Mayflower Compact 1. The Mayflower Compact is a covenant. Who are the parties to this covenant? 2. What does the Mayflower Compact establish? A Model of Christian Charity 3. Why does Winthrop think God allows some people to be rich and others poor? 4. According to Winthrop, how should Christians give money, lend money, and forgive debts? 5. How should a Christian community act in the face of shared perils? 6. Winthrop discusses Christian love and comes to four conclusions. What are they? 7. How does Winthrop apply his teaching on Christian charity to the persons, the work, the end, and the means of love? 8. Winthrop quotes Matthew 5:14 at the end of this piece. What image does he use to describe the new Puritan community? What does that image mean to Winthrop? Massachusetts Body of Liberties 9. Explain what the opening paragraph says about the relationship between liberty, tranquility, and stability. 10. Specific liberties, immunities, and privileges are spelled out in numbered paragraphs. How does paragraph 1 protect individual freedom? 11. Paragraphs deal with the relationship between civil authority and church government, and vice versa. Explain how these two different governments interact. 12. What limits does paragraph 91 place on slavery? How would it apply to the African slave trade? Could a European bring a black slave to Boston? 13. Paragraph 94 identifies twelve death-penalty offenses. Name three of them and explain how individual freedom could be protected in these instances. 14. Explain how paragraph 95 provides more freedom of religion than existed in England, but less than Americans enjoy today. Philosophy Rehearse Descartes s Deductions, which is this week s Pageant of Philosophy material. Did you include your father? If he is available, make an effort to have him rehearse with you at least one time. 26

27 Puritans in New England The Pageant of Philosophy Descartes s Deductions (Simplicio stands on a bare stage, holding a Bible and looking around. Descartes enters, carrying a suitcase and a sign that says, René Descartes, ) Descartes: Young man, are you looking for something? Simplicio: I am looking for truth. Descartes: Ah! (sagely) If you would find truth, you must first lose error I know it from personal experience. Simplicio: You do? Descartes: Indeed my young friend. Let me introduce myself. My name is René Descartes. I have been a lawyer, a soldier, and a mathematician 1 but throughout my life, I have always sought truth. Simplicio: Me too! Descartes: I began early, with an excellent education at a Jesuit school. When I finished that, at the age of sixteen, I went off to be introduced to society in Paris. While there, I devoted two full years to studying mathematics before I joined the army of Prince Maurice of Orange, in Holland. Mathematics continued to fascinate me even in the army. Simplicio: I wouldn t think a soldier could have much interest in math. Descartes: It is quite possible if the soldier liked math before he became a soldier. It often made life interesting! One day, as I was walking down a street in Holland, I saw a curious placard in Dutch that I could not read. I stopped a stranger and asked him if he could translate it into either French or Latin for me. The stranger happened to be Isaac Beeckman, the head of the Dutch College at Dort, and he said he would translate if I would answer it. Simplicio: Answer it? What do you mean? Descartes: It turns out the placard was a challenge to all the world to solve a certain geometrical problem. I was able to work it out and soon became close friends with Dr. Beeckman. Simplicio: In short, army life didn t keep you from your love for mathematics. Descartes: Not completely but I must confess, this reminder of the joys of mathematics made the day-to-day life of a soldier harder to stomach. Still, for the honor of my family, I remained a soldier and even volunteered to serve in what people call the Thirty Years War. Simplicio: Are you a soldier now? Descartes: Oh, no! I resigned my commission and spent the next five years in travel. Most of that time I continued to study mathematics. I wound up in Paris again in 1626, at the age of thirty, where I dabbled with telescopes and the like, but I was beginning to feel disillusioned I felt like I would never find the truth. Simplicio: (mournfully) I know how you feel! Descartes: Perhaps you might, my boy. I met a Cardinal, Pierre de Berulle, who refused to let me give up on truth. He begged me to devote my life to the examination of truth, and I responded. To save myself from the distractions of French society, I left Paris and went back to Holland. There I settled in to write my great book on the nature of the universe, Le Monde meaning, The World. Simplicio: How interesting! Can I read it? Descartes: Unfortunately, there was a bit of a problem in getting it finished. Simplicio: What kind of problem? Descartes: Well, that Italian fellow Galileo got into a lot of trouble when he published his Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems in My book was due to come out in 1634, but I never wanted to be a martyr. I abandoned that book and tried to work on something a little less controversial. 1 Biographical information taken from A Short Account of the History of Mathematics, by W. W. Rouse Ball (4 th Edition, 1908). Pageant of Philosophy 27

28 Puritans in New England Pageant of Philosophy Simplicio: Like what? Descartes: I wrote a Discourse on Method which spelled out the fundamentals of science. Simplicio: I suppose that s less controversial. Descartes: Well, it was the safer course, I admit, but that book had its own merits. It included a method I invented to combine algebra and geometry by giving every point on a plane an x and y coordinate. This proved so useful that people have begun to call these Cartesian coordinates. Between that and my other discoveries, the French government offered me a pension. Simplicio: I guess it s nice to be recognized for your efforts. Descartes: Rather! The Queen of Sweden has invited me to come to her court to continue my work. (indicates suitcase) I have been packing for my trip all day. Simplicio: That s pretty exciting! But tell me more about what you ve found, sir. Descartes: It all began when I first became aware that I had accepted, from my youth, many false opinions for true. 1 This troubled me, for all my ideas depend, to some degree, upon my previous opinions. If these opinions might be false, then what could I rely upon? Simplicio: It s an interesting thought, I must say. I suppose we all make some mistakes, but there must be things you can rely on. Can you not depend upon the evidence of your senses? Descartes: At first I supposed I could, but then I realized that these sometimes mislead us. 2 Men who sleep believe they are awake, and madmen think that they are sane. 3 A prudent man should not place absolute confidence in that by which he has even once been deceived. 4 To find true knowledge, I decided to rid myself of all the opinions I had adopted. 5 Simplicio: What? All of your opinions? Descartes: I had to give up Physics, Astronomy, and Medicine, because they depend upon the objects of my senses. I supposed I might be able to keep my opinions about Geometry and Arithmetic, which do not depend upon the accidents of Nature, but eventually even this I found would have to go. 6 Simplicio: But you say you loved mathematics. Surely you could not be deceived about arithmetic! Descartes: Consider this: all things are possible with God. Could not He deceive me? After all, I sometimes think that others are in error when they believe themselves to possess a perfect knowledge, so how do I know that I am not also deceived each time I add together two and three, or number the sides of a square? 7 Simplicio: All things are possible with God, but certainly not deceit? Let God be true and every man a liar. 8 Descartes: Ah, but suppose, however, that my sensations depend not upon that Deity, who is sovereignly good and the fountain of truth, but that some malignant demon, who is at once exceedingly potent and deceitful, has employed all his artifice to deceive me. Suppose that the sky, the air, the earth, colors, figures, sounds, and all external things, are nothing better than the illusions of dreams, by means of which this evil being has laid snares for my credulity. 9 It is possible, is it not? Simplicio: But how could you guard yourself against such ultimate deceit? Descartes: I determined to consider myself as without hands, eyes, flesh, blood, or any of the senses, and as falsely believing that I am possessed of these. I will doubt all things, especially my own senses, and continue resolutely fixed in this belief as I seek for truth Descartes, Meditations, Part I, para. 1 (trans. John Vetch, 1901), accessed 8/23/07. < 2 Meditations, Part I, par Meditations, Part I, par Meditations, Part I, par Meditations, Part I, par Meditations, Part I, par Meditations, Part I, par Romans 3:4. 9 Meditations, Part I, par Meditations, Part I, par

29 Puritans in New England Simplicio: That certainly sounds thorough! Descartes: Do not be too sure. One might fail to find truth even so. But if I fail to arrive at the knowledge of truth by this means, I shall at least have done what is in my power to avoid deception. 1 If, on the other hand, I can discover even one certainty, I may be able to figure everything else out from that. Simplicio: Perhaps but what is the likelihood of finding truth if you start with nothing but doubts? Descartes: Much higher than you seem to believe! You see, I have in fact arrived at one unquestionably certain truth. There is one thing I know I cannot be deceived about. Simplicio: What is that? Descartes: I think, therefore I am. Or, in Latin, Cogito, ergo sum. 2 Simplicio: What? How can you be sure of that? Descartes: I can be certain that I exist because I am aware of myself. Even if I suppose that all the things which I see are fictitious; even if I believe that none of those objects which my fallacious memory represents ever existed; even if I suppose that I possess no senses; even if I believe that body, figure, extension, motion, and place are merely fictions of my mind 3 even if I believe that God is just a figment of my imagination, still, it is my imagination that He is a figment of! Simplicio: I beg your pardon? Descartes: Suppose I persuaded myself that there was absolutely nothing in the world, that there was no sky and no earth, neither minds nor bodies; would I therefore be persuaded that I did not exist? 4 Simplicio: I don t know would you? Descartes: Far from it! If I am persuaded, then I must exist. Simplicio: Oh! I see what you mean. Descartes: Yes, and we can take this even further: suppose there is a demon, possessed at once of the highest power and the deepest cunning, who is constantly employing all his ingenuity in deceiving me. 5 Even in such a hopeless case as this, I can be sure that I exist, since I am deceived; and, let him deceive me as he may, he can never bring it about that I am nothing, so long as I shall be conscious that I am something. 6 Simplicio: Yes, you have a point there! I ve been searching for truth for ever so long this may not seem like a lot of truth, but I don t see how I can doubt it. You re right I think, therefore I am! Descartes: Ah, it may not seem like a lot of truth, to begin with, but it is the foundation upon which we can build. Archimedes, that he might transport the entire globe from the place it occupied to another, demanded only a point that was firm and immovable. 7 Simplicio: The one who said, Give me a lever and a place to stand, and I can move the world? Descartes: The very same! Logic is my lever, and cogito ergo sum is my place to stand. With this I have hopes that I can construct a system of philosophy that will answer all the questions men have asked throughout the centuries. Simplicio: All the questions? Really? Descartes: Oh, yes! For example, have you ever wondered whether God exists? Simplicio: Many times. Descartes: Then let me prove that He does, in fact, exist. 1 Ibid. 2 Meditations, Part II, par Meditations, Part II, par Ibid. 5 Ibid. 6 Ibid. 7 Meditations, Part II, par. 1. Pageant of Philosophy 29

30 Puritans in New England Simplicio: Please do! Pageant of Philosophy Descartes: To begin with, then, you should understand that when I began my method of radical skepticism, I started by doubting all the external things around me. The only thing I was certain about, when I thought of rocks, or trees, or stars, was that I had certain ideas in my mind when I looked at them. But ideas in my mind are hardly proof that anything exists! 1 Do you follow me so far? Simplicio: Yes, I think I do. Descartes: But things were different when I thought about the truths of mathematics and geometry. When I considered any matter in arithmetic and geometry, that was very simple and easy, as, for example, that two and three added together make five, and things of this sort, did I not view them with at least sufficient clearness to warrant me in affirming their truth? 2 Simplicio: I don t know. Did you? I thought you were trying to doubt all such things! Descartes: Well, yes, but if I judged that we ought to doubt of these things, it was for no other reason than because it occurred to me that a God might perhaps have given me such a nature as that I should be deceived, even respecting the matters that appeared to me the most evidently true. 3 Simplicio: Are you saying that God could even deceive you into thinking you exist when you really don t? Descartes: No for, as I explained earlier, that is the one truth I can be absolutely sure of. Now that I realize there is one thing I know with such clearness that I cannot possibly be deceived about it, I realize that there are other fundamental facts that I can be sure of. Deceive me who may, no one will yet ever be able to bring it about that I am not, so long as I shall be conscious that I am, or at any future time cause it to be true that I have never been, it being now true that I am, or make two and three more or less than five, in supposing which, and other like absurdities, I discover a manifest contradiction. 4 Simplicio: Wait a minute, Monsieur Descartes. You seem to have leaped from being sure of just one certainty to being sure of every fact of mathematics! Descartes: But yes you are correct. I move too quickly. We must proceed step by step if we are to prove anything as important as the existence of God. Simplicio: Yes, we must! Descartes: Let me make an important distinction between ideas and everything else that takes place in my mind, such as feelings, emotions, and the various things I want. Simplicio: What do you mean by an idea, exactly? Descartes: Of my thoughts some are, as it were, images of things, and to these alone properly belongs the name idea; as when I represent to my mind a man, a chimera, the sky, an angel, or God. 5 Simplicio: I see. An idea is the image of something in my mind? Descartes: Precisely. Now, with respect to ideas, if these are considered only in themselves, and are not referred to any object beyond them, they cannot, properly speaking, be false; for whether I imagine a goat or a chimera, it is not less true that I imagine the one than the other. 6 Simplicio: Yes, I suppose that s true, as far as it goes. If all you mean by having a true image is to actually have an image, I guess it doesn t matter whether it is an image of a goat or a unicorn. Descartes: Exactly! In the same way, we need not fear that falsity may exist in the will or affections; for, although I may desire objects that are wrong, and even that never existed, it is still true that I desire them. 7 1 Meditations, Part III, par Meditations, Part III, par Ibid. 4 Ibid. 5 Meditations, Part III, par Meditations, Part III, par Meditations, Part III, par

31 Puritans in New England Simplicio: If you want to speak of a desire being true, I suppose you re right about that. Descartes: Now, I may often be mistaken about how my ideas correspond to that which is outside my mind. For example, the idea of the sun that I get from my eyes appears to be quite small, but I know by mathematics that it is many times larger than the whole earth. 1 Simplicio: I suppose so if you believe what the mathematicians say. Descartes: Now let us consider how the idea in my mind relates to the object outside my mind which causes it to exist. Do you suppose an effect can be greater than its cause? Simplicio: I ve never heard anyone suggest such a thing. (thinking) Yes, it makes sense that a cause has to be at least as great as its effect. Descartes: Indeed. It is manifest by the natural light that there must at least be as much reality in the efficient and total cause as in its effect; for whence can the effect draw its reality if not from its cause? and how could the cause communicate to it this reality unless it possessed it in itself? 2 Pageant of Philosophy Simplicio: I m having a little trouble following you, sir. Descartes: Suppose that the objective reality [or perfection] of any one of my ideas be such as clearly to convince me, that this same reality exists in me. 3 Simplicio: Slow down, please! When you talk about the objective reality of an idea, do you mean something obvious, like two plus three equals five? Descartes: Well, I mean something more like the idea of the sun something outside myself. If I have such an idea that I could not myself be the cause of it, then it is a necessary consequence that I am not alone in the world, but that there is besides myself some other being who exists as the cause of that idea. 4 Simplicio: Perhaps but what kind of idea is there that you yourself could not be the cause of? Descartes: Certainly not ideas like heat or cold, men or animals, size or shape or the like. I could have come up with any of those ideas on my own. 5 Simplicio: That leaves pretty much nothing left. Descartes: Not quite. There remains the idea of God, in which I must consider whether there is anything that cannot be supposed to originate with myself. 6 Simplicio: But couldn t you just imagine God? Descartes: Could I? By the name God, I understand a substance infinite [eternal, immutable], independent, allknowing, all-powerful, and by which I myself, and every other thing that exists, if any such there be, were created. 7 Simplicio: Yes, that s what I mean by God, too. Descartes: Do you really think you could have imagined such properties? These properties are so great and excellent, that the more attentively I consider them the less I feel persuaded that the idea I have of them owes its origin to myself alone. 8 Simplicio: That s an intriguing notion Descartes: I find it is absolutely necessary to conclude, from all that I have before said, that God exists: for though the idea of substance be in my mind owing to this, that I myself am a substance, I should not, however, have 1 Meditations, Part III, par Meditations, Part III, par Meditations, Part III, par Ibid. 5 Meditations, Part III, par Meditations, Part III, par Ibid. 8 Ibid. 31

32 Puritans in New England Pageant of Philosophy the idea of an infinite substance, seeing I am a finite being, unless it were given me by some substance in reality infinite. 1 Simplicio: And so you are certain God exists? Descartes: Completely so! I have proven it myself. Simplicio: But sir I m not so sure. What if someone who has a better imagination than yours can imagine such a being? Maybe your whole idea of God just comes from some really clever person many generations ago. Descartes: Pah! Could a mere mortal imagine such perfection, such power? No, my idea of God must come from God Himself. Simplicio: So are you saying that God is whatever you imagine Him to be? Descartes: Not at all, no more than I am saying that the sun is whatever I imagine it to be. The sun is a vastly greater cause than the effect it produces on me. I only see a small circle in the sky, but the sun is an enormous sphere many times larger than our whole world. My faint, imperfect ideas of God are caused by something vastly greater than their effect upon me! Simplicio: Monsieur Descartes, you ve persuaded me that I think, therefore I am, but your proof of the existence of God is a little harder to follow. Descartes: Could a man born blind imagine light? Even ideas have to come from somewhere! Simplicio: Perhaps but all this talk about God is a little much for me. If you ll excuse me, I think I ll go think about thinking for a bit. Descartes: But of course, my young friend! I understand. These things take time. I should be getting ready to go to the Queen s court, anyway. Simplicio: Have a wonderful trip! Mind you don t catch your death of cold in Sweden! (Simplicio shivers, then exits. Descartes turns and begins to busy himself with packing. Curtain.) 1 Meditations, Part III, par

33 Puritans in New England History: Background Information World Book on the Pilgrims 1 The Pilgrims were the early English settlers of New England. The first group landed at what is now Plymouth, Mass., in The Pilgrims established Plymouth Colony along Cape Cod Bay. The early Pilgrims included many Separatists. These people once be longed to the body of English Protestants known as Puritans. The Puritans wished to adopt reforms that would purify the Church of England, the nation s official church. The Sepa ratists decided that they could not reform the church from within. They separated from the church and set up their own congregations. In 1606, William Brewster helped form a small Separatist congregation in Scrooby, England. Separatist groups were illegal in England, and in 1607 the Scroo by congregation tried to flee to Amsterdam, Holland, to avoid arrest. They were caught, but most of them left England the next year. In 1609, the congregation settled in the Dutch town of Leiden. After several years in Holland, some Separatists began to fear that their chil dren would be more Dutch than English [and more worldly than spiritual]. As for eign ers, they could not buy land or work in skilled trades. In addition, war had begun in Europe [the Thirty Years War, from , which rhetoric students read about in detail last week]. The new land of America appealed to them. They offered to establish an English colony in America and found a group of English merchants willing to finance their expedition. In September 1620, 41 members of the Leiden congregation sailed for America on the ship Mayflower, along with 61 other English people. The group reached what is now Provincetown Harbor on Nov., They explored the near by coast and soon chose Plymouth as the site of their colony. The term Pilgrim may have come from William Bradford, the second gov er nor of Plymouth Colony. Bradford wrote that they knew they were pilgrims when they left Holland. However, for 200 years these people were known as Founders or Forefathers, rather than Pilgrims. World Book on Plymouth Colony 2 Plymouth Colony, pronounced PLIHM uhth, was the second permanent Eng lish settlement in America. The colonists who settled there became known as Pilgrims because of their wanderings in search of religious freedom. In 1620, they es tab lished their colony on the rocky western shore of Cape Cod Bay in southeastern Massa chu setts. This region had been called Plimouth on John Smith s map of New England, drawn in The Pilgrims established the Congregational Church in America. Plymouth Colony remained independent until 1691, when it became part of Massachusetts Bay Colony. Plymouth Colony and the Pilgrims have become for all Americans a lesson of how a people with little more than courage, Leiden 1, pronounced LYD uhn, also spelled Leyden, lies 22 miles south west of Amsterdam on the Rhine River. It lies 3.8 feet below sea level. The city is a cen ter of printing and light industry. Leiden is noted for its many museums. William of Orange founded the Nether lands s first university in Leiden in 1575 to reward the citizens for their heroic defense against a siege by the Spaniards in Leiden was the home of about 40 of the Pilgrims who sailed to America on the May flower in From a World Book article entitled Leiden. Contributor: Jan de Vries, Ph.D., Prof. of History and Economics, Univ. of California, Berkeley. William Bradford 1 ( ) was born in Austerfield, England, near Sheffield. As a youth, he joined the Separatists, a group that had left the Church of England, the nation s official church. The Separa tists held secret prayer meetings in defi ance of King James I. In 1608, Bradford fled to Holland with a band of Separatists in search of religious freedom. Some of the Separatists later sailed to America and became known as the Pilgrims. Bradford was the second governor of Plymouth Colony, the settlement estab lished by the Pilgrims in Bradford served as governor from 16 to 1657, except for five different years when he was an assistant to the gover nor. Under his leadership, the colony survived crop failures, droughts, and crippling debt. In 16, Bradford organized the celebration of the first Thanks giving Day in New England. His book Of Plimoth Plantation is the chief record of Pilgrim life. This book remained in manuscript form for more than 200 years until it was finally published in 1856 as History of Plymouth Plantation. The Pilgrims sailed to America on the Mayflower and set up their colony on what is now Plymouth Bay, a part of Cape Cod Bay. Bradford probably helped write the Mayflower Compact, a document that set forth the govern ment al policies of the Pil grims in the new land. He became gov ernor after the death of the first governor, John Carver. In 1623, Bradford ended the program that had required the Pilgrims to share the ownership of land, food, and tools. The colony then adopted Bradford s plan of dividing the land and cattle among individ ual families. This division encouraged the colonists to work harder and to improve their property. In 1627, Bradford and seven other Pil grims helped most of the Pilgrims gain fi nancial independence. English merchants had paid the passage to America for the majority of the Pilgrims. But those colo nists had not been able to pay their entire debt. Bradford and his group assumed responsibility for the debt and eventually sold some of their own property to help settle it. Bradford generally maintained peace with the local Indians. In 1637, Ply mouth avoided involvement in the Pequot War, in which soldiers from Massachusetts and Connecticut defeated the Pequot Indians of Connecticut. 1 From a World Book article entitled William Bradford. Contributor: James Axtell, Ph.D., Kenan Prof. of Humanities, College of William and Mary. Teacher s Notes 1 From a World Book article entitled Pilgrims. Contributor: Joan R. Gundersen, Ph.D., Prof. of History, California State Univ., San Marcos. 2 Excerpted from a World Book article entitled Plymouth Colony. Contributor: Joan R. Gundersen, Ph.D., Prof. of History, California State Univ., San Marcos. 33

34 Puritans in New England Teacher s Notes perseverance, and hard work could build themselves a home in a hostile world. Their bravery set an example for future gen era tions of Americans. [It is amazing that though the Pil grims endured hardships and many of them died, circumstances never caused them to question God s leading or their decision to immigrate to the New World.] Many tourists visit modern Plymouth with its memorials to the Pilgrim fore fathers. Just south of town there is a model of the original Pilgrim village. Pli moth Plantation, Inc., a nonprofit organization dedicated to the preservation of the Pilgrim heritage, also maintains a replica of the first Pilgrim house and of the Mayflower. The founding of Plymouth Colony Most of the Pilgrims were Separatists (Puritans who had separated from the Church of England). The government of England arrested and tried the Sep aratists be cause of their nonconformity (refusal to belong to the Church of Eng land). In 1608, a group of Separatists moved to the Netherlands. After a few years, some of them be came dissatisfied, and felt that things would be better in a new land. They secured financial backing in London, and, in 1620, left the Netherlands in a small ship called the Speedwell. The ship stopped in England, and the expedi tion was joined by other English people who hoped to better their lives. The group left England in the Speed well and a larger ship, the Mayflower. The Speedwell proved unseaworthy, and the fleet returned to England twice. Finally, in September 1620, the Mayflower sailed alone from Plymouth, England. It carried 102 passen gers, including women and children. A rough passage of 65 days brought the Mayflower to Cape Cod on No vem ber 20 (November 10, according to the calendar then in use). The Pilgrims had prom ised to settle somewhere within the limits of the original grant of the Virginia Com pany of Plymouth. But errors in navigation led them to the New England region. Ad verse winds and the shoals off Cape Cod forced the Mayflower to stay north. The ship anchored in Provincetown harbor inside the tip of Cape Cod on November. [Here is an ex ample of God s quiet sovereignty. If they had gone farther south as planned, they would not have been as free and independent.] The Pilgrim leaders were uncertain of their legal position because they were in the area without authority. They also knew they would need discipline among them selves. To solve these problems, 41 men aboard the Mayflower met and signed the Mayflower Compact, the first agreement for self-government in America. The Pil grims also elected John Carver as their governor. [These men were not political rebels. They were acting carefully and cautiously to establish a means of governing themselves consistent with their status as English citizens. Their departure from English ways was only in the area of religious liberty.] The landing at Plymouth. The sea-weary Pilgrims were anxious to learn more about the country. For almost a month, several small groups explored the coast around Cape Cod Bay while the rest remained aboard. One of the groups had to take refuge on an island in Plymouth harbor during a blinding snowstorm. On Dec., 1620, this group landed at Plymouth. There they found a stream with clear water, some cleared land, and a high hill that could be forti fied. This site was once an Indian village, but smallpox had wiped out all the Indians in [Again, notice the providential hand of God. Winter in New England is harsh; the Pilgrims would have surely perished if they had not found a safe haven.] The Pilgrims decided that this would be their new home. The Mayflower sailed across Cape Cod Bay and anchored in Ply mouth harbor on December 26. The first year was a difficult one for the Pilgrims. Poor and inadequate food, strenuous work, and changeable weather made the settlers susceptible to sickness. The colony lost about half its members that first winter. But help came one spring morning, when an Indian walked into the little vil lage and introduced himself to the startled people Note: When preparing to lead discussions with students of all ages this week, be sure to note the quiet sovereignty of God toward the Pilgrims through Squanto. He is one of the most amazing examples of God s ability to care for His people and further His plans! Squanto 1, pronounced SKWAHN toh (1585?-1622), also called Tisquantum, was a Patuxet Indian who befriended the Pilgrims. He helped the Pilgrims survive at Plymouth Colony. Squanto was born near what is now Plymouth, Mass. In 1614, he was kid napped by English fishermen and taken to Spain to be sold as a slave. He escaped to England, where he lived for several years and learned to speak English. He also lived in Newfoundland for a time. Squanto returned home in He found that the Patuxet tribe had been wiped out by disease and the few survivors had joined the Wampanoag tribe. Squanto also joined the Wampanoag. In 16, Squanto met the Pilgrims, who were nearly starving after their diffi cult first winter at Plymouth Colony. The Pilgrims had angered the Wam panoag by stealing the Indians corn. Squanto served as an interpreter between the colonists and the Wampanoag chief Massasoit and helped arrange a peace treaty. Squanto then stayed with the Pilgrims. He showed them how to plant corn and where to hunt and fish. Squanto tried to challenge Massasoit s leadership of the Wampanoag. This plot angered the tribe, and Squanto became the enemy of the Wampanoag in He died from a fever later that year. 1 From a World Book article entitled Squanto. Contributor: Neal Salisbury, Ph.D., Prof. of History, Smith College. 34

35 Puritans in New England as Samoset. He later re turned with Squanto. [These men were yet another sovereign provision.] They introduced the Pilgrims to Massa soit, the sachem (chief) of the Wampanoag tribe that controlled all southeastern Mas sachusetts. Carver and the chief exchanged gifts and arranged a treaty of peace. Soon after ward, the Mayflower sailed for England, leaving the Pilgrims. Then Carver died, and William Bradford became governor of the colony. The Pilgrims, under Squanto s direction, caught alewives (a fish in the her ring family) and used them as fertilizer in planting corn, pumpkins, and beans. They hunted and fished for food. The harvest that year led Governor Bradford to declare a celebration. Sometime in the autumn of 16, the Pilgrims invited their Indian friends to join them in a three-day festival that we now call the first New England Thanks giving. The menu included corn bread, duck, eel, goose, wild leeks, shellfish, venison, watercress, and wine. Life in Plymouth Colony The Pilgrims received legal rights to settle at Plymouth under a patent granted by the Council for New England in 16. Governor Bradford received a new patent, the Warwick Patent, in It granted him all the land south of a line between Nar ra gansett Bay and Cohasset. Under this patent, Bradford could have claimed owner ship of the entire colony, but he shared control with the other settlers. He turned the patent over to all the freemen (voters) of the colony in A few years later, surveyors marked off an area corresponding to the present counties of Bristol, Barnsta ble, and Plymouth as the colony of Plymouth. Expansion of the colony. In November 16, the ship Fortune arrived with 35 new colonists. Other ships brought additional settlers but the population grew to only 300 settlers in 10 years. Some of the colonists decided to move from Plymouth to better lands. Some went north and established the towns of Duxbury, Marshfield, and Scituate. Others moved west to Rehoboth, or farther east on Cape Cod to settle Sandwich, Barnstable, Yarmouth, and Eastham. Mercantilism 1, pronounced MUR kuhn tih lihz uhm, was an economic system followed by England, France, and other major trading nations from the 1500 s to the late 1700 s. Under this system, a nation s government strictly regulated economic affairs to enrich its treasury, especially by ensuring that exports exceeded imports. Mercantilism was based on two beliefs. First, mercantilists judged a nation s wealth by its stock of gold and silver, rather than by standards of living or other measurements. Second, the mercantilists believed the world had a limited supply of wealth, and so one country could grow rich only at the expense of another. According to the mercantilists, a nation that did not have gold or silver mines had to rely on foreign trade to become rich. They called for an excess of exports over imports, a situation they termed a favorable balance of trade. At that time, gold served as the chief means of settling international debts. A nation that exported more than it imported could collect the difference in gold from the importing countries. To maintain a favorable balance of trade, mercantilist governments enacted high tariffs and other restrictions on imports. The governments also strongly encouraged the growth of domestic industries. Many nations sought overseas colonies, which served as markets for exports and as sources of raw materials. Mercantilist governments also encouraged population growth, because a large population provided a supply of labor and a market for industrial products. Some nations prohibited the sale of gold and other precious metals to foreigners. During the late 1700 s, the mercantilist systems of many countries were gradually replaced by a policy called laissez faire. Under laissez faire, the government played a limited role in economic affairs. Today, the term mercantilism is sometimes used to describe policies that protect domestic industries from foreign competition. In addition, mercantilist efforts to plan economic activity resemble government planning under Communism and socialism. But there are many differences between mercantilism and a socialist or Communist system. 1 From a World Book article entitled Mercantilism. Contributor: Richard C. Wiles, Ph.D., Charles Ranlett Flint Professor of Economics, Bard College. Government. The men who signed the Mayflower Compact were the free men of the colony. They, along with any newly chosen freemen, met once a year to dis cuss the problems of the colony. This body, called the General Court, elected the gover nor and his assistants, made laws, and levied taxes. In outlying towns, the freemen held town meetings to elect their own officers and settle town matters. Beginning in 1639, these towns sent representatives to the General Court at Plymouth. Economic life. The Pilgrims organized a joint-stock company with some Lon don merchants to finance the voyage. The partnership was to last for seven years. The Pilgrims agreed to put the results of their labor into a common fund, which would provide the necessities of life for the settlers. At the end of seven years, all the profits and property were to be divided among the financiers and the settlers. This experi ment did not work out, and in 1623 the colony allowed settlers to farm individual plots. The London merchants in 1627 agreed to sell their interest in the company to the Pilgrims, who finished paying off the debt in The Pilgrims at first expected to make a profit from fishing. But they were never very successful at this. They turned to farming for their existence and to fur trading for profit. When other Puritans settled Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1628, the Pilgrims developed a prosperous trade in corn and cattle with them. Through steady and hard work, the colony was able to live moderately well without extremes of wealth or poverty. Teacher s Notes 35

36 Puritans in New England Teacher s Notes Later years. The Massachusetts Bay Colony s superior harbor at Boston helped draw trade and settlers from Plymouth Colony. Boundary and trade disputes in creased among the colonies that had formed in the area. The Pilgrims also faced the danger of attack by nearby Indians and Dutch and French colonists. In 1643, Plymouth Colony joined the Massachusetts Bay, Connecticut, and New Haven colonies in form ing the New England Confederation. This alliance worked to settle disputes and pro vide for the common defense. A long tradition of peace between the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag Indians ended in That year, Metacomet, the son of Massasoit, led an Indian war against the colonies in New England. The colonists called Metacomet King Philip, and the war became known as King Philip s War. The Indians attacked because they feared that the colonists would take all their land. Metacomet was killed in 1676, and the war in southern New England then ended. Fighting in northern New England continued until In 1686, King James II of England tried to reassert control over the colonies by combining Plymouth and the rest of New England, New York, and New Jersey into the Dominion of New England. However, the dominion proved unpopular and was dis banded in In 1691, Plymouth became part of Massachusetts Bay Colony. World Book on the Founding of the Massachusetts Bay Colony 1 Massachusetts Bay Colony was the largest and most successful early New England settlement. It was established in 1628 by the New England Company, a joint-stock company composed of English Puritans. That year, John Endecott led the first group of colonists to Naumkeag, an English settlement that he renamed Salem. In 1629, King Charles I granted a new charter that changed the name of the company to the Massachusetts Bay Company. In 1630, the company s new governor, John Winthrop, brought the charter and about 1,000 more people to settle the Massachusetts Bay region, including the area that is now Boston. The Puritans observed a simple form of worship that did not include the ceremonies of the Church of England. Each Puritan community established self-governing congregations. The Puritans wanted to make their church and society an example for people in other parts of the world to follow. Newcomers to the colony were expected to follow the Puritans religious beliefs and practices. People who refused were sent back to England or expelled to such other settlements as Rhode Island and New Hampshire. England rarely interfered with the colony s government and trade. Beginning in 1660, Puritans refused to obey new English trade laws. In 1684, the colony lost its charter. In 1691, King William III granted a new charter that included Plymouth Colony as part of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. This charter lasted until the Revolutionary War in America began in The colonists of the Massachusetts Bay Colony made many contributions to American life. Among the most important of these were a practical, local self-government and a love of learning. Henry Hudson and the Dutch in New Amsterdam World Book on Henry Hudson 2 Henry Hudson (?-1611) was an English explorer and sea captain. He made four voyages in an attempt to discover a northern route between Europe and Asia. Hudson never found such a sea passage, but he sailed farther north than any previous explorer. He explored three North American waterways later named for him the Hudson River, Hudson Bay, and Hudson Strait. Northern voyages. Historians know nothing about Hudson s life except for the period of 1607 to 1611, when he made his four voyages. In 1607, the Muscovy Company, an English trading firm, hired Hudson to find a northern sea route to Asia. European merchants and geographers believed that a ship could reach Asia by sailing north, northeast, or northwest. They thought such a route would be shorter than any other. The Arctic had not been explored, and people did not know that ice blocked the area around the North Pole. Hudson set out from England in a ship called the Hopewell with his young son, John, and a crew of 10 men. He sailed northeast along the coast of Greenland and reached Spitsbergen. These islands lie only about 700 miles from the North Pole, and no explorer had sailed so far north before. Huge ice floes forced Hudson to return to England. He told of seeing many whales in the northern waters, and his report led to English and Dutch whaling near Spitsbergen. In 1608, Hudson again tried to find a northern route, but ice again blocked the Hopewell. 1 From a World Book article entitled Massachusetts Bay Colony. Contributor: T. H. Breen, Ph.D., William Smith Mason Professor, Northwestern University. 2 From a World Book article entitled Hudson, Henry. Contributor: John Parker, Ph.D., Curator Emeritus, James Ford Bell Library, University of Minnesota. 36

37 Puritans in New England North American voyages. The Muscovy Company lost interest in further northern exploration, but in 1609, the Dutch East India Company hired Hudson to lead an expedition. The company gave him a ship, the Half Moon, and a crew of about 20 men. Hudson again headed northeast, but his crew became unruly because of the cold weather. Hudson changed the ship s course for North America, crossed the Atlantic Ocean, and sailed down the east coast. Hudson sailed as far south as what is now North Carolina. He then turned north and briefly explored Chesapeake Bay and Delaware Bay. Hudson traveled up what became known as the Hudson River to the site of present-day Albany, New York. Holland based its claims to land in North America on Hudson s third voyage. In 1610, a group of English merchants formed a company that provided Hudson with a ship called the Discovery. He crossed the Atlantic and arrived just off the northern coast of Labrador. The Discovery then reached a body of rough water, later named Hudson Strait, that led into Hudson Bay. Hudson thought he had at last come to the Pacific Ocean, and he sailed south into what is now James Bay. But he failed to find an outlet at the south end of this bay. Ice forced the men to spend the winter there, and Hudson and his crew suffered severely from cold, hunger, and disease. In the spring of 1611, Hudson intended to search for a western outlet from James Bay. But the crew mutinied and set Hudson adrift in a small boat with his son, John, and seven loyal crewmen. Hudson and his party were never seen again. The mutineers sailed back to England, and their report gave continued hope that a passage existed between Hudson Bay and the Pacific. England based its claim to the vast Hudson Bay region on Hudson s last voyage. Exploration of the region led to the establishment in 1670 of the Hudson s Bay Company, a fur-trading firm. World Book on the Founding of New Amsterdam 1 Giovanni da Verrazzano, an Italian navigator and explorer, was probably the first European to visit the New York region. Verrazzano supposedly was hired by King Francis I of France to explore the northern part of America. Historians believe Verrazzano may have sailed into New York Bay and reached the Hudson River about In 1609, Henry Hudson, an Englishman employed by the Dutch, sailed up the river that now bears his name. He was looking for a Northwest Passage to the Orient. Hudson s voyage gave the Netherlands a claim to the territory covering much of present-day New York, New Jersey, Delaware, and part of Connecticut. The territory was later named New Netherland. Also in 1609, the French explorer Samuel de Champlain entered the northern part of New York from Quebec. His visit gave France a claim to the land. The Dutch established several trading posts and prosperous settlements in the Hudson River Valley soon after Hudson s visit. There, they built up a profitable fur trade with the Indians. In 16, a group of Dutch merchants formed the Dutch West India Company. The government of the Netherlands gave the company all rights to trade in New Netherland for the next 24 years. In 1624, the company sent about 30 families to settle in the region. Some of these families founded Fort Orange (now Albany), the first permanent white settlement in the colony. The rest of them established settlements in other parts of New Netherland. In 1625, a group of Dutch colonists began building a fort and laying out a town on Manhattan Island. They named their settlement New Amsterdam. In 1626, Peter Minuit, the Dutch governor (or director-general), bought Manhattan from the Indians for goods worth 60 Dutch guilders, or about $24. During the next few years, Wiltwyck (now Kingston), Rensselaerswyck (now Rensselaer), Breuckelen (now Brooklyn), Schenectady, and other settlements were established in New Netherland by Dutch colonists. In 1629, the Dutch West India Company set up the patroon (landowner) system to speed the settlement of New Netherland. Patroon system 1, pronounced puh TROON, was a plan set up by the Dutch West India Company in It was used to colonize New Netherland, in what are now the states of New York, New Jersey, Delaware, and Connecticut. Any member of the company who paid to bring over 50 settlers within four years could have a large tract of land. The settlers had to be at least 15 years old. The patroon (owner of the land) became a kind of feudal lord who controlled all aspects of the settlers lives, including their right to move, go into business, or even marry. Five patroonships were granted. But only Rensselaerswyck, the Van Rensse laer manor, lasted into the 1700 s. The system failed because few people were willing to give up their personal freedom permanently. Other land policies of the company contributed to the failure of the patroon system. For example, the com pany [at first] offered free land in New Netherland to settlers who paid their own passage to America. Later, [in an attempt to overcome their reluctance,] the company even paid the passage to attract settlers. 1 From a World Book article entitled Patroon System. Contributor: Joan R. Gundersen, Ph.D., Prof. of History, Cali fornia State Univ., San Marcos. Members of the company were given huge tracts of land, which they could keep if they colonized the land with settlers. Only one patroonship lasted into the 1700 s, that of Kiliaen Van Rensselaer, an Amsterdam diamond merchant. Teacher s Notes 1 From a World Book article entitled New York. Contributors: Michael K. Heiman, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Geography and Environmental Studies, Dickinson College; Paul R. Eberts, Ph.D., Professor of Rural Sociology, Cornell University; Sung Bok Kim, Ph.D., Professor of History, State University of New York, Albany. 37

38 Puritans in New England His land covered much of present-day Albany, Columbia, and Rensselaer counties. Van Rensselaer began the practice of leasing his land to tenant farmers. The tenant system in New York lasted until the 1840 s. A series of tenant revolts forced it to end. Teacher s Notes Parallel European Events World Book on the Rise of the Dutch Republic 1 The 1600 s were the Golden Age of the Nether lands. The country became the leading sea power. Its merchant fleet tripled in size between 1600 and 1650, and the Dutch accounted for about half of Europe s ship ping. Dutch explorers, including Willem Barents (pronounced VIHL uhm BAHR uhnts) and Abel Janszoon Tasman (pronounced AH buhl YAHN sohn TAZ muhn), found new sea routes and fisheries. Amsterdam became a great trading center of Europe. Dutch banks and businesses thrived. The Golden Age also brought major cultural achievements, especially in painting. During the Golden Age, the Dutch Republic developed a great colonial em pire in many parts of the world. In 1602, Dutch firms trading with the East Indies combined to form the Dutch East India Company. The company founded Batavia (now Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia) as its headquarters. The company s forces large ly drove the British and Portuguese out of what later became the Netherlands Indies (now Indonesia). The company also took control of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) and col onized the southern tip of Africa. From the mid-1600 s to the mid-1800 s, the Dutch were the only Westerners allowed to trade with Japan. The Dutch West India Company was founded in 16 to trade in the New World and western Africa. In 1624, the company colonized New Netherland, which consisted of parts of present-day New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Delaware. In 1626, the colony s governor, Peter Minuit, bought Manhattan Island from the In dians for goods worth about $24. Dutch colonists had established New Amsterdam (now New York City) there the year before. From 1630 to 1654, the Dutch controlled Brazil. During that time, the Dutch also acquired what are now the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba. World Book on William Harvey 2 William Harvey ( ) was an English physician who became famous for his discovery of how blood circulates in mammals, including human beings. He described his discovery in An Anatomical Study of the Motion of the Heart and of the Blood in Animals (1628). This work became the basis for all modern research on the heart and blood vessels. Harvey based his discovery on firsthand observations and on dissections of humans and animals. Harvey s findings conflicted with the widely accepted theory of blood circulation originated by Galen, who was an ancient Greek physician. Galen thought that the liver converted food into blood. Galen also believed that blood flowed through the veins to the rest of the body, where it was consumed. Through his experiments, Harvey demonstrated that the heart works like a pump, forcing blood to flow through the arteries to the body. He also showed that the blood returns to the heart through the veins, thus forming a system of closed circulation. In addition, Harvey proved that the pulse is caused by the expansion of the arteries following each contraction of the heart. He showed that the heart s right ventricle (pumping chamber) supplies blood to the lungs and that the left ventricle pumps blood to the rest of the body. Harvey was born in Folkestone, Kent, England. From 1593 to 1599, he studied at Gonville and Caius College in Cambridge. In 1602, he received a doctorate in medicine from the University of Padua. He then began practicing medicine in London. In 1607, he was elected to the Royal College of Physicians. He served as a physician to Kings James I and Charles I. In 1651, Harvey published Essays on the Generation of Animals, considered a basis for modern embryology. This work deals with reproduction, particularly the part that the egg plays in reproduction. Harvey s discovery of how blood cir culates marked a turning point in medi cal history. After Harvey, scien tists realized that knowledge of how the body works depends on know ledge of the body s structure. In the mid-1600 s, a Dutch amateur scientist named Anton van Leeu wen hoek began using a microscope to study organisms invisible to the naked eye. Today, such organisms are called microorganisms, microbes, or germs. In the mid-1670 s, Leeu wen hoek dis covered certain microbes that later be came known as bacteria. Leeu wen hoek did not understand the role of mi crobes in nature. But his res earch paved the way for the eventu al dis covery that certain microbes cause disease. 1 Excerpted from a World Book article entitled Netherlands. Contributor: Jan de Vries, Ph.D., Professor of History and Economics, University of California, Berkeley. 2 From a World Book article entitled Harvey, William. Contributor: John Scarborough, Ph.D., Professor, History of Pharmacy and Medicine and Classics, University of Wisconsin. 38

39 Puritans in New England Before beginning your discussion, please read the following: History Background Information Church History Background Information Geography Background Information History: Dialectic Discussion Outline 1. You may want to start your time by lecturing or discussing the Puritans as a religiously-based reform movement in England. 1 This thread ties together our studies from the time of Wycliffe in the 1300 s (studied in Unit 1) through the Reformation (studied in Unit 2) until the early 1660 s, as we will see next week. The term Puritan was first used in the late 1500 s to identify a faction (small group) within the Church of England that Henry VIII established and Elizabeth I perpetuated throughout her long reign. Remind students that another name for the Church of England is the Anglican Church. This Anglican Church was an established church, which means that it was state-supported (financially) and that it was mandatory (the law required people to attend). The monarch of England was also head of this church. He or she had the power to appoint or dismiss church officials. The church was a powerful tool for keeping subjects loyal and peaceful. During Queen Elizabeth s reign, when the rest of Europe was plunged into bloody religious wars resulting from Protestant resistance to Roman Catholic authorities, the Anglican Church represented a compromise between two extremes. It mixed some doctrines and most rituals of Roman Catholicism with many doctrines and much respect for Scripture from the Protestant tradition. Under Henry VIII and Elizabeth I, this compromise was more a matter of state than religion. Consequently, individuals found that to follow one s conscience in religion and resist church authorities smacked of political treason as well. Elizabeth allowed verbal dissension, but refused to give reformers what they really wanted: autonomy from state control of the church and the right to practice their religion as they saw fit. Remind students that the reforming spirit was not new in England and that as early as the 1520 s, English Protestant leaders had demanded reforms that were later called Puritan. Defenders of these reforms were called Puritans because of their proposals to purify the church. These Puritan Christians believed that the Bible governed all human affairs. John Wycliffe had taught the supremacy of Scripture over church practice at Oxford in the 1300 s. Stress the longevity of these tensions in English society. In the 1520 s and 1530 s, William Tyndale published pamphlets and English translations of the Old Testament and New Testament designed to encourage such reforms. Hugh Latimer, who became an important Protestant bishop, also had raised such protests to purify the church. Puritan reformers sought to make further changes in the church than had been brought about by Protestant reforms during the reigns of King Henry VIII, King Edward VI, and Queen Elizabeth I. 2. Ask students what they have learned about the position that James I took regarding the wishes of his subjects for religious reforms. Go over the following information: Things began hopefully for the Puritans. James had been raised in Scotland, a strongly Protestant country with a Presbyterian government. James appointed some known Puritans to high-ranking positions in the Anglican Church when he took the throne after Elizabeth s death. During the 1600 s, the Puritans increasingly opposed the political and religious policies of the Stuart rulers, King James I and his son, King Charles I, whom we will study next week. In 1604, James I called the Hampton Court Conference to settle disagreements within the Church of England. However, James refused to bring about the reforms the Puritans sought, except for a new translation of the Bible, now called the King James Version. James was intent on ruling as an absolute monarch (unlimited by any body of representatives). He claimed the authority to do this on biblical grounds by invoking the divine right of kings. (Explain this doctrine if needed, using this week s Government Background Information.) Teacher s Notes 1 Much of the following text is taken from World Book articles in this week-plan, reformatted here for your convenience. 39

40 Puritans in New England Teacher s Notes James clearly saw that Puritan ideas were egalitarian (rulers, like their subjects, were under the law), autonomous (they wished to interpret the Bible for themselves and choose their own ministers), and individualistic (each man should be able to follow his own conscience and interpretation of the Bible on matters of faith and practice). James made it clear at both the Hampton Court Conference and in Parliament that he would not yield his power as head over both church and state. 3. During the 1600 s, some Puritan groups, later called Separatists believed that reform of the Church of England was impossible, so they departed to settle in lands where they could worship as they chose, first in Holland and then in North America. In the end, the Separatists founded Plymouth on the New England coast in Later, Puritans who had not broken with the Church of England founded Connecticut and Massachusetts Bay Colony, which Plymouth eventually joined. Puritan ideals shaped religion, social life, and government in Colonial America. The Puritan legacy was strong and deep. Their strong belief in education led them to establish Harvard and Yale and to require the first system of grammar schools in the colonies. The Puritans organized their government according to the ideas of covenant and individual responsibility found in the Bible and on the basis of their English experience. The Puritans belief in biblical principles influenced the development of American democratic principles. They believed that the king was under the law and truly responsible for his actions to God. 4. Discuss (or review) with your students the historical details of the founding of Plymouth Plantation. Cover the Pilgrims early history before they sailed on the Mayflower. Ask, Who were the Pilgrims? Puritan Separatists Ask, Where in England did the Separatists begin meeting? Scrooby, in northern England Ask, Who was their first pastor? William Brewster Ask, What caused them to leave England for Holland? James I s persecution of Puritans in England Ask, Was it easy for them to leave for Holland? No, it took several attempts. Note: In fleeing to Holland, the Pilgrims were breaking English law. They were stealing the king s property (themselves, being English citi zens and his subjects), which was illegal. Ask, Where did they first settle in the Netherlands? Amsterdam Ask, Where and why did they move from Amsterdam? They had trouble finding work, and Amsterdam was worldly and expensive, so they relocated to Leiden. Ask, How long were they in Leiden? About twelve years Ask, What kinds of reports would they have heard about life in America? That it was a hard place to survive, that water and food were poor and scarce, and that the Indian savages were fearsome colonist-killers Ask, What factors made them decide to move to America anyway? After several years in Holland, some Separatists began to fear that their children would be more Dutch than English and more worldly than spiritual. As for eign ers, they could not buy land or work in skilled trades. In addition, the Thirty Years War had begun in Europe. Discuss aspects of their journey to America. Ask, Who funded them, and what was the agreement? The Pilgrims organized a joint-stock company with some Lon don merchants in order to finance the voyage. The partnership lasted for seven years. The Pilgrims agreed to put the results of their labor into a common fund, which would provide the necessities of life for the settlers. At the end of seven years, all the profits and property were to be divided among the financiers and the settlers. However, this experi ment did not work 40

41 Puritans in New England out, and in 1623, the colony allowed settlers to farm individual plots. The London merchants in 1627 agreed to sell their interest in the company to the Pilgrims, who finished paying off the debt in Ask, Why was it legal for them to plant a colony when it had not been legal for them to flee to Holland? Because they were hired by a legitimate joint-stock company to plant an English colony within King James s lands, they were no longer steal ing themselves from him. Ask, When did they leave England, and how long were they at sea? In 1620, forty-one of the Leiden Pilgrims left the Nether lands in a small ship called the Speedwell. The ship stopped in England, and other English people who hoped to better their lives joined the expedition. The group left England in the Speedwell and a larger ship, the Mayflower. The Speedwell proved unseaworthy, and the fleet returned to England twice. Finally, in September 1620, the Mayflower sailed alone from Plymouth, England. Ask, How many passengers were on the Mayflower? It carried 102 passengers, including women and children. Discuss life at the Plymouth settlement. Ask, How did the first year go? The first year was a difficult one for the Pilgrims. Poor and inadequate food, stren uous work, and changeable weather made the settlers susceptible to sickness. The colony lost about half its mem bers that first winter. Ask, Did the Pilgrims believe that they had disobeyed God or had wrongly thought that He told them to go to America? There is absolute ly no evidence of this. Indeed, their written records suggested that they believed their dead loved ones were better off in heaven than they would have been in Holland, tempted by worldly lusts and pursuits. Spend some time drawing students out about the daily life of men, women, and children in Plymouth Plantation as time went on. Ask students for details on the following topics: Men s work Women s work Children s activities and occupations Typical Sundays in Plymouth Relations with the Native Americans nearby 5. Ask students, In what ways did God provide for the Pilgrims? A tribe of Patuxet Indians that had died from severe sickness had previously cleared farmland in the area where the Pilgrims chose to land. One of the Patuxets, Squanto, was captured and taken to England before the sickness came. He learned English there and returned to America a year before the Pilgrims arrived. Squan to taught the Pilgrims how to grow food the Indian way. Squanto acted as a diplomat between the Pilgrims and Massasoit, the sachem (chief) of the Wampanoag tribe that controlled much of southeastern Massachusetts. William Bradford was an able and godly leader who led and served the colony with integrity, gen erosity, and wisdom for over twenty years. The Pilgrims found a protected harbor at Plymouth, allowing them to weather their first New England winter. Because the Pilgrims were blown north of their original charter, they were independent of southern colonies and free to develop their colony according to their religious convictions. 6. Discuss ways in which the Pilgrims displayed their faith. Answers will vary, since different students will be impressed by different details of the Pilgrim story. Certainly, setting forth for a howling wilderness took faith. Facing the realities of losing half their number during the starving times, yet staying the course and refusing to second guess God also displayed great faith. Doubtless, you and your students will identify others. 7. Having covered the details of the Pilgrims daily life, talk with students about similarities and differences between the settlers of Jamestown and Plymouth. (Although we suggested that students use a Venn Diagram to organize their facts, answers to this section can be found in the answers to the chart suggested for rhetoric students on page 43.) Go over this information by asking students for their observations about the settlers, based on these criteria: Teacher s Notes 41

42 Puritans in New England Teacher s Notes Who sent them to America The main motives among settlers for colonizing The number of men, women, and children in the group Their behavior once they landed in their new colonial home Their means of making a living Their relations with nearby Native Americans 8. Mention the neighbors Plymouth had as the colony grew and flourished. Englishman Henry Hudson conducted significant explorations in and around North America in a fruitless search for a northern passage to Asia. On his third voyage, in 1607, he sailed for the Dutch West India Company. The Dutch based their claims to land in North America on the basis of this voyage. In 1624, the Dutch founded New Netherland at the mouth of the Hudson River in what became New York. Their early governor, Peter Minuit, purchased Manhattan Island from the natives for about $24. In 1630, a large group of Puritans immigrated to America and settled north of Plymouth, in Boston. They were good neighbors, but their superior location and numbers eventually detracted from Plymouth as a sizeable number of Plymouth settlers eventually relocated there. 9. Having reviewed the necessary political background and earlier threads, ask students what kinds of specific issues caused the Pilgrims to leave England. The Puritans wanted to choose their own ministers, say their own prayers (instead of using the Book of Common Prayer required in Anglican worship), see their ministers dressed in simpler garb, not be required to observe church holidays (like Christmas) that they associated with popery, etc. 10. Ask students, Would you have left a comfortable home to cross the ocean and live in a hostile land because of issues like these? Answers will vary, but take time to draw your students out about this very revealing question. Which aspects of Christianity seem essential to them, and which are matters for private interpretation? Are there any questions of conscience that would have motivated your teen to brave such hardships? Why, or why not? History: Rhetoric Discussion Outline 1 st Hour: Continue to study events in Colonial America. 1. As always in Year 2, browse the dialectic script as desired for more factual data on this week s study before delving into the analytical questions below. 2. Discuss the similarities and differences between the Jamestown and Plymouth settlements. After talking with students about the factual information contained in the chart on page 42 (and perhaps adding data to it), spend some time talking about the hidden aspects of this comparison. Ask, How did elements like personal integrity, courage, and the Providence of God affect these two colonies? In terms of integrity, the majority of Jamestown settlers seem to have been cultural Christians rather than steadfast disciples of God. They did not seem to allow theological principles to rule them; rather, they followed their worldly concerns and personal passions. This is evidenced by records of their lack of diligence, their argumentative and prideful conflicts, and their focus on the attainment of wealth as a first priority, even over basic survival. By contrast, the Pilgrims evidenced a consistency of purpose throughout their early settlement days. They submitted to the joint-stock company that sent them, and agreed with each other (the Mayflower Compact) even when the going got tough. They remained faithful even when it was to their own detriment and sought to be true to the Lord, even when large numbers of their company were dying. Consider both sets of colonists in regards to Hebrews 11:13-16: All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth. People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. Instead, they were longing for a better country a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them. Settlers of both Jamestown and Plymouth displayed great courage in multiple situations. We read especially of the brave leaders in both places: Smith in Jamestown and Bradford in Plymouth. The courage of these settlers 42

43 Puritans in New England enabled them to withstand the opposition presented by attacks from the Native Americans, starvation, learning how to plant and harvest new crops, finding industries that would flourish in the New World, etc. In regards to God s providence, review our definition of this term. Providence is God s purposeful hand behind what might otherwise seem to be random (or even difficult) events. In one way, all that happens is Providential. But, God s guiding hand is also obvious in the dissimilarities of Jamestown and Plymouth. Aspects like unity of spirit and purpose, a focus on the things of God, relations with Native Americans, and the timing of reinforcements from England all show the work of God s guiding hand. Jamestown What type of people were the original colonists? Many gentlemen who came for adventure and worldly gain Those influenced by Puritan reforms in England Craftsmen who wanted to make money for the London Company No women or families Original purpose, reasons for coming, and organization: Sent by the London Company on a purely financial venture Searching for gold and quick wealth or servants to those seek ing worldly advancement (this is not to say that they weren t Christians) Organized as a martial community, existing for the good of the company Physical conditions: Location of colony lacked wholesome water; swampy land Settlers could not achieve self-sufficiency due to infighting, lack of skills, and no farming abilities. They bought food or killed Indians to get it. Indians quickly became hostile and increased their troubles. Relations with natives: From the outset, high-handed attitudes and actions by white men an gered and alienated the Indians. Frequent and bloody attacks sapped the colony of men and energy. Desire to grow tobacco as a cash crop enticed colonists to take natives lands without due consideration or payment, or by force Developments over the years: Some leadership exhibited by Captain John Smith but in general, the colony limped along, with many men dying of disease, Indian attacks, and quarrels. Many problems with Indian attacks Much dissension among colonists House of Burgesses was the one shining accomplishment. Plymouth What type of people were the original colonists? Separatists and other Englishmen A united community, though a few were adventurers Men, women, and children Original purpose, reasons for coming, and organization: Sent by the Virginia Company as a joint-stock venture, a contractual agreement that was to last seven years Bound to communal living but abandoned that for individual property soon after arrival, though they remained in debt for many years Purpose for most families was religious freedom Industrious and hard-working people who relied on God for direction Physical conditions: Good location, cleared land because of earlier Indian occupation; no hostile Indians attacks. Starved the first year and half died After the first year, Squanto taught them to farm. They were large ly self-sufficient and grew. Relations with local natives: Early on, no Indians lived where the Pilgrims had landed, so they had no one to contend with. The wisdom and godliness of William Bradford and the reasonable ness of Massasoit made for many years of amicable relations with natives. Squanto taught the Pilgrims how to survive in the New World. Developments over the years: Over thirty years of peaceful, representative government and long-term leadership due to the gifted and godly William Bradford Peace with the Indians Colony grew through self-sufficiency, trade, and with help from other settlements to the north and southwest 3. Ask, What role did the Native Americans play in the founding of Plymouth? God provided Squanto as a diplomat between the English and the local Native American tribes. He had been a captive in Europe for an extended time before returning to his native land (New England). He arrived home only to find that his tribe had been wiped out by illness. Because Squanto spoke English and knew the ways of the Wampanoag people, he made the perfect mediator between the Pilgrims and Massasoit, the chief of the Wampanoag tribe that controlled all of southeastern Mas sachusetts. Squanto also taught the settlers how to farm crops (like maize) that were new to them in their unfamiliar surroundings. Teacher s Notes 43

44 Puritans in New England Teacher s Notes 4. Ask students to compare and contrast Plymouth Plantation with the Massachusetts Bay Colony. The Massachusetts Bay Colony was founded ten years after Plymouth. In many ways, this newer group benefitted from the work and experience of the Plymouth Colony. They were a larger group; initially, they had 400 members, and the oppressive religious policies in England caused entire congregations to emigrate, further contributing to the colony s size. The Massachusetts Bay Colony was also better situated for trade and industry than Plymouth. 5. Ask, How did the government and social makeup of New Netherland differ from both Plymouth Plantation and the Massachusetts Bay Colony? Like Jamestown, New Netherland was initially a commercial venture for most of its colonists. While many settlers were Dutch Protestants from the provinces (now Belgium) who had made their peace with Spain, there was a greater ethnic and national diversity here than in any early English colony. The Dutch West India Company established the patroon system, which was a feudal kind of government very different from the representative governments in Plymouth and Massachusetts Bay. Though there was less freedom of government in New Netherland, there was more religious diversity and toleration, and the Dutch seemed to avoid the extremes of starving times. Their industries fur trading, rye and wheat export, lumbering, and ship building prospered early and sustained the colony in comfortable fashion until they were taken over by the English. 6. Discuss ways that the Pilgrims showed their Christian faith during their trials in Holland, on the Mayflower, and in the New World. Start with the seriousness with which the Pilgrims walked out their relationship with God, their constancy in prayer, their unflagging faith, their trust in God to lead them when things were physically and emotionally difficult, and their joyful gratitude when God provided for them. The list is very long! 7. Today, many Americans mourn the lack of heroes in our society. Discuss whether or not the Pilgrims are heroes worth emulating. Using the Bible, define the qualities of a hero. Some basic traits include faith in God, a willingness to do great things for God when asked, meekness, courage, and perseverance. Do you think the Pilgrims were real heroes or not? (Students should have concrete reasons for their position.) Answers will vary, but by almost any measure (sacred or secular) the Pilgrims were real heroes: true to God, true to their convictions, faithful to their sponsors, generous with one another in need, courageous in times of peril and disaster, and steadfast in their purpose. Ask students what they would have found hardest about colonial life, and why. Ask them how the Pilgrims example convicts, inspires, or instructs them in this area. This is another open-ended and revealing question. Your son or daughter may confess fears, loneliness, insecurity, dependency on the world, a love of ease or pleasure, or other human weaknesses. Gently point them back to a biblical perspective on their weaknesses. You might reference verses such as Proverbs 3:5-8; Matthew 6:33; 2 Corinthians 11:30, 12:9-10, and 13:4; James 4:6, 10; and 1 Peter 5:6-7. Remind students that comfort and happiness are not our greatest good; rather, our holiness is. Since God s wrath for our sins has already been satisfied by Christ s sacrifice, all God has for us is love. When we as Christians experience trials in life, our loving Father s will for us is conformity to the image of Jesus. This was a daily reality for the Pilgrims, and this truth can comfort your sons or daughters as they contemplate weaknesses in their character. Ask students, What do you find most inspirational in the Pilgrims story? Answers will vary. Again, your child s answer to this question will tell you what he values most, so listen carefully and be prepared to discuss this question with him. 2 nd Hour: Look at parallel events and worldviews in Europe. 1. Discuss Dunn s assertion (found in the student s recommended reading) in The Age of Religious Wars that as Dutch prosperity proved, the merchant middleman was the prime catalyst in the seventeenth-century economy (117). Students should support the statement. As with the Italian city-states soon after the Crusades, Dutch merchants were perfectly situated at the crossroads of commerce. Their import and export industry made them prosperous, and provided a template for other merchants. 44

45 Puritans in New England As with Italian merchants, location was everything; Amsterdam was at the crossroads of the Baltic Sea Trade, the English Channel trade, and the Rhine River. As Dunn points out, Nobody but nobody could undersell the Amsterdam merchants because they dealt in volume. Foreign merchants found it worth their while to shop in Amsterdam because there they could buy anything from a precision lens to muskets for an army of five thousand (119). Unlike southern giants of finance, such as the Medici family in Florence, the Dutch model utilized joint-stock companies, where small merchants pooled their capital for ventures that were larger and riskier than those any private individuals could have undertaken on their own (with sufficiently high rates of return to make it worth the risk for all involved). The most famous of these joint-stock companies were the Dutch East India Company and the Dutch West India Company, which came to be governing bodies in their own right. Each had sovereign authority to possess and govern overseas territory, to negotiate treaties, and to wage war. As their names suggest, the East India Company operated in the Eastern Hemisphere, and was crucial to the histories of the Orient and India; the West India Company operated in the Western Hemisphere, where it was eclipsed by Englishmen in the late 1600 s as students will see in Week 23. The Dutch built a great fleet of merchant ships; England and America followed suit. By the 1800 s, England had eclipsed Dutch power at sea and had built a worldwide, colonial empire on which the sun never set. Note with students that, although the Dutch republic was a Calvinist state, Dunn points out that the great Dutch merchants did not permit their pastors to interfere in politics or business matters. We can see this truth reflected in the history of Plymouth. The Pilgrims left Amsterdam for Leiden and from there for America because they feared that their children were becoming too worldly. Dunn also points out that all religious views Jewish, Catholic, Anabaptist, and unbelievers alike were tolerated. 2. Talk with students about the general economic theory of mercantilism, and how it shaped fiscal policies of Europeans from the mid-1500 s to the mid-1700 s. Mercantilism was the predominant economic theory of the day. The basic view was that a country s wealth was measured by how much gold and silver were resident in either the coffers of the crown or circulating in a given country. As we will see throughout this unit, this economic view affected decisions by monarchs: they sought to arrange patterns of trade such that specie (gold and silver) stayed in their borders. Colonists were always seen as contributors to their mother country, not independent economies in their own right. So, for instance, by law, English colonists had to buy finished goods (such as clothing and furniture) from England only, rather than being allowed to either make them themselves (and export them) or buy them from merchants of other nations. 3. From The Age of Religious Wars, ask students how the terms liberty and freedom meant different things to people of the seventeenth century than they do to us today. Students may not be aware of how egalitarian (focused on treating all individuals equally) their modern outlook is, so we ve asked this question in order to help them see it. The discussion in Dunn is on pages , for your reference. Liberty, says Dunn, referred to the enjoyment of special advantages not open to other men. Such liberties included the freedom to sit on a governing council, or defend the vested interests of one s privileged caste. Thus, noblemen had liberty to hunt on their lands; and no one else could do so without their leave. In fact, such liberties defined a gentlemen in many ways! It did not refer to civil freedoms (liberty of life, liberty to conduct business in certain ways, or the liberty to worship in a chosen way) or even personal ones. For example, choices of whom to marry, where to live, and what occupation to undertake were often made for younger people by their elders, especially among the privileged nobility. Liberty was, in the end, a function of status, not humanity. Likewise, freedom meant exemption from restrictions which unprivileged persons had to observe (124). Dunn gives the example of a cobbler s apprentice who, after serving his apprenticeship is free to sell his wares and reap the profits thereof. Thus, for Europeans or colonists of the 1600 s, neither liberty nor freedom would mean the right to do what I want with my own life or property. Independence of life, even thought life, was not valued by these societies. 4. Ask, Why do these differences exist, and how did these concepts affect European and Colonial American society in the 1600 s? Note: Students may need help answering this question as it is forward-thinking. Understanding the difference between the meanings of these words then and now is, in a way, the remainder of our Year 2 study. We will try to closely follow the development of the civil and human rights and privileges of egalitarian societies. Teacher s Notes 45

46 Puritans in New England Teacher s Notes In the seventeenth century, the common good of the community remained the highest social value, above the needs, desires, or good of the individual, as it had been for ancient and medieval societies (whether of state, tribe, township, or church communities). One can demonstrate this in a hundred ways: the thought of mandating one right way to worship God, the ideals of knowing one s social place, the lot of serfs who were tied to the land, the self-policing of guilds, the permission needed by noble people before they could marry, and the right of kings to command the life and death of each subject are typical examples. Today, in America especially, we have almost the opposite primary value, which some have termed the cult of the individual. Individual freedoms of choice, conscience, privacy, and opportunity are paramount for us in the twenty-first century, and are seen as measures of human worth and dignity. This emphasis would have seemed both ludicrous and dangerous to societal health to our sixteenth-century brethren. Literature: Lower Level Questions and Answers Answers to Lower Grammar Worksheet on Three Young Pilgrims 1. What kinds of things were stored in the hold of the ship? Cargo, barrels of food, and water 2. What was the name of the ship on which the people sailed? Mayflower 3. Why did the Pilgrims want to make a new colony? For the glory of God and in honor of our King and country 4. What was the name of the new colony? Plymouth 5. Who was the Indian that welcomed the settlers? Samoset 6. What did Samoset and Squanto teach the settlers? How to plant corn a new way 7. Who was invited to the celebration feast? The people of the Plymouth colony invited the Indians to the feast. 8. What were the names of some of the Indians who went to the feast? Massasoit, Samoset, and Squanto 9. What was the name of the ship that was sighted three days after the feast? The Fortune 10. What was one main reason that people went to the New World? Religious freedom, as well as the chance to own their own land Answers to Upper Grammar Worksheet on William Bradford, Pilgrim Boy 1. William is punished for going to Babworth several times. fact 2. King James of Scotland becomes the King of England upon the death of the queen. fact 3. William Bradford is three years older than Jonathan Brewster. fact 4. A good breakfast consists of pease porridge, milk, bread, and slices of cold meat. opinion 46

47 Puritans in New England 5. The men from Cambridge are a dangerous group. opinion 6. William is not allowed to continue attending school. fact 7. William forgets that he has let the bull out in the pasture. fact 8. It is more important to take care of the lambs than to learn. opinion 9. Learning enables Uncle Robert and William to take better care of the sheep. fact 10. William Brewster is arrested for being disobedient in matters of religion. fact 11. Sam White is afraid to meet with William unless it is after dark. fact 12. Freedom in the New World is worth the dangers the people have to overcome. opinion 13. Life on board the Mayflower is very exciting! opinion 14. William Bradford becomes the governor of the new colony. fact 15. The Narragansett Indians never trouble the Indians while William is alive. fact Teacher s Notes Answers to Dialectic Worksheet on Almost Home Answers below are samples; your student may provide different quotations. Check his work by looking at page numbers if necessary. Ask your student how this work of historical fiction gives more insight into the lives of the Pilgrims. You may wish to discuss the following quotation with your student, both from an historical and a personal perspective: If you only remember one thing, Mary, remember that even when we cannot see the pattern in the fabric, or understand the purpose for which it is made, the Weaver still directs the whole undertaking (122). Sailors and Pilgrims alike grabbed buckets of water to douse the flames, and an angry Governor Carver sat Francis down on a crate (90). We were startled awake with a hideous cry. I yelled the call to arms, and we discharged our muskets into the pitch-black night, yet we heard nothing more ( ). Father does not improve, and I fear for his life. Perchance he was too old for this journey (81). I bring tragic news. William Bradford s wife slipped on deck and went over the port side into the icy water below (103). Mary felt impatient from the top of her head to the tips of her toes. How she longed to dig her toes in dirt again, to feel tree branches scrape against her arms, to smell the scent of lilies, to hear the buzz of insects, to taste wild berries. (80). What did you find inside? Bartholomew Allerton knew never to interrupt his elders, but the thought of buried treasure overcame good manners to an eight-year-old boy (96). From now on, I shall work to take joy over sadness, Mary decided, as God is my strength (112). Mary, Governor Carver and Elder Brewster just spoke to me. They invited you to accompany the first party to see the new settlement (112). We three are among the very first chosen to set foot on American soil (85). Before the men left to decide how to deal with Francis, Elder Brewster bent his knee and thanked God for keeping them safe once again (91). 47

48 Puritans in New England Literature: Rhetoric Discussion Outline Teacher s Notes We recommend that you read the Literary Introduction in the Student Activity Pages as well as look at the assigned readings in Poetics. You may also wish to read the rest of the rhetoric Literature Teacher s Notes for Week 22 ahead, so that you will be able to make the best use of both class plans. Bunyan s Author s Apology for His Book is only a few pages long (p. 3-9 in the recommended Oxford World s Classics edition), so we suggest you read it this week if possible. Teachers of Continuing level students, please note that this week you may either choose to teach Pilgrim s Progress, or, if your student has already studied this famous Christian allegory, you may prefer to make a side trip into seventeenth century English poets during this week and next week. If you choose this second option, please be sure to have your Continuing level students skip the Pilgrim s Progress readings and instead read the optional poems (with associated optional Poetics readings and Student Activity Pages exercises) listed in the Reading Assignment Charts and Student Activity Pages. These poems can be found in the Year 2 Shorter Works Anthology. Recitation or Reading Aloud We encourage you to let your student pick his own selection for recitation or reading aloud, or assign him The Man of the City of Destruction (from As I walked through the wilderness of this world through What shall I do? Pilgrim s Progress, p. 10). We recommend this as a class-opening recitation or read-aloud piece. Defining Terms This week your student has been asked to make cards for some literary vocabulary terms, which have been given to him with definitions. Please check his cards. Class-Opening Question: How did Bunyan support his family while he was in jail for twelve years? John Bunyan did not support his family by his pen during his term in jail, though he did write and publish several works while imprisoned. Actually, he supported his family from prison by making shoelaces. Class Topics 1. Discuss the genre of Pilgrim s Progress. Pilgrim s Progress is perhaps the most popular and successful allegory in the English language. For review, from Poetics, what is an allegory? Allegory is a work in which the author embodies realities in a fictional story in such a way that there is a clear oneto-one correspondence between those external realities and the internal elements of the story. From Poetics, what are the two essential characteristics of allegory? The literal story The real but abstract situation (often psychological or spiritual) that the literal story dramatizes and makes understandable In allegory, these two elements remain distinct, though they are related. Like a camera that slowly comes into focus, an allegorist takes a hazy and abstract situation and focuses this reality by embodying it in a story with characters and a plot that depict what is going on in a person s mind and soul. Without directly mentioning the abstract situation, the author can thus create fantastic, magical, or imaginative stories that arise from a reality which is part of our everyday lives. From Poetics, what two things must the reader do when seeking to understand, interpret, and enjoy allegory? First, enjoy the literal story. Second, look at the same time for correspondences between the literal story and the abstract reality. Dorothy Sayers warns readers that it is important not to read allegory only for the literal story most of the fun comes from seeing how the story relates to and sheds light on the reality behind it! From Poetics, what is the purpose of allegory? An allegory may teach one or several lessons. But beyond teaching what we ought to do, an allegorist seeks to dramatize a state of mind. C.S. Lewis asserts that the life of the mind, particularly the battle we experience between virtue and vice, is the germ of all the allegorical poetry (Allegory of Love 54). 48

49 Puritans in New England This psychomachia, literally a battle of the soul, is not always visible in the literal story of the allegory in fact, the best allegories are often journey stories, as in Dante s Commedia or Pilgrim s Progress itself but often the difficulties that the traveler faces on his journey correspond to the struggles that we all experience in our minds and hearts. Thus, Christian s struggle through the Slough of Despond corresponds to the struggle that people face as they wrestle with the temptation to despair in their sin. In allegory, the mind becomes the stadium in which we sit down to watch our various emotions and thoughts face each other (Lewis 61). Like opponents in a football game, Love confronts Hate, Passion competes against Reason, and so forth. While allegory certainly has limitations, its power to reveal and explore our minds and hearts gives it exceptional strength and value as a form. Pilgrim s Progress can be described not only as an allegory, but also as a dream vision. For review, from Poetics, what is a dream vision? A genre in which the author presents the story under the guise of having dreamed it (taken from Norton Anthology of English Literature 331). The dream vision was a popular technique used to frame stories in the Middle Ages. Pilgrim s Progress fits this description because the author is presented as dreaming the whole story of Christian s journey. How does knowledge of these genres affect your understanding of Pilgrim s Progress? Because Pilgrim s Progress is a dream vision, we expect the story to happen in the context of the author s dream. This means that it will probably be told at least partly from the first-person perspective and that the author will serve as the narrator. Because Pilgrim s Progress is an allegory, it is not surprising to find characters with names like Obstinate, Hypocrisy, and Prudence. We should expect that many elements in the story will have a secondary meaning. They should also know to look for the parallel spiritual reality that the elements embody. 2. Discuss the genre of the apology and Bunyan s Author s Apology for His Book. (Student Question #1) Why would Bunyan include an apology with his book? If he were really sorry for writing the story, why didn t he refrain from making it public rather than publishing it with a statement of repentance? Because it is not an apology in the sense that he is sorry for it. It is an example of a literary apology. From Poetics, what is an apology? A literary apology is an author s explanation and justification for the ideas expressed in a literary work, or for the form through which he expresses them, usually written in a preface to that work. With regard to literature, an apology is not a defense in court but rather an explanation and justification that the author offers for his work, the opinions expressed in it, and (or) the literary methods used. Thus Bunyan is not repenting for writing Pilgrim s Progress; he is instead following a literary tradition. Specifically, Bunyan s Apology defends his method of using the allegory form to set forth spiritual truths. According to Bunyan, did he set out to write an allegory? How did the story come about? According to Bunyan, he didn t mean to write an allegory. The allegory came about accidentally as he found himself expanding an illustrative image that he was using for another book. Bunyan insists that he wrote the story primarily for his own pleasure and in his spare time. He claims that he published it because some of his friends urged him to do so (though others said don t ), and after listening to them he decided to publish it because he thought the story might do some good. Ironically, Bunyan s spare-time story has probably had more collective impact than all his other works put together! Does Bunyan s account of writing Pilgrim s Progress show that a Christian writer doesn t have to set out to write The Great Christian Story in order to write something that glorifies God and encourages the church? Answers will vary. After hearing your student s thoughts, you may wish to make the following points: Since Pilgrim s Progress is in fact a great Christian story, and since Bunyan did not set out to write one, it does lend much support to that argument. On the other hand, Pilgrim s Progress may also show that a Christian succeeds much better in glorifying God with anything he writes when his life is so steeped in the gospel that even the sparks which seemingly by accident fly out of his imagination are Christ-centered. Teacher s Notes 49

50 Puritans in New England Teacher s Notes What is Bunyan s main point in the Apology? In other words, what is he defending? Bunyan s main point is that spiritual truths can be revealed through allegory and allegorical literary techniques just as well as by other means. Bunyan specifically defends the use of dark figures and metaphorical (we would say figurative ) language. Basically, he sets out to justify a manner of storytelling that uses concrete elements in the story (such as characters, settings, actions, things) to portray spiritual realities and reveal spiritual truths. Did you notice many metaphors, similes, allusions or other comparisons in Bunyan s Apology? Did they help to win you over to his argument? Which did you like best or find most compelling? Bunyan uses at least ten metaphors, similes, allusions, and (or) other comparisons to make his point in the Apology, as for example when he likens his allegorical work to dark clouds heavy with rain or the pearl found in an oyster shell. Only your student can say whether these helped to sway him in favor of Bunyan s argument and which one he liked best. Bunyan s method in the Apology is singularly appropriate, since he uses metaphorical and figurative language to defend the use of metaphorical and figurative language in Pilgrim s Progress. Lastly, what meter and rhyme scheme is Bunyan using in his Apology? Why do you think he wrote in poetry? The rhyme scheme is that of couplets rhyming aabbcc and so forth. The meter is a recognizable pattern of iambic pentameter, though it is rather rough in some places and halting in others. Though we have no way of knowing exactly why he wrote the Apology in poetry, one good guess would be that Bunyan did it to add more literary ornament and perhaps dignity to his work. Because he lived in an era that prized poetry highly, Bunyan could, by adding a poetic Apology to his work, ornament it in a way that may have been considered more artistic and dignified than otherwise. He did not necessarily include it for that reason, but the verse Apology, especially when coupled with the verse conclusion (page 155), does seem to be meant as a pleasing variation of form and an elegant frame. Bunyan published several poems, but is not remembered as a brilliantly gifted poet. Though in the Apology he is simply giving an explanation in verse, not seeking to write a great lyric or epic poem, the reader may still note a lack of grace and force. The meter is simple and repetitive, and sometimes appears contrived. Overall, Bunyan seems to have been more truly comfortable with prose. 3. Discuss symbolism and personification as allegorical devices, and look at examples of these from Pilgrim s Progress. (Student Question #2) For review, from Poetics, what is a symbol and what is personification? A symbol is any element in a work of literature that, in addition to its basic meaning or role in that work, also stands for something more. Personification is a figure of speech in which human attributes are given to something nonhuman (Leland Ryken, Words of Delight 516). Sometimes, in a story, you might have a personification which is also symbolic! For instance, if you imagine the American flag as a character in a story, it would be personified (because flags aren t really alive), but also symbolic, because it stands for the United States of America. From Poetics, how is symbolism different from allegory? Can both be used in the same story? The important difference between symbolism and allegory is that a symbol uses a concrete object as a sign of a deeper reality (e.g., a rose is a symbol of love). Allegory works in the opposite direction. It takes an abstract reality and turns it into something concrete, usually through personification (e.g., love is personified as a golden-haired girl). Both symbolism and allegory can be used in the same story. Generally, the allegory sets up the basic premise and structure of the story, and symbolism is used to enhance and deepen the meaning. C.S. Lewis makes a helpful distinction between allegory and symbols. Allegory takes abstract ideas (virtues, Love, etc.) or non-corporeal beings (such as God, who is spirit) and turns them into a concrete, material story. A symbol works in the opposite direction, using a concrete object as a sign for a deeper reality (Allegory of Love 45). Allegory might be thought of as a sharpening or crystallizing of a whole set of beliefs into a story about personified characters who act out specific conflicts. Symbolism, by contrast, begins with a single object and broadens it to suggest a deeper reality with a rich variety of meanings. 50

51 Puritans in New England This week you worked on a chart showing symbols and personifications in Pilgrim s Progress. Show your finished chart. We invite you to review your student s work with him, using the filled-in chart below. Person, Place, Thing, or Event in the Story Man (named Graceless, renamed Christian) Symbols and Personifications in the First Half of Pilgrim s Progress Secondary or Special Meaning The Man (whose name, we learn later, is Graceless) is both a literal character in the story and also represents every unbelieving human in the natural state of sin. Later he becomes Christian and represents all Christians. Device Being Used Symbolic Character Book The Book is the Bible. Symbolic Thing Great Burden The burden represents the collective sins Graceless has committed and the weight of guilt they produce, both of which can only be removed by Christ. Symbolic Thing Teacher s Notes City (of Destruction) Evangelist Obstinate and Pliable Slow of Dispond (or Slough of Despond) Help Steps in the Slough Falling into the Slough and being pulled out by Help Mr. Worldly-Wiseman Beelzebub The narrow way, the King s High Way The Dust is removed with the help of Water. Simple, Sloth, and Presumption The Hill of Difficulty Apollyon The Valley of the Shadow of Death The City represents those who have original sin but not salvation and are consequently marked for destruction. Evangelist represents Christian evangelists and godly Christian pastors. It is after meeting Evangelist that Graceless is first called Christian. Obstinate represents the human trait or characteristic of obstinacy (arrogant stubbornness) which may keep a person from believing the gospel. Pliable represents the human trait of pliability with regard to spiritual things. He accepts easily, but also gives up easily. The Slough represents all the various doubts, misunderstandings, and lack of comprehension that may cause a man to despair of ever being saved from his sins. Help represents the help (which may come from a person, a sudden insight from God, etc.) that comes to a man and draws him out of despondency to believe in the reality of salvation. The steps are the promises in the Bible that declare that a person may indeed be saved. A person seeking to be saved may be caught and almost drowned in his own misgivings, but God is able to send help to pull him out and set him on the way to salvation. He represents those who have wisdom to get on in this world but cannot offer wisdom for the man who is seeking heaven. Beelzebub is a real being in the real world. Bunyan occasionally refers to real persons (including God) directly, though it is still a dark figure because Apollyon is portrayed as a visible, physical enemy. This way is the way of Holiness. Good-Will tells Christian that it is a road laid down by men of God, including the Patriarchs, the Prophets, Christ, and the Apostles. These represent the fact that original sin cannot be cleaned out of a Christian s life by law, but he will be cleaned easily if sprinkled with the grace of the gospel, as the dust is with water. These are three sinful human traits, all of which can dull and hinder a person from making progress along the way of Holiness. This hill represents a season in a Christian s life when trials or difficulties arise to test his faith. Apollyon (Destroyer) is an actual demon named in the Bible. Bunyan may refer here to spiritual or demonic attack. This valley stands for a season of particularly fierce trials in a Christian s life, such as a dangerous illness. 51 Symbolic Place Symbolic Character Symbolic Personifications of human traits Symbolic Place Symbolic Personification of an abstract idea Symbolic Things Symbolic Event and Symbolic Action Symbolic Character Actual Person Symbolic Place (or Thing) Symbolic Action Symbolic Personifications of human traits Symbolic Place Actual Person Symbolic Place Chart continues on the next page

52 Puritans in New England Teacher s Notes Person, Place, Thing, or Event in Faithful the Story Faithful Helps Christian to Rise Symbols and Personifications in the First Half of Pilgrim s Progress Secondary or Special Meaning Like Christian, Faithful is a symbolic character who stands for Christians in general, and also perhaps for a faithful Christian friend. This action is symbolic of Christians need for each other s help in the process of sanctification and the journey towards Heaven. Device Being Used Symbolic Character Symbolic Action What was your favorite episode from this week s reading, and why? We invite you to spend some significant time on this question this week, drawing from the chart you just reviewed to help your student remember the various characters and episodes that he encountered in his reading. 4. Begin to discuss the lives, times, and schools of seventeenth-century English poets, focusing on Ben Jonson, John Donne, and George Herbert. 1 (Student Question #4) After Shakespeare died in 1616, English literature lost perhaps its brightest literary star but there were others that still shone. This week you studied three English poets who lived in the generation immediately after Shakespeare: Ben Jonson, John Donne, and George Herbert. From Poetics, what do you know about each? Answers will vary depending on what your student noticed most from his readings. Below are our thumbnail sketches of each poet: Ben Jonson ( ): While they both lived, Jonson was the poet-playwright acknowledged as Shakespeare s nearest rival. After the Bard s death, he ascended to the unofficial position of England s best living poet. Jonson excelled in many genres of seventeenth-century poetry. He was apparently a contentious man, giving offense often and making many enemies. He also seems to have been ambitious and even conceited. At the same time, he enjoyed sincere friendships with Shakespeare, Donne, and a band of younger poets called the Sons of Ben. This younger group included Herrick, Suckling, and Carew, whom you will read about next week. John Donne ( ): A friend of Jonson, John Donne was among the best and most influential of seventeenth-century poets. A London clergyman, he was almost equally famous for his love poems and religious poems. Donne is known for his intellectually complex poems and startling, vivid images. George Herbert ( ): A member of the powerful Herbert family (his mother was one of Donne s patrons), Herbert was well-educated, gifted, and seemed destined for a career at court. However, he decided to be ordained as an Anglican priest and minister in a tiny community called Bemerton. Herbert spent his short life pastoring his little flock and producing beautiful Christian poems, including unique emblem poems in which the shape of the lines matches their subject. Herbert became a major influence on several later poets, including Vaughan and Crashaw, whom you will read about next week. This week you read three poems by Jonson. Describe each one. Did you especially enjoy any of them, or any elements in them? Answers will vary, and only your student can answer the second question. Below are brief descriptions: To Penshurst : This poem may at first seem little more than a glorified description of a great country estate. Jonson praises the house, the grounds, the food, the hospitality, the virtue of the lady, the good teaching of the children, and the general wealth of the lord. But in praising these things, Jonson is also making an important statement about what he values in life and in a home. On Something, That Walks Somewhere : This poem has an ironic tone and ending twist. It is an insult witty, short, and elegant but still an insult. The poem is directed at courtiers who dress well and try to carry themselves nobly, but are actually useless, accomplishing nothing good, or even anything bad! To My Beloved, the Author, Mr. William Shakespeare, and What He Hath Left Us : In this sincere tribute that proves how good a friend he could be, Jonson argues that Shakespeare was a poet both by nature and through hard work: For a good poet s made, as well as born. Also, comparing Shakespeare with the greatest Greek and Roman playwrights, Jonson says that Shakespeare was not of an age, but for all time. 1 Much of the biographical information in this and the following topic on seventeenth-century English poets is based on introductions in the Norton Anthology of English Literature, vol. 1, 8 th ed. (New York: Norton, 2006). 52

53 Puritans in New England 5. Introduce the metaphysical style of poetry, including metaphysical conceit, and discuss the poems of Donne and Herbert as examples of this style. (Student Questions #4-5) Metaphysical is a philosophical term that refers to the study of that which is beyond physics questions of reality, being, the purpose of things, etc. The term was applied to English poets by eighteenth-century English critic Samuel Johnson. What is the metaphysical style and what is a metaphysical poet? Can you name any of our first three seventeenth-century authors who could be considered metaphysical poets? The metaphysical style is often characterized as one in which unusual comparisons of images and philosophical ideas are referenced or explored. The term metaphysical poet is intended to describe a poet whose style is intellectually complex, witty, and difficult, and who includes references to philosophical ideas or explores philosophical issues in his poetry. Both John Donne and George Herbert are considered metaphysical poets, though Donne is the more perfect example, since he is considered the founder and head of metaphysical poetry. What is a metaphysical conceit? Can you give an example of it from your reading? The metaphysical conceit is an extended metaphor or simile that is remarkable for its ingeniousness or daring in the comparison it draws between image and object. John Donne s poetry give an abundance of metaphysical conceits. For example, in A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning his comparison of the lovers to the two legs of a mathematical compass (the kind used to draw circles). The woman is the fixed leg in the center that draws the other leg (the speaker in the poem) back to the place where he began and makes his circle just that is, perfectly round, and by implication, faithful. This week you read three poems by Donne. Describe Holy Sonnet No. 1, The Canonization, and A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning. Did you especially enjoy any of them, or any elements in them? Answers will vary, and only your student can answer the second question. Below are brief descriptions: Holy Sonnet No. 1 This beautiful mixed sonnet (combining elements of Shakespearean and Petrarchan sonnets) is about decay and restoration. Its theme is that the speaker is plummeting towards death and hell, and his only hope of salvation is for God to draw him back up out of the depths. There is a great sense of the speaker wrestling with himself, his sin, and his fears. Throughout the first twelve lines of the sonnet, the speaker describes his situation in a way that suggests weightiness, heaviness, and feebleness. The speaker is entangled in sin and unable to extract himself. In this poem, there is a particularly magnificent image of the iron heart. The speaker s heart is described as being made of iron, while God is compared to adamant, a natural magnet that draws the iron heart towards Himself. This metaphor shows the contrast between sinking and rising which is at the poem s heart. The Canonization This intellectually elegant and witty poem references the Roman Catholic process of declaring (canonizing) a saint. To achieve sainthood, a person must live a heroically virtuous life, perform at least one confirmed miracle, and be dead. Donne argues that a pair of lovers should be canonized for their love. The first two stanzas argue that the lovers should be left alone to love because they hurt no one by loving. Although these stanzas do not show the lovers doing acts of virtue, Donne contrasts the lover with a statesman and businessman, and references the courtly love traditions that picture the lover as weeping and feverish, in order to show that these lovers have a superior kind of love. The third stanza celebrates the lovers physical union as a kind of miracle or mystery. Note the progression of the three beautiful images of flying creatures. The fourth stanza shows that the lovers meet the final requirement of sainthood by dying and being approved for canonization. In the fifth stanza, the lovers are shown as saints to whom people can pray and after whom people can pattern their own love. This poem s unusual and startling images are characteristic of Donne, who frequently used religious language to describe love and the language of love to describe his relationship with God. It is also a remarkably and complexly patterned poem. The last line of each stanza develops the idea of love, and each stanza has a self-contained theme, but also relates to the others in both metrical patterns and meanings. A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning Imagine a hushed bedroom filled with friends and family who hang on every breath of their dying son, Teacher s Notes 53

54 Puritans in New England Teacher s Notes brother, or friend. This deeply emotional but quiet scene is the image with which Donne begins his poem. He is depicting a good death the death of a man who has lived nobly and is dying well, amidst those who love him in order to express the way he feels upon parting with his beloved. Unlike common lovers who weep and wail at parting, Donne says that he and his beloved feel more, but are quieter, since theirs is first a love of the soul, which cannot really be parted by distance. The final image of the poem compares the two lovers to the two legs of a compass, which is used to draw a circle in geometric exercises. Just as a compass has two legs but is one instrument, so the lovers are one. And just as the center leg keeps the other steady, leading it to the place where it began its circle, so the lover assures his beloved that her constancy will allow him to return where [he] begun (line 36). This image is a famous example of a metaphysical conceit. This week you read a famous poem by Herbert. Describe The Altar. Did you especially enjoy it, or any elements in it? Answers will vary, and only your student can answer the second question. Briefly, we would describe The Altar as an emblem poem. Herbert maintains a metrical pattern while making the shape of an altar with the poem s lines. This piece is beautifully balanced, with two lines of iambic pentameter, two of iambic tetrameter, four of iambic dimeter, and then the same pattern again in reverse order. The image made by the pattern perfectly enhances Herbert s passionate prayer that the altar he offers, made of his heart, will praise God s name. Geography: Background Information Note: In many ways, Mas sa chusetts is a geographic microcosm of the rest of New England. Its basic landforms (seacoast, highlands, valleys) are typical of much of New England geography. Thus, these notes on Massachusetts s geography should be sufficient background for the whole region. World Book on Massachusetts Climate and Landforms 1 Land regions. Massachusetts has six main land regions. They are, from east to west: (1) the Coastal Lowlands, (2) the Eastern New England Upland, (3) the Con necticut Valley Lowland, (4) the Western New Eng land Upland, (5) the Berkshire Val ley, and (6) the Taconic Mountains. The Coastal Lowlands are part of a large land region that extends over the entire New England coastline. The lowlands make up the eastern third of Mas sachusetts. They also include Nantucket Island, Martha s Vineyard, the Elizabeth Islands, and other smaller offshore islands. The region has many rounded hills, swamps, small lakes and ponds, and short shallow rivers. The lowlands are dotted with glacial deposits. These were left by glaciers thousands of years ago during the Ice Age. The Great Blue Hill, south of Boston, rises to a height of about 635 feet. Several excellent har bors lie along the coast. They include Bos ton, Gloucester, and New Bedford. The Eastern New England Upland makes up part of a land region that stretches from Maine to New Jersey. The upland is an extension of the White Mountains of New Hampshire. In Mas sachusetts the upland extends westward from the Coas tal Low ands for 40 to 60 miles. The upland region rises to a height of about 1,000 feet and then gradually slopes downward toward the Connecticut Valley Lowland. Many streams cut through the Eastern New Eng land Upland. The Connecticut Valley Lowland is a long, sausage-shaped region. It extends from northern Massachusetts to southern Connecticut. In Massachusetts, the val ley, which is 20 miles wide, is hemmed in by hills to the north, east, and west. The Connecticut River flows through the valley region. Rich soil and a mild climate pro vide good farming. The Western New England Upland extends through Vermont, Massachu setts, and Connecticut. In Massachusetts, the region stretches 20 to 30 miles west ward from the Connecticut Valley Lowland to the Berkshire Valley. The Berkshire Val ley is a narrow path of lower land that ex tends into northern Connecti cut. In Massa chusetts, it winds between the Berkshire Hills and the Taconic Mountains. This valley region is less than 10 miles wide. Its many green meadows are good for dairy farming. 1 Excerpted from a World Book article entitled Massachusetts. Contributors: Michael G. Mensoian, J.D., Prof. of Geography and Director, Armenian Studies, Univ. of Massachusetts, Boston; Robert L. Turner, M.P.A., Chief Editorial Writer, Boston Globe; Winfred E. A. Bernhard, Ph.D., Former Professor of Early American History, University of Massachusetts, Amherst. 54

55 Puritans in New England The Taconic Mountains extend into Vermont. This region skirts the extreme western edge of Massachusetts. At its widest point, the region measures no more than 6 miles across. The Taconic Range slopes from northwestern Mas sachusetts to the southwestern corner of the state, where Mount Everett rises 2,602 feet. [The] Coastline of Massachusetts meas ures 192 miles. If the coastline of each bay and inlet were added to the total, the state s coast line would measure more than 1,500 miles. Boston is the state s most im por tant harbor. Other important har bors in clude Gloucester in the north, Quin cy and Weym outh in Boston Bay, and New Bed ford and Fall River in the south. Islands. The Elizabeth Islands, Martha s Vineyard, and Nantucket Island are the state s largest and most important islands. Together with Cape Cod, these islands form the boundaries of Nantucket Sound. Martha s Vineyard and Nantuck et Island are important resort centers. A number of smaller islands also lie along the coast of Massachusetts. Rivers and lakes. Massachusetts has 4,230 miles of rivers. The Connecticut River is the state s most important water way. It flows southward and pro vides water Plymouth Colony was founded in 1620 by Pilgrims who sailed from England aboard the Mayflower. They first landed at Provincetown and later sailed around Cape Cod Bay to Plymouth. This map shows the extent of Plymouth Colony in From World Book 2002 World Book, Inc., 233 N. Michigan Avenue, Suite 2000, Chicago, IL All rights reserved. World Book map for the most fertile Massa chu setts farm lands. The Connecticut s chief tributaries include the Deerfield and Westfield rivers to the west, and the Chicopee and Millers rivers to the east. The far western part of Massachusetts has two important rivers the Hoosic River and the Housatonic River. The Hoosic River flows northward and west ward into Vermont, and finally drains into the Hudson River. The scenic Housatonic River flows southward into Connecti cut. The Blackstone River drains Massachu setts s eastern upland region. It then flows southeastward into Rhode Island. Massachusetts has more than 1,300 lakes and ponds. More than a fourth of these lakes supply drinking water to near by cities and towns. The state s two larg est lakes Quabbin and Wachusett are artificially created reservoirs. Quabbin Reservoir, near Ware in the center of the state, is one of the nation s largest reservoirs of drinking water. It covers more than 39 square miles. Wachusett Reservoir, north of Worcester, covers 6½ square miles. These reservoirs supply water to the Boston metropolitan area. Many of the state s lakes have Indian names. For example, Lake Chaubuna gun gamaug, also called Lake Webster, re ceived its name from the Nipmuc Indians. The long form for this name is Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaug. The name means You fish your side of the lake. I fish my side. Nobody fishes the middle. Plant and animal life. Forests cover about three-fifths of the land area of Mas sa chu setts. The most common soft wood trees include the eastern white and red pines, the eastern hemlock, and the pitch pine. Common hardwoods include ash, beech, birch, maple, and oak trees. Every spring, blue and white violets blos som along the river valleys and in the lower portions of the upland regions. Marsh mari golds, skunk cabbages, and white helle bores also cover these regions in the spring time. Common shrubs and plants in the western hilly regions include azaleas, dog woods, ferns, mountain laurels, rhododen drons, and viburnums. Mayflowers, Solo mon s-seals, and trilliums are also com mon in the western regions. Rushes and sedges thrive along the seacoast and in the Coastal Lowlands. Massachusetts s forests and woodlands are filled with foxes, muskrats, porcupines, rabbits, raccoons, and skunks. The tiny meadow mouse is the state s most com mon animal. Deer live throughout the state. Great numbers of beavers live in the streams of the Berkshire Hills. Partridge, pheasant, and other game birds are found in the fields and forests. Many kinds of water, marsh, and shore birds, especially gulls and terns, nest along the seacoast. Bass, pickerel, sunfish, trout, and white and yellow perch swim in the state s lakes and ponds. Clams, fishes, lob- Teacher s Notes 55