|
|
|
American Studies 100 Wednesday, February 3rd, 1999 Announcements: None Lecture notes:
1. As the Puritans came into contact with other people through immigration and the Native Americans, they began to experience other cultures and that is when the downfall began. 2. The Principle of Exclusion - the more rigidly a line is drawn around the community, the more rigidly it is excluding people outside the community. Three Heretics
- Preached separation of church and state - Wanted to keep religion in its purest form - What can the government do well? ~> protect bodies ~> protect goods ~> must not interfere with the mind and spirit - Believed that any church maintained and run by the state was corrupt - Called himself a seeker ~ seeking the perfect religion - Became a separatist and refused to teach people who were not separatists - Banished from the community of Boston - Fled to Rhode Island and founded a colony ~> Rhode Island becomes a magnet for outcasts and people who have been banished - Beliefs ~>Government is not divinely instituted, but man made ~> Government rests in the consent of the governed ~> Government exists to keep peace and order ~> Government can only govern the body and goods, but not the mind ~> Rulers of a state are not God's stewards, but people stewards ~> Toleration - Has direct debates with John Winthrop and John Cotton on many of these beliefs
- On the boat to Boston, she had already caused trouble in two ways 1. Held religious meetings of her own on the boat 2. Placed a bet on when they would arrive in Boston and she won (witchcraft???) - Began to have religious meetings in her house after church events ~> 1st only women attended ~> Men began to attend later ~> Once both men and women began to attend, it was seen as a promiscuous activity - Described as "bold" and "witty" by John Winthrop (not a compliment at that time) - Arrested because she was taking on a man's role - Trial ~> 3 days of examination ~> She was found guilty because she had different beliefs than the Puritans - Beliefs ~> People could interpret the Bible for themselves, they did not need a minister to interpret it ~> Everybody has a personal knowledge of salvation ~> No sanctification can show a person's future salvation ~> Did not believe in the Covenant of Free Grace - Practicing natural freedom - Banned from the Colony and moved to Rhode Island - Her husband stood by her through everything and when he died, she was no suspected of witchcraft - She was later killed by Native Americans in New York
~> Quakers did not recognize the Puritan Church ~> It was their moral responsibility to testify/protest against something they did not believe in ~> Laws against Quakers began in 1657 in Boston 1st offense - jailed, whipped, and banished 2nd offense - head put in a stock, ear nailed to a board, and then the ear was loped off 3rd offense - other ear loped off 4th offense - death immediately -Mary Dyer went into Boston with two men, William Robinson and Marmaduke Stevenson, to protest laws against Quakers - She was put on trial, but nothing came of it - The three returned a month later and they were sentenced to be hung ~> Robinson and Stevenson both died ~> Mary Dyer had the noose around her neck, but they did not pull away the ladder because they wanted to scare her to death, and also because she was respected in the community - In June of 1660, she came back and again was sentenced to be hung....this time they went through with the hanging - Mary Dyer's death caused protest against Quaker rules and the hanging of Quakers |
