According the seventeenth century Puritan leader, John Winthrop, “wee must entertaine each other in brotherly Affection, wee must be willing to abridge our selves of our superfluities. for the supply of others necessities… make others Condicions our owne rejoice together, mourne together labour and suffer together. ” (Winthrop 5) Winthrop was referring to the ideal of a “City upon a Hill” in which he wrote while the first group of immigrants were still on the ship, waiting to travel to what would later become New England. Winthrop’s City upon a Hill is the Christian based, model society, which he wanted to create so every surrounding colony could look up to. The Puritans had a vision of the new world, and they set out to make it happen. America …show more content…
is not, and never will be an accurate symbolic representation of the “City upon a Hill” that John Winthrop created because in America, one’s individual’s wellbeing is valued more than the nation’s wellbeing, and this is proved by the corrupt acts of individuals of this nation. America will never be the model society the “City upon a Hill” for the lack of unity as a nation. In Langston Hughes’ “I, Too, Sing America”, he demonstrated how Americans do not see themselves as equal, regarding race. “I am the darker brother. / They send me to eat in the kitchen / When company comes,” wrote Hughes, meaning that since the narrator was a different race, he was not allowed to participate in the same activities as the others. In the City upon a Hill, everyone was believed to be equal, no matter the race or religion. In Winthrop’s “City upon A Hill” he stated “abridging our selves of our superfluities, for the supply of others necessities”, (Winthrop, 3) meaning that no one shall live in luxury while others starve. If America came together as a unit, it would be a much less corruption, and much more harmony. Today’s society is so consumed with drugs and alcohol that even minors and children are becoming involved. In Ron Rash’s novel “The World Made Straight”, a seventeen year old boy, Travis suffers severe consequences because of his wrongful acts pertaining to drugs and alcohol. As Travis’s faction of teenage boys were discussing buying drugs, Travis stated “I got a whole paycheck in my billfold”… “That’ll buy us some good pills”, One of Travis’s friends proceeded to say “Travis is acting like himself, again--”. (Rash, pg. 236) The problem with this is that as a seventeen year old boy, the “normal” activities should not be buying drugs. As of two-thousand-fifteen, three states in the United States of America have legalized marijuana, and if this doesn’t scream “CORRUPTION”, nothing does. These wrongful acts would have been considered a “shipwreck” to Winthrop, simply because they faile to do God’s will. America needs less “selfish” and more “selfless”. As a leader, Winthrop made sure that the Puritans focused on selfless qualities. In the 1996 excerpt “Wisdom Sits in Places” by Keith Passo, Passo’s writing took place before the American’s contact with the Europeans (pre-contact), and even then the Americans were greedy. “It happened here at Shades of Shit” (Passo, Shades, Chapter 3), wrote Passo, referring to their place of residence. This place gained its name from the selfish ones who lived here. We know this because Passo then stated “They had much corn, those people who lived here, and their relatives only had a little. They refused to share it. Their relatives begged but still they refused to share it” (Passo, “Shades”, Chapter 3). This is a primary example about people being focused on the wellness of themselves, rather than opening their eyes and seeing that the earth does not in fact, revolve around them. Selfishness will drive a nation into the ground, which is why Winthrop did not allow it. In two-thousand-fifteen, American History would forever change; the Confederate flag was permanently lowered in South Carolina.
“At issue were vexing questions about how a state that was first to secede from the Union — and then later raised the battle flag in 1962 when white Southerners were resisting calls for integration — should honor its Confederate past” said the New York Times. ("Era Ends as South Carolina Lowers Confederate Flag." New York Times, Fausset, Richard, and Alan Blinder) Obviously, African Americans took foremost offense to the flag, due to the fact that it was a representation, and served as a constant reminder what they had gone through just decades earlier. With that being said though, it also had an impotent meaning to the southerners who had fought to get it up in the first place. “It just shows that South Carolina is trying to do something to unify the races.” Said Edward Dunn, a forty-seven year old African American who took his wife and children to watch the removal of the flag. Racism has always been a major issue our country, even before the 1800 and 1900’s. Racism goes hand in hand with the absence of unity. The Puritans believed that in order to have a functioning society, they must come together with love, and kindness and make their peer’s problems their own problems. “make others Condicions our owne rejoice together, mourne together labour and suffer together,” proclaimed Winthrop (Winthrop
5). After approximately 385 years, America has not and will never become Winthrop's idea of the City upon A Hill. If you look at America as a whole and not under a microscope, it is nothing short of selfish, racist, and becomes more and more corrupt as every day passes. In order to accomplish the Puritans vision of the model society, America would need to stop war, crime, and much more of the activity that takes place in the daily lives of some, as well as love and support everyone, and follow God's will.
Hmmm…this was a very interesting letter written by John Winthrop to Sir Nathaniel Rich and is definitely very different from Sebastian Brandt’s letter describing Jamestown. Winthrop is the first governor (and very proud!) of the Massachusetts Bay Colony and clearly wrote this letter with authority and confidence. As the governor, he also had the “burden” to prove to the audience, in this case, Sir Nathaniel Rich, a wealthy Puritan sympathizer in England, that the Colony was thriving and in good condition. In contrast, Winthrop’s 1631 letter to his wife had a much different tone. In it, he wrote that the Massachusetts colony was not faring well until a ship bearing supplies finally arrived. It is clear that Boston wasn’t faring as well as it
An anti-"city on a hill" with a maypole compensating for something? A pleasurable refuge for indentured servants freed from service and respected natives? A place where a man just wanted to annoy his uptight, religious neighbors? Those are the obvious conclusions, but with like most anything in history, there's meaning and significance that we don't catch at first glance. Thomas Morton had an agenda, puritan leader John Winthrop may have had a secret, and there are so many fictions surrounding their whole story, it's hard to tell what's reality and what's not. It's time to sift through the parts, and piece together a bigger picture, asking one, main question: Why were Morton and the Puritans engaged in a seemingly never-ending conflict with each other?
While the Protestant Revolution raged in Europe, Catholics and other radicals were fleeing to the New World to find religious freedom and to escape prosecution. Because of this, the northern colonies became more family and religiously orientated as the families of the pilgrims settled there. From the Ship’s List of Emigrants Bound for New England we see that six families on board made up sixty nine of the ships passengers (B). Not only did families tend to move to New England, but whole congregations made the journey to find a place where they could set up “a city upon a hill”, and become an example to all who follow to live by as John Winthrop put it to his Puritan followers (A). Contrastingly, the Chesapeake colonies only had profit in their mind, which pushed them to become agriculturally advanced. Since Virginia, one of the Chesapeake colonies, was first settled with the intention of becoming an economic power house, it was mainly inhabited by working-class, single men. The average age of a man leaving for the Americas was only twenty two and a half years old according to the Ship’s List of Emigrants bound for Virginia (C). The harsh conditions of the colony did not appeal to those who wished to settle with a family. Added on to that was the fact that the average lifespan in the Chesapeake colonies was a full ten years or more shorter than that in other more desirable living quarters to the north.
As the regions began to expand and develop, their motivations for settlement helped to mold their societies. New England was a place where men sought refuge from religious persecution and was established as a haven for religious refugees. Despite this reason for settling, the New Englanders still attempted to spread their own beliefs of religion. As illustrated by John Winthrop in his Model of a Christian Charity, he preached to his fellow colonists that “we shall be a city upon a hill” (Doc A) exemplifying the Puritans’ aspirations of a Holy Utopia. He and countless other New Englanders practiced the belief that they must all work together. They were determined to “mourn together, labor and suffer together, always having before our eyes our commission and community in the work.” The Articles of Agreement plainly laid out the basis for the New England region. These articles made New England a cosmopolitan mix of rich and poor families, all being in possession of land and resolute in doing God’s work (Doc D). However, while the New Englanders settled to create a Holy Utopia, the people of the Chesapeake were concerned not only with their religious freedom, but also ...
The seventeenth century was marked with a wide revolution for exploration, to a new world filled with land and opportunity. In William Bradford’s Of Plymouth Plantation, we are given a window into the exclusive lives of the pilgrims and their experiences along their journey to and through Massachusetts. We are able to read the account that “epitomizes the spirit of determination and self-sacrifice that seems to us characteristic of our first ‘Pilgrims.’” Bradford’s narrative plainly, yet elegantly describes the success, failures, triumph and unity in the early beginnings of the new founded puritan community.
The colonists of the eighteenth century were caught between two cultures: the culture of their mother country (England), and a developing culture that would soon be labeled “American.” During the eighteenth century, the population of the Britain’s mainland colonies grew at unprecedented rates. However, few Americans chose to live in the cities. Despite the limited urban population, cities still profoundly influenced colonial culture. In cities, Americans were exposed to the latest English ideas. Wealthy colonists began to emulate the culture of the mother country, and women and men
A Puritan lawyer, John Winthrop, immigrated to New England because his views on religion were different from those in England. Even though Puritans are Protestants, Puritans tried to purify the English Church. In 1630 on board of the Arabella on the Atlantic Ocean on way to Massachusetts, he wrote “A Model of Christian Charity” which gave his views on what a society should be. ‘…the condition of mankind, [that] in all times some must be rich, some poor, some high and eminent in power and dignity, other mean and in subjection….[Yet] we must knit together in this work as one man.’ (Doc. A). In this he is saying that men may be different but to make a new world work, they must work together. All through his speech he mentions God. For example, he opens his sermon with ‘God Almighty in his most holy and wise providence…’. This shows that in New England, the people were very religious.
Often when looking at American history, people tend to lump all the characters and actors involved as similar. This is especially the case in regards to Early American Colonial history. Because the Puritan communities that grew rapidly after John Winthrop’s arrival in 1630 often overshadow the earlier colony at Plymouth, many are lead to assume that all settlers acted in similar ways with regard to land use, religion, and law. By analyzing the writings of William Bradford and John Winthrop, one begins to see differing pictures of colonization in New England.
Although many corporations have contributed large sums of money to campaign for a new Mississippi flag, that would replace the existing 1894 Confederate flag and improve economic and racial relations throughout the state, chances are slim that a change will occur. Many Mississippians are simply not ready for change and few African-Americans are actually pushing for a change. Many Mississippians view the original flag as part of the state’s heritage and do not want to replace it with a new one. However, I believe it is in the best interest of the state of Mississippi to change the flag, not only to ease racial tensions, but also to boost economic conditions.
Edmund S. Morgan's book, "The Puritan Dilemma", is an account of the events encountered by John Winthrop's mission of creating a city on a hill. Winthrop leads and directs the Massachusetts Bay Company, to the new world, while trying to find a solution to the Puritan dilemma, which was how they were going to live in the world while trying to live up to the ideals in the Bible. These ideals lead John Winthrop to propose the creation of a “city on a hill”. His proposition involves reforming the Church of England, in the new world, by purifying the church of all its flaws. It would create a citadel of God’s chosen people, the kind of society that God demanded of all His servants. According to Winthrop, "They should be purified of their unregenerate members, their heretical clergymen, their unwarranted ceremonies, their bishops, and archbishops, but they were nevertheless churches and must be embraced as churches". (Morgan, 27) Winthrop continues to emphasize that they have been selected by God, like Israel of old, to serve as a model society to others; they would be a “city on a hill” for everyone to see and observe.
Both authors stress a sense of community and diversity in order to survive in America. Smith could not think of anything to “be more pleasant, than planting and building a foundation for his posterity, got from the rude earth, by God’s blessing and his own industry, without prejudice to any” (Smith 114). This proves Smith believes everyone in the community should join together without showing any type of discrimination. Likewise, Winthrop declares we must have “before our eyes commission and community in the work, our community as members of the same body” (Winthrop 225). He basically wants the settlers to live and share their wealth as one joined community. Smith and Winthrop also agree that diversity needs to exist in each community. “Carpenters, masons, fishers, fowlers, gardeners, husbandmen, sawyers, smiths, spinsters, tailors, weavers, and such like” are the variety of men Smith found in America (Smith 117). All of these types of men contribute a part of their lives to their community. In the same way, Winthrop assumes God ordered “all these differences for the preservation and good of the whole” (Winthrop 21...
The Confederate flag was used symbolically during the Civil War. For Southerner’s, the flag represented a source of southern pride as well as a way of remembering the fallen Confederates. As the Civil War proceeded, the meaning of the flag began to change. Currently, the flag is being used as a symbol of racism. Due to this change in meaning, controversy over the flag has been exponentially growing.
The 1600’s was a time for new beginnings. Everything was still fairly new from the tradable goods being discovered to discovering new parts of the “New World”. People were still trying to get used to the land, the native americans, and even the difference in climate. With everything still being so new a man by the name of John Winthrop thought this would be the perfect opportunity to build the perfect city based around the puritan religion. He referred to it as the “City Upon a Hill” because he wanted it to be the town that the other neighboring towns look up to and strived to be like, there for spreading and expanding the puritan religion. His idea and plan to build his ideal society sounded great in theory but after awhile his plan failed. Though Winthrop’s plan was somewhat successful for a few years, there
Why be suppressed by a symbol deemed against African Americans when identity is purely subjective? Barkley was tired of having to constantly be reminded of a horrible time, so he took the symbol as his own and changed the meaning. He referred to the flag as representing black-power, which was the complete opposite of what society thought. This created a huge statement and made people stop and think about what an African American man was doing flaunting a confederate flag.
Love is one of the most basic, fundamental yet complex aspects of humanity. It's so often sought after yet so often it goes on felt. In the 16th & 17 century the Puritans were a group of Christians who worked to rid the Church of England of the aftertaste left by the Roman Catholic Church. John Winthrop draws on the Puritans basic emotion and desire for love in his sermon titled "A Model of Christian Charity". Winthrop delivers his sermon en route to the new colony, the physical transition taking place aids Winthrop's attempt to captivate and motivate the colonists for the spiritual transition that will need to take place in the new colony.