Dr. Andrew Wood Office: HGH 210; phone: (408) 924-5378 Email: wooda@email.sjsu.edu Web: http://www.sjsu.edu/faculty/wooda

"Its collective drive was fueled by ideals of peace and order, homogeneity and harmony, conformity and orthodoxy. The New England town government was the seedbed of the American form of democracy, but it was also the locus of the local tyranny of the majority - or rather the ruling majority."
- Richard Lingeman, describing the Puritan communities of New England

We explore enlightenment and jeremiadic rhetorics with particular attention to the historical analysis provided by Sacvan Bercovitch and John M. Murphy. In our studies, we imagine the New World as an intersection between religion, science, polity, and commerce. Particularly, we examine "America" as a site through which a supposedly fallen people may be redeemed - as long as they reinsert the "renaissance self" within a tightly knit community.

Reading: Winthrop

Notes: The American Jeremiad

Notes: Summary of Winthrop's "Model of Christian Charity"

Viewing: Frontline - Apocalypse

Off-campus webpages

Anne Bradstreet, A Dialogue Between Old England and New (1630) - maintained by Hanover Historical Texts Project

Life of Anne Bradstreet - maintained by American Literature on the Web

Library of Congress, America as a Religious Refuge: The Seventeenth Century

Jonathan Edwards' Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God - maintained by John Mark Ministries

Christine Heyrman, Puritanism and Predestination

Phillip R. Johnson, The Hall of Church History: The Puritans

Maria Russo, Debunking the myths of the Puritans

Note: These pages exist outside of San Jose State University servers and their content is not endorsed by the page maintainer or any other university entity. These pages have been selected because they may provide some guidance or insight into the issues discussed in class. Because one can never step into the same electronic river twice, the pages may or may not be available when you request them. If you have any questions or suggestions, please email Dr. Andrew Wood.