Paste your essay in here..This is a primary source analysis of Rev. Thomas Hooker’s Letter (in response to Governor Winthrop)
(Describe the nature of the artifact)
The nature of this artifact is first an introduction and context of the article. It tells us where this artifact can be found and assumed reasoning by the editor as to the motivations of this letter. The introduction highlights the fact that Hooker and Winthrop did not always see eye to eye shown in the quote: “Hooker presents these, as well as other "apparent causes of offence," given by "those of Connecticut,'' under a very different aspect from that in which they were regarded by his correspondent. (page #)”
The introduction of this article also details some of the interaction of the English settlers and American Indians. The text states: The negotiation was interrupted, in consequence of the claim referred by Massachusetts, to the jurisdiction of Agawam (Springfield.) –which had been hitherto conceded to belong to Connecticut. The Agawam Colonial law promulgated by the General Court of Massachusetts protected them, their land rights and their crops. The English defended them against further attacks. (cite this)
Following this, there is an abstract of Governor Winthrop’s letter. Discussing the American Indian tribe: Narragansetts, who are an Algonquian American Indian tribe from Rhode Island and their involvement, or lack thereof in the agreement made with the Indians. Winthrop discussed the alteration of the confederation articles and mentions Mr. Puncheon, the founder of Springfield, Massachusetts and his relationship with the Agawam tribe. Winthrop’s goal was to resolve these points of contention and states that he was “willing to listen to advice, and my aim is the common good."
It is unknown exactly when Hooker’s letter was written, and some pages are missing from the original so although I would consider this to be a reliable source, it is important to note the lost pages, and the missing name and date. “Before the arrangement of the Massachusetts archives, this letter had somehow found its way to the files of 1679…The index, however, notes it as "probably written long be- fore." Its position in the volume (Colonial, I. 19G-203,) and the absence of the date and writer's name, account for its having hitherto escaped notice and identification.”
Question: What is the relationship between Winthrop and Hooker considering that Hooker left Massachusetts because of the Puritans' lack of religious tolerance in 1636
(cite this).
Satan is to blame for things going wrong and he is worried. (when good things happen, Thank God, when bad things happen blame Satan.
ANALYZE THIS: “If inquiry be, what be the people at Connecticut? The reply is, Alas, poor rash-headed creatures, they rushed themselves into a war with the heathen and, had not we rescued them, at so many hundred charges, they had been utterly undone. In all which, you know there is not a true sentence: for we did not rush into the war; and the Lord himself did rescue, before friends.”
Who did not settlers to go to Connecticut (Why not?)
“Let it therefore be provided that the innkeepers entertain their guests with invectives against Connecticut,”
“by all the plots that can be forged to keep passengers from coming, or to hinder any from sending a vessel to Connecticut, as proclaimed an utter impossibility.”
“Simmering tensions with the New England Colonies led to the Pequot War of 1634–1638, which dramatically reduced the population and influence of the Pequots; many members were killed, enslaved, or dispersed. “
ANALYSE THIS: “But notwithstanding all this, the matter is not sure, and there is some fear that some men will come toward Connecticut, when ships come over ; either some have related the nature of the place, or some friends invited them ; and therefore care must be taken, and is by this generation, as soon as any ship arrives, that persons haste presently to board them, and when no occasion is offered, or question propounded for Connecticut, then their pity to their countrymen is such that they cannot but speak the truth : Alas, do you think to go to Connecticut? Why, do you long to be undone? If- you do not, bless yourself from thence; their upland will bear no corn, their meadows nothing but weeds, and the people are almost all starved.”
ANALYSE THIS TOO: “and the approved experience of the best ordered States give in evidence this way. Salomon's one wise man, and the one wise woman in Abel that delivered the city, shows the excellency of wisdom and of counsel where it is, but doth not conclude that one or few should be counsellors, since "in the multitude of counsellors there is safety."
(Research question, related this to the history of democracy)
How did Hooker
What role did the American Indians have to play in the establishment of government and democracy in Connecticut?
(Series of questions that can be answered or further explored)
(Main argument about the information that this primary source provides)
“Winthrop envisioned for his "City on a Hill" a tightly knit, unified community centered around Boston. But almost immediately upon arrival, the colonists began to disperse along the hills and rivers of New England.”
“Hooker and Winthrop were good friends, which is why Winthrop was so bitterly disappointed when Hooker petitioned the General Court to allow his congregation to move to Connecticut. Winthrop argued that Hooker was breaking the covenant by leaving the colony. Moreover, said Winthrop, it was unwise for Christians to so divide themselves, leaving themselves open to attack from the Indians and perhaps even the British Navy”
Hooker was more radical in his Protestant beliefs than Winthrop. Though he was not himself an avowed Separatist, he had many Separatist followers. His hope was to persuade the Church of England to organize itself along congregational instead of episcopal lines, and also to explain to English Church officials what he was doing in New England, which in essence was to demonstrate how he believed a truly Christian society ought to operate.
By May 1637, the inhabitants of Connecticut were holding their own General Court. Hooker, unlike Bradford and Winthrop, did not keep a journal. So, the facts of his Hartford ministry are fragmentary, derived from letters and notes taken by those who heard him. His most famous sermon, delivered before the Connecticut General Court on May 31, 1638, inspired the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut, which was the first written constitution in America, and very much resembles our own Federal Constitution. But the essence of Hooker's Election Day sermon was as follows:
1. The choice of public magistrates belongs unto the people by God's own allowance.
2. The election must be conducted by the people, but votes should not be cast "in accord with their humors, but according to the will and law of God."
3. Those who "have the power to appoint officers and magistrates also have the power to set bounds and limitations on their power" so that "the foundation of authority is laid in the free consent of the people," because "by a free choice the hearts of the people will be more inclined to the love of the persons chosen, and more ready to yield obedience."
The Fundamental Orders of Connecticut was the most advanced government charter the world had ever seen in terms of guaranteeing individual rights. But while certainly the effect of the charter was to ensure the establishment of free and democratic government, its primary purpose in the minds of the people of Connecticut was to establish a commonwealth according to God's laws and to create an environment conducive to spreading the Gospel.
The Fundamental Orders of Connecticut represented the first known time when a working government was framed completely independently, without a charter or some other concession from a previously existing regime, but by the people themselves. It provided for regular elections, while setting strict limits on the power of those elected. In Massachusetts, the franchise was limited to proven church members, "visible saints." In Connecticut, however, voters merely had to be inhabitants of "honest conversation," according to Perry Miller, though they could not be Quakers, Jews, or Atheists. Elected officials had to be property owners, believers in the Trinity, and of good behavior. And the governor had to be a member in good standing of an approved congregation. Today, these requirements would seem severe, but in the 17th century such an easygoing regime was unprecedented.
“Hooker criticized other New England congregations for being too quick to censure and excommunicate. His impulse was always to lower standards for church membership, believing it was far better to let in a few "hypocrites" than mistakenly to exclude true Christians. …During his entire ministry only one person was excommunicated.”
The Puritan respect for the importance of the individual soul – which included the non-Christian soul – was essential for the development of American constitutional democracy. Jesus taught that with God not one sparrow is forgotten, which is a major difference between Christianity and the pantheistic religions of the East, such as Hinduism, in which nature is god. In pantheistic religions, all of nature is part of one unified living organism, in contrast to the Christian view in which every individual is sacred and distinct, and is, therefore, to be treated with utmost reverence. This was especially true of Puritanism, the focus of which was the conversion experience, and the personal relationship to Christ. For the Puritan, the soul was the stage on which the spiritual drama occurred, and where, in the end, he was saved or damned depending on the decision he made to accept or reject Christ's offer of salvation. The decision for Christ marked a crucial turning point and was the beginning of a transformation of the individual. Some, indeed Christ Himself, called this transforming experience being "born again." It was the first step on a radically new journey. Thus, we can see why Thomas Hooker thought "liberty of conscience" so critical to the biblical commonwealth. Salvation was a matter between the individual and God, not the individual and the state. One did not move one inch closer to Heaven when forced to pray.
The existence of Hooker's colony, its ability to attract settlers, and its constitutional protection of individual liberties put pressure on Massachusetts Bay to adopt a more formal constitution of its own. Winthrop, of course, wanted regular elections. But once elected, he thought it was up to the magistrates to make decisions according to their own interpretation of the Bible. Hooker, however, took issue with Winthrop, thinking it gave the Bay government too much discretion. Hooker recognized that many civil matters were not explicitly covered in Scripture, which meant that laws had to be carefully crafted after much deliberation and by following Scriptural principles.
The voters of Massachusetts agreed with Hooker, that the colony needed to codify a formal body of law, provide for due process, and delineate specific penalties for particular offenses. As John Cotton put it, "If you tether a beast at night, he knows the length of the tether by morning." At first Winthrop resisted the movement to further restrict the government on the grounds that magistrates ought to have flexibility to deal with situations as they came up. But in the end he gave in, acknowledging in a journal entry in 1639 that "the people . .. desired a body of laws, and thought their condition very unsafe while so much power rested in the discretion of magistrates."
Winthrop and Hooker consistently pointed out that Jesus is perfectly content with the power He already wields. He did not ride into Jerusalem with an army, He came on a donkey. His authority rests in His Spirit convicting men's hearts, not in His wish to see people burned at the stake for disputing an ecclesiastical pronouncement. Though it is true that much New England law came directly from the Old and New Testaments,1 the tendency of the Puritans was to erect a wall of separation between the responsibilities of church and state, to paraphrase Jefferson. They saw the roles of magistrates and clergy as distinct, which is why ministers in Puritan New England were prohibited from holding a civil office.
The Puritans knew that conditions of political and economic well-being depended on an educated population. The American belief that every citizen must have a certain amount of education, and a certain degree of literacy and mathematical competency, is a Puritan legacy. In the Puritan mind literacy was important not only to ensure a reasonably informed electorate, essential for the survival of democratic government; but it also played an important role in the individual's walk with the Lord. The Puritans stressed the individuals personal relationship with Jesus. To read the Bible or follow the logic of a sermon requires a certain familiarity with basic concepts. That a religious movement, which shunned philosophy, was strictly fundamentalist, and believed completely in the inerrancy of Scripture, produced the most educated nation of people the world had ever seen is one of the remarkable paradoxes, and lessons, of history.