John Winthrop : America's forgotten founding father / Francis J. Bremer.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Bremer, Francis J.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Winthrop, John, 1588-1649.

Winthrop, John.

Governors--Massachusetts--Biography.

Governors.

Massachusetts.

Puritans--Massachusetts--Biography.

Puritans.

Massachusetts--History--Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775.

History.

Puritans--Massachusetts--History--17th century.

Great Britain--History--Tudors, 1485-1603.

Great Britain.

Great Britain--History--Early Stuarts, 1603-1649.

England--Church history--16th century.

England.

Church history.

England--Church history--17th century.

Genre:

Biographies.

Physical Description:

xviii, 478 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations, maps ; 25 cm

Place of Publication:

Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press, 2003.

Summary:

The Preeminent Figure of Early New England, John Winthrop was the first governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. More than anyone else, he shaped the culture of New England, and his effort to create a Puritan "City on a Hill" has had a lasting effect on American values. In John Winthrop: America's Forgotten Founding Father, Francis J. Bremer draws on over a decade of research in England, Ireland, and the United States to offer a superb biography of Winthrop, one rooted in a detailed understanding of his first forty years in England. Indeed, Bremer provides an extensive, path-breaking treatment of Winthrop's family background, youthful development, and English career. His dissatisfaction with the decline of the "godly kingdom of the Stour Valley" in which he had been raised led him on his errand to rebuild such a society in a New England. In America, Winthrop would use the skills he had developed in England as he struggled with challenges from Roger Williams and Anne Hutchinson, among others, and defended the colony from English interference. We also see the personal side of Winthrop -- the doubts and concerns of the spiritual pilgrim, his everyday labors and pleasures, his feelings for family and friends. Bremer also sheds much light on important historical moments in England and America, such as the Reformation and the rise of Puritanism, the rise of the middling class, the colonization movement, and colonial relations with Native Americans. Incorporating previously unexplored archival materials from both sides of the Atlantic, here is the definitive portrait of one of the giants of our history.

Contents:

Part 1 Heritage

1 Lavenham to London 11

2 Reformation 23

3 John and Adam 39

Part 2 Struggle

4 Youth 67

5 Turning Points 89

6 A Godly Magistrate 105

7 The Godly Embattled 125

8 The Decision to Migrate 147

Interlude: Christian Charity 173

Part 3 Errand

9 Passing Through Hell 187

10 The Best of Them Was But an Attorney 203

11 Relations with England 229

12 On the Fringe 241

13 War 261

14 Struggling to Hold the Center 275

15 New Trials and Disappointments 301

16 War Clouds and Concerns 323

17 Under Attack 349

18 Last Years 371.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [387]-464) and index.

ISBN:

0195149130

OCLC:

50866816