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Study Questions

David D. Hall
A Reforming People: Puritanism and the Transformation of Public Life in New England

A few definitions:
noncomformist: ministers who refused to conform to policies of the Church of England that they found too Catholic
Levellers: a political movement during the English Civil War that emphasised popular sovereignty, extended suffrage, equality before the law, and religious tolerance
professor: a true Christian, i.e., someone who professes faith in Jesus Christ
Sion (or Syon): Zion, a mount near Jerusalem used to symbolize various things, from the church to heaven
primitive church: the Christian Church in its earliest and (supposedly) purest era
magisterial: pertaining to the role or powers of magistrates
ministerial: administrative
salus populi suprema lex: The good of the people is the supreme law (Latin)
freeman: someone with full rights to vote in elections and hold office. Originally, freemen were stockholders in the Massachusetts Bay Company, but when the leaders turned the company charter into a colonial government, they expanded freemen to all male church members (i.e., those who related an experience of grace, i.e., conversion, and were admitted to church membership)
nineteenth-century liberals: advocates of liberty and equality
visible saints: those who appear to have been saved by an experience of grace (but because people can be hypocrites pretending to be saved, only God truly knows who the saints are, a.k.a. invisible saints or invisible church)
casuistry: the theology of cases of conscience or doubtful issues of duty and conduct

A basic timeline:
1620: Separatists (a.k.a. Pilgrims) arrive in the Mayflower, sign the Mayflower Compact, and found Plymouth colony
1625: Charles I becomes king.
1629: Charles dismisses Parliament and rules the country without it for 11 years.
1630: A Puritan fleet led by John Winthrop aboard the Arbella sails to America. Winthrop gives his famous sermon "A Modell of Christian Charity" on board. They found Massachusetts Bay Colony. Colonists prosper selling supplies to other Puritans as they arrive from England. Later, Puritans also found short-lived colonies in New Haven, in Saybrook, on Long Island, and on Providence Island in the Caribbean.
1636: Unhappy with Winthrop's rule, Rev. Thomas Hooker and his congregation leave Newtown (located up the Charles River from Boston) to found Hartford and the colony of Connecticut. Harvard College is founded at Newtown. Rev. Thomas Shepard replaces Hooker, and Newtown is renamed Cambridge.
1636: Colonists wage the Pequot War.
1636: Roger Williams is banished for speading Separatism. He founds Rhode Island.
1636-1638: Anne Hutchinson foments the Antinomian Controversy, which racks Boston until she and her followers are exiled.
1639: Scotland rebels against Charles's religious policies; he calls Parliament to raise funds for an army against the Scots. An angry Parliament demands significant reforms in exchange.
1642: Charles balks at further reforms. The English Civil War erupts between Charles and Parliament, which officially stays in session until 1660 (the "Long Parliament"); Oliver Cromwell is Parliament's most successful general. Puritans stop emigrating to New England, which causes an economic crisis there.
1649: The Rump Parliament (a remnant of the original body) executes Charles and the Civil War ends. Cromwell becomes Lord Protector of the Commonwealth.
1640s-50s: Various radical groups appear in England, among them Baptists, Quakers, Levellers, Fifth Monarchy Men, Diggers, and Familists.
1653: Cromwell calls the hand-picked Barebone's Parliament (named for the Puritan Praise-God Barebone--yes, that's his real name).
1658: Cromwell dies.
1660: The Restoration: when Puritans fail to agree on a system of government or church, Parliament restores Charles II (Charles I's son) to the throne.

1. Preface. What is the argument that runs through this book? What is the book about? What is it not about?
2. Introduction. What concerns drove the process of creating a society, a church, and a government in New England?
   I. If Puritans were neither authoritarians nor democrats, what four dimentions of political culture and practice shaped colonists' political possibilities?
   II. What were colonists reacting against in England? What gave them so much freedom to experiment in New England?
3. Ch. 1. I. Why was John Winthrop's theory of magistrate power so controversial? What form of government powers did he seek and what did he fear? What did his opponents want, and why did they fear Winthrop's idea of magistracy? What form of government did Massachusetts create out of these battles?
   II. How did governments of other Puritan colonies differ from that of Massachusetts Bay?
   III. What principles and practices informed Puritan governance by 1645?
4. Ch. 2. I. Why were the issues of land and taxation so immediately important for towns? How were decisions made and who made them? What land issues did towns deal with? (Note: Meadows were so important because they provided hay for wintering cattle.) How did they calculate how much land each family got? How did towns adopt equality, equitability, and impartiality in taxation?
   II. Describe townsmen's participation in local government and churches. How did information, rumors, and texts circulate outside of approved channels? How were courts, petitioning, and the franchise avenues of participation?
   
5. Ch. 3. How did apocalyptic prophecy affect the thinking of Puritans about godly rule?
   I. Why did New England Puritans favor the congregational model (the Congregational Way)? How were the saints empowered? What was the role of liberty of conscience? Describe the relation of church and state and the state's role.
   II. What problems and challenges did godly rule by the saints face?
   
6. Ch. 4. How did Puritan idealization of the primitive church and other sources inspire their goal of equity?
   I. How did covenants, discipline, and confession operate to sustain peace, love, and mutuality (in theory)? How else did congregations and individuals promote these principles? Why did the state assume certain roles and supplement or replace individual action?
   II. What did Puritans mean by "equity"?
   III. What made the Puritan legal system unique in the world at that time? What four strands of reform ran through the Puritan legal system and principles? What other values guided Puritan reworking of law?
   IV. How did Puritans regard authority? How was authority limited in practice?
7. Ch. 5. I. Describe the process of forming a church in Cambridge. Why was Shepard's attitude so much more lenient than it was in England? How did the church assist the poor and carry out wills? Who was baptized and what was baptism's significance? Describe the ways Shepard carried out his office as minister.
   II. Who made up the population of Cambridge? How successful did they set up town government and distribute land? How successful were they at maintaining community peace and mutuality? On what principles did townsmen distribute the land at Shawsheen?
   III. How did the value of deferring self-interest in order to enhance the general good inform town actions?
8. Conclusion. What were the achievements and the limitations of Puritan government and society? What does the author find admirable about them?
   

Last updated: Sunday, September 18, 2016 05:02 PM