Shiny City on a Hill by Jabari Jones

John Winthrop (1588-1649) helped lead one of the first major Puritan settlements in America.  John Winthrop was born in England where through religion he developed a foundation for Puritan ideals; consequently, leading him to join the Puritanical movement.  However, the King of England (Charles I) hated the Puritans’ ideals; therefore, he created anti-puritanical laws.  Due to Winthrop’s Puritan belief, Charles I and Winthrop were always at eyes and eventually Charles I removed Winthrop from his court position.  The Puritans and Winthrop complained to Charles I as they felt oppressed, so with Charles I attempt to get rid of the Puritans, Charles I granted the Puritans the right to voyage to the new world to colonize.  In 1630, John Winthrop and 700 Puritans crossed the Atlantic Ocean aboard the Arbella with John Winthrop as their governor.  Eventually, John Winthrop became the governor of Massachusetts Bay and over 20,000 settlers.  During the voyage to America, Winthrop wrote a sermon ‘A Modell of Christian Charity’ to arrange his ideas about how the Puritan settlers should treat one another so that the colony can thrive.  In John Winthrop’s sermon, he tells how he believes the Lord creates two types of people: the rich and the poor, or the ones who have power, and those who do not.  Winthrop explains that the Lord made these two types of people because God wants to show wisdom in creating these different types of people and for them to respect each other.  Ultimately, God wants to have these different types of people come together as one religious community that uses each other’s different strengths to serve God.  John Winthrop pushes the idea that the Lord wants the Puritans to follow the 'one for all and all for one' motto.  Winthrop explains in his sermon that the settlers have an agreement with God and he will forsake their colony if they fail to show kindness and love each other.  This contract helps the Puritans function as a closely-knit community and realizes that if one does not have something, then another who has it should share it with them.  Through the idea that John Winthrop presents in his sermon, he concludes that their colony can be “The shiny city on the hill,” and serve as the ideal functioning community to surrounding communities.  John Winthrop strengthens the ideas he presents with stories from the Bible and comparing the Puritans to the Israelites since both had to rely on God when entering a new land.  Winthrop also draws reference from Jesus’s Sermon 'On the Mountain' in the book of Matthew to state how being the city on the hill will show others how to serve and love God the right way.  “For we must consider that we shall be as a city upon a hill” (John Winthrop 177).  In essence, Winthrop sermon encourages all people apart of the community to engage in a cooperative spirit with one another and promotes sharing.  Winthrop believes that this is the model that others following their footsteps will idolize and will show Charles I how a truly God-fearing community should be ruled. 

Roger That (Roger Williams) by Demarcus Fields (Blog Post 2, ungraded)

Roger Williams is the modern day devil’s advocate. He has positive intention to make the church better and wants freedom. He is known as a Reformed Baptist and Puritan. He was born in 1603 without a clear date on what month because his birth month records were destroyed in the Great Fire of London in 1666. His parents were James Williams and Alice Pemberton. His wife was Mary Barnard and had six children by the names of Mary, Freeborn, Providence, Mercy, Dainel, and Joseph. The importance of doing meaningful work is showcased early within the names of his children. Most people implement the necessary tools or parts of themselves for legacy purposes in their children. Their names are prophetic, revolutionary, and prominent for his vision. Their names are the adjectives of who he is and his life.

 Williams went to Pembroke College in Cambridge, Massachusetts where he learned to speak 5 different languages. Learning to speak Latin, Hebrew, Greek, Dutch, and French all contributed to his process of spiritual conversion at an early age. He was apart of the Anglican Church, but he traveled to Massachusetts and soon became a Puritan at Cambridge. The migration to the New World allowed him to understand the corruption and false doctrine that spread in the Church of England. There he served as Chaplin under Sir William Masham and his church reformation began to develop. Before coming to America, he learned at the Anglican Church that he believed people should separate from their church for the true and pure worship of God. In his perspective, gifts from God were freedom of conscience, liberty, and soul.

From that point, he was lead to teach at Salem. He became Pastor, but felt Salem didn’t align with his views of being completely separate. The court convicted him because he was trying to make Salem separate. The Puritan leaders tried to expel him because they felt he was giving dangerous ideas to others. When they tried to capture him he escaped and founded the new land of what is currently known as Rhode Island. Roger Williams went from Puritan to Reformed Baptist. He is a huge supporter of the Free Will Baptist Movement and wasn’t about compromise.

“Anyone who was not born again,” Williams said, “Was outside the will of God.”

Williams believed in true holiness and wholeness. Albeit, he understood people shouldn’t be forced to worship. Churches shouldn’t be built upon traditional and religious dogmas that forces people to live in a bind.  It has to be something inside of your heart so you can feel the full of effects spiritually. Williams had a serious plea of religious liberty. Preventing error in religion was impossible which allowed Roger Williams to stand out most. He wanted everything to be built on love and freedom. These are the experiences in different denominations across the world. Everybody is focused on the traditions and religious practices so much until they forget the most important reason for church. The importance is to help, love, unite, and give glory to God.

Rogers was very friendly and socially active too. His activeness was for the glory of God too. Most clergymen in that time were mostly for government, but he wasn’t. He felt like government itself made church a god. While in Rhode Island, he didn’t want this to be a problem. Roger Williams made the decision to have individual worship with God. He felt God was better alone than inside an institution. In today’s time, we see this problem within communities and church. Lots of people have hidden agendas on why they want to be the leader of churches and communities. Most times, it is for money and power. This also goes with the protests going on in the world. Roger Williams grew over time because his values evolved over time. This piece of writing about Roger Williams is important because he shows us what’s important and how we should look at life in a new perspective as time passes. Government, black lives, gender, and other things should be viewed towards the progression of freedom. He defended Native Americans and talked about the evils of the Anglican Church because he knew it was a possibility the same ignorance could happen in 2016. He was a prophet. 

Phillis Wheatley by Brandon Calhoun (Blog Post 2, ungraded)

Phillis Wheatley was the first African American woman to publish a book in the United States. Wheatley, is considered as one of America’s most profound writers and has contributed to both American and African American literature. Wheatley not only did this as a writer, but as an enslaved African American woman, whose writings influenced many African Americans by enriching their knowledge of and exposure to their Negro heritage and Negro literature. Wheatley used her poetry as a special way to express her personal beliefs and ideas. The poems and writings in, Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral (1773) showed how her upbringing had an effect on her writings and views on slavery.

When Phillis Wheatley was brought to Boston, Massachusetts from West Africa in 1761, she was only 8 years of ages and was sold to a wealthy man named John Wheatley. Phillis Wheatley was taught to read and write in a time where a slave learning how to read and write was unheard of, but they treated her differently. The Wheatley family taught her Greek and Latin and she was real close with the Bible. They supported her in getting an education and this made her get into writing. In Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral (139), she demonstrates some observations of her views on slavery.

Certain pieces in this collection, Phillis Whitely often gave praised to individuals that had some effect on her. For instance, “On the Death of the Rev. MR George Whitefield” (144), it is a poem she wrote in honor of Reverend Whitefield, an influential preacher in New England and the founder of Methodism. This gave readers an insight on her religious faith and upbringing from her slave owners. Also in her writing, “To the University of Cambridge, in New England” (143), readers can see the different perspective she had on blacks as slaves. Wheatley describes Africa as a dark place, and how she is thankful for going to America because she was able to learn about Jesus. Phillis Wheatley thanked God for leaving Africa by saying, “Father of mercy, 'twas thy gracious hand, Brought me in safety from those dark abodes.” This can also show that she believes that God is responsible for saving her from Africa. All of these perception on the middle passage was the cause of her growing up on the “good side” of the slave owners.

In Phillis Wheatley’s, “On being from Africa to America,” she describes her attitude towards her condition of enslavement, both coming from Africa to America, and the culture that considers her color so negatively. In her poem, “On being from Africa to America” (143), this is a true example of how she viewed slavery. The passage overlooks the brutality of the slave trade, the horrors of the middle passage and the oppressive life of slavery.  Wheatley wrote, “'TWAS mercy brought me from my Pagan land, Taught my benighted soul to understand That there's a God, that there's a Saviour too.”  (143).

Phillis Wheatley begins by crediting her enslavement as a positive, because it brought her to the faith of Christianity. Expressing gratitude for her enslavement may be unexpected to most readers. Wheatley reminds her reader that Negroes may be saved in this poem as well. Phillis Wheatley even credits mercy with her voyage, but also with her education in Christianity. Both were actually at the hands of human beings. In turning both to God, she reminds her reader that there is a force more powerful than they are, more like a force that has acted directly in her life.

This could be the reason why in Henry Louis Gates Jr.’s lecture, “Mister Jefferson and the Trails of Phillis Wheatley,” where he talks about Thomas Jefferson views on her works. Jefferson didn’t agree with the message Wheatley was presenting in her writings. Gates stated, “Phillis is, for Jefferson, an example of a product of religion, of mindless repetition and imitation, without being the product of intellect, of reflection. True art requires a sublime combination of feeling and reflection.” Gates also quoted Jefferson review by writing, “Misery is often the parent of the most affecting touches in poetry. Among the blacks is misery enough, God knows, but not poetry. Love is the peculiar oestrum of the poet. Their love is ardent, but it kindles the senses only, not the imagination. Religion, indeed, has produced a Phillis Wheatley; but it could not produce a poet. The compositions published under her name are below the dignity of criticism.”

Phillis Wheatley’s works can deal with today’s world because there are people like her. People our product of their environment and that is the reason on why us as people act or react the way we do. Wheatley was treated fairly, so she was a believer that everything that has happened was a blessing. When in all actuality others that didn’t have that privilege, were beaten, killed, denied to learn how to read or write.

Phillis Wheatley was an amazing writer and poet with deep words. Wheatley showed how your environment and surroundings can have an effect on your works. Wheatley was passionate about expressing her ideas and religious beliefs. The way she was taught and raised showed what she wrote about in her pieces in, Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral (1773). Wheatley was lucky enough that the slave masters allowed her to read and write but it also was a problem because she wasn’t aware at first of some of the hardships that other slaves faced.

Works Cited

"Henry Louis Gates, Jr. Lecture." National Endowment for the Humanities. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Oct. 2016.

"Phillis Wheatley." The Norton Anthology of African American Literature. Ed. Henry Louis Gates and Valerie A. Smith. 3rd ed. Vol. 1. New York: W.W. Norton, 2014. 137-50. Print.

Native Americans: Contact and Conflict by Jonathan Marshall (Blog Post 2, ungraded)

Historical / Political/ Social Context:

Most of the literature written here was before the American Revolution. During this time, there were a plethora of colonists coming from England to the New World for hope of a better life. They begin this life with friendly contact at first and then turned violent once greed became prevalent. Also, religion played a tremendous role in the establishment of the New World. After colonists became well established trade and commerce began to bloom. Well known scholars and philosophers began to spread they’re ideals into the country. What was also brought in the country during this time was slavery. It was essentially a mutual agreement between Native Americans and Europeans, however Europeans broke those boundaries by wanting more land and stealing Natives crops. Essentially, constant dispute and disagreement led to the French and Indian War. Before the war officially started, there were several works of literature written by Native Americans to discuss the state of European and Native Americans relationships.

Quotes:

·      In the introduction of the subject, one quote that stood out and essential summarized the passages were “The pattern of friendly contact between Europeans and Indians followed by bloody conflict would recur again and again until almost the turn of the twentieth century.”

·      In the latter of the passage, the concept is reiterated when talking about the differences of the oratorical documents stating that “familiar pattern of friendly contact followed by bitter conflict” was common.

·      One of the first speeches the Norton highlights come from the words of an Ottawa Indian, Pontiac. After an encounter with the Great Spirit, these words were spoken to him “And as for these English, these dogs dressed in red, who have come to rob you of your hunting grounds, and drive away the game, you must lift the hatchet against them. Wipe them from the face of the earth, and then you will win my favor back again, and once more be happy and prosperous. “

My Analysis:

All of these texts are important because the provide incite on the foundation of this country and the development moving forward from Native Americans to Whites. Each author used a serious and convincing tone to ensure that they were authentic and genuine in their approaches. The same theme of friendly contact and then brutal conflict is consistent throughout each document. It is clear to me that while although native Americans were hospitable as can be, their deeds would be ultimately unappreciative to the point were war was needed. It is unfortunate to know that the English did not understand the concept of one good deed deserving another. In each document, I believe the text is not only to serve as a call for the author, but a call to all of the author’s people, Native Americans. Essentially, each author understood the betrayal and deceit that took place and wanted to seek revenge accordingly. For this manner, I feel that is something to be celebratory of. These tribal heroes took matters in their own hands and fought to get back what was there’s. Unfortunately, they were not wholly successful but their valiant actions and words will forever be legacized.

Contemporary Ties:

·      Much of what is happening during this point of time can be seen in closeness to what is happening now in America. On the day to day, many of unarmed peaceful citizens are being executed. More particularly, African Americans. Just as rightful as Native Americans, blacks are inhabitants of this land; yet do not share the same resources as their counterparts. In efforts to make that right, (segregation, civil rights, and even black lives matters), many are being executed from excersing that right. Much like Native Americans in trying to configure a system in which the Europeans can understand that they are entitle to their property, the African American group has differently tried in peace to show the same concept.

·      Also, in Africa many of Africans were taken from their native lands and sold into slavery. The similarity with these documents from Native Americans is that they too were friendly and then exposed of their vulnerability and taken into captivity.

Benjamin Franklin by William Mack (Blog Post 2, ungraded)

During the late 1770s and early 1780s, many European aristocrats desired to know what opportunities of wealth awaited them in America. As a diplomat to Paris, Benjamin Franklin encountered these types of questions often. In 1782, less than a decade after the Declaration of Independence was drafted, Benjamin Franklin responded with an essay that indicated who should remain in Europe and who should venture to America. This topic of immigration remains a relevant one for Americans today, as many hold conscious and subconscious beliefs about who should and should not be allowed into the United States of America. The people Benjamin Franklin encouraged to come to America may not share the same characteristics as the people contemporary citizens of the United States would advocate for, however, the reason behind the type of immigrant that is desired, by both Franklin and 21st century American citizens, seems to be the same. That reason is economics. Although contemporary citizens of the United States believe wealthy and educated immigrants of the upper class who migrate to America will improve the economy, Benjamin Franklin believed that a surplus of aristocratic immigration would not be best for the economy of the newly formed country.

Franklin began his essay by addressing people who had false ideas of what America was truly like. One misconception can be found in the second paragraph of his essay, in which Franklin states, “[He imagines] that there are also abundance of profitable offices to be disposed of, which the natives are not qualified to fill; and that, having few persons of family among them, strangers of birth must be greatly respected, and of course easily obtain the best of those offices, which will make all their fortunes.” Franklin makes it clear that he believes that those who think they may get by because of their aristocratic birth and those who think they will amass a fortune by obtaining a position as an elected official are delusional. Two paragraphs later, Franklin goes on to say, “[Americans] do not inquire what is he? But what can he do? If he has any useful art, he is welcome.” Franklin continues his idea that a person’s status is irrelevant in America and it’s citizens are more concerned with the skillset of a person. “Strangers are welcome because there are room enough for them all,” Franklin says, but there are only certain types of people whom Franklin believes can excel as an immigrant in America.

 “Hearty young laboring men,” Franklin declares in the seventh paragraph of this essay, “who understand the husbandry of corn and cattle, may easily establish themselves here.” These type of men stand in contrast to the aristocrats Franklin spoke of earlier in his essay and represent determination and a strong will. Benjamin Franklin, not only being a founding father of America, but a founding father of the “pull yourself up from your bootstraps” narrative, adds to the formation of that narrative here. He continues to build this narrative with the next group of people he believes would prosper in America, which is found in the first sentence of the ninth paragraph. “Also, persons of moderate fortunes and capitals, who, having a number of children to provide for, as desirous of bringing them up to industry, and to secure estates for their posterity have opportunities of doing it in America, which Europe does not afford.” Franklin is sure to place the word “moderate” before speaking of the income of this next group of people as he places their offspring at the center of his argument. Franklin again paints a picture that those who are willing to work hard and not take any handouts will prosper in America, this time placing the proverbial light on the children who have the potential to be laborious. Building a working class seemed to be a point of interests for Benjamin Franklin. In the eleventh paragraph, Franklin insinuates that the working class is the key to establishing a strong economy by saying, “Great establishments of manufacture require great numbers of poor to do the work for small wages; these poor are to be found in Europe, but will not be found in America, till the lands are all taken up and cultivated, and the excess of people, who cannot get land, want employment.”

A key to a nation’s success is a good economy. Benjamin Franklin, as a founding father of a new nation, desired for America to be a prosperous nation with a strong economy that could compete with the European superpowers of that era. Americans of the 21st century also want a prosperous economy, but in these times of economic hardship, Americans are not overwhelmingly tolerant towards immigrants. Donald Trump, a presidential nominee, is using rhetoric encouraging the fear of immigrants as he promises to build a wall to secure the border between Mexico and Texas. A lack of tolerance for certain types of immigrants is not a new phenomenon for the United States of America. Citizen’s tolerance and welcoming of immigrants has historically been based on the success of the economy. 

Works Cited

America In Class. "INDEPENDENCE: 1783-1791." Independence: 1783-1791. National Humanities Center, 2013. Web. 9 Oct. 2016.