...Famous Englanders Benjamin Franklin Vs John Winthrop Both, John Winthrop and Benjamin Franklin, have a great importance in the American’s History and from the study of their tenures we can figure out the similar thoughts shared by both of them. They both were from the different generations but played there parts in changing the situations. Born in 1587 in England, Winthrop became a successful lawyer in his mother country. He was also an ardent Puritan, and in 1629 he set forth to help establish the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Winthrop's history in New England was very largely that of the Massachusetts colony, of which he was twelve times chosen Governor by annual election, serving in 1629-34, 1637-40, in 1642-44, and in 1646-49, and dying in office. To the service of the colony he gave not merely unwearied devotion; but in its interests consumed strength and fortune. His own temper of mind was conservative and somewhat aristocratic, but he guided political development, often under circumstances of great difficulty, with singular fairness and conspicuous magnanimity. In 1634-5 he was a leader in putting the colony in a state of defense against possible coercion by the English government. He opposed the majority of his fellow-townsmen in the so-called "Antinomian controversy" of 1636-7, taking a strongly conservative attitude towards the questions in dispute. He was the first president of the Commissioners of the United Colonies of New England, organized in 1643...
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...structure each had their own core character. However, religion can be seen as a common theme in their formation and viewed as the root of their individuality and personal beliefs. Religion played an extremely strong role in the establishment of the English colonies as it fueled motives for their formation in America and contributed heavily to how the colonies were structured and governed. Many colonies formed in colonial America, were established as refuge from religious persecution. In New England, Massachusetts Bay colony was created as a place for Puritans to escape religious persecution, as they were unable to worship publicly and forced to pay taxes to the Church of England. They established Massachusetts Bay based on Governor John Winthrop’s essay “A Model Christian Society” which discussed how the colony should be viewed as “a city upon a hill.” The community of Massachusetts would be seen as the quintessential Christian society that stressed godliness and unity over individualism....
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...countries. The concept has origins in the writings of French scholar Alexis de Toqueville who made observations during his visit to America in the nineteenth century (Mansfield, 2011). Also, Puritan John Winthrop's 1630 sermon "A Model of Christian Charity" led to the widespread belief in American folklore that the United States of America is God's country because it would become a "city upon a hill", watched by the world (John Winthrop: "A Modell of Christian Charity", 2007). Although the term does not necessarily imply superiority, many political leaders and writers have coined its use in that sense. Naturally, others hold the position that America is not really exceptional at all. In fact, after taking a cursory glance at some of the issues that our leaders are charged to correct, we can easily peel off the loftier label and replace it with a more humbling phrase. To begin, America’s hunger issue is a strong reason to reduce our loftier standing. It is not impressive that in a country without drought or famine and with enough food and money to feed the world twice over 1-in-8 of our own people struggle to put food on its table (Berg, 2009). Also, in 2010, 4.8 percent of all U.S. households (5.6 million households) accessed emergency food from a food pantry one or more times (Hunger & Poverty Statistics). Reducing these numbers will be an exceptional task. The crime problem in the U.S. also keeps the country from meriting a prouder classification over other nations...
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...The Salem witch trials are notoriously known for the killings of innocent inhabitants of Salem. Some say the cause of their deaths could be traced back to Salem’s strict social order. The structure of 1600’s Salem was very religion-based as it was woven into everyday life. The government was a theocracy, the priests were highly respected, and anyone who went against the government was considered evil. Arthur Miller’s The Crucible unveils the realistic effect of social order on one’s personal freedom. Because religion was so vital in 1600’s Salem’s social order, the inhabitants suffered from a lack of personal freedom. The structure of the Puritan society in colonial Massachusetts served an important role in the setting of The Crucible. The...
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...Stephen Mennell HISTORY, NATIONAL CHARACTER AND AMERICAN CIVILISATION America is a land of familiar paradoxes. An agreeable civility habitually prevails in most everyday relations among people in America – yet the United States is factually a socially highly unequal society. In most parts of America, the laws and social customs strongly restrain people from doing harm to themselves and others by smoking – yet the laws and social customs only weakly restrain people from doing harm to themselves and others by the use of guns, and the murder rate is about four times as high per capita as in Western Europe. The usa is the world’s remaining super-power – yet internally the American state is in some ways strikingly weak. The usa has ‘saved the world for democracy’ on more than one occasion – but has itself become an aggressive militaristic society. And there appears to be an increasing divergence between how a large proportion of Americans view themselves and their country and how they are perceived by a large proportion of the 95 per cent of the world’s population who are not Americans. Hunting down myths It has been said that sociologists must be ‘myth-hunters’, tracking down popular beliefs that are ill founded (Elias 1978: 50-70). Whether simply exposing such beliefs to contrary evidence deployed by academics is sufficient to kill off myths and bring them home for mounting on the walls of our university departments is highly debateable. Nevertheless, we have a duty to call...
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