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The Church’S Flight Into The Wilderness: An Address On The Times, Containing Some Very Interesting And Important Observations On Scripture Prophecies (1776), Samuel Sherwood A. M., Reiner Smolinski , Editor

Electronic Texts in American Studies

Sherwood’s most popular sermon is his much cited The Church’s Flight into the Wilderness: An Address on the Times, containing Some very interesting and important Observations on Scripture Prophecies (1776)—here republished courtesy of the American Antiquarian Society. Delivering his oration in January 1776 in the presence of Gov. John Hancock, Sherwood freely mixes millenarian metaphors and political ideology to incite his listeners to action. Like many of his predecessors, Sherwood readily adapts the mythology of New England’s Puritan past to fit the new situation. The apocalyptic flight of the Woman into the howling wilderness of America a century and a …

A Charge On The Rise Of The American Empire (1776), William Henry Drayton, Reiner Smolinski , Editor

Electronic Texts in American Studies

WILLIAM HENRY DRAYTON (1742–79), chief justice of South Carolina, Revolutionary leader, and wealthy plantation owner, was born near Charlestown. His family on both sides were wealthy planters and prominent politicians, enabling young William Henry to study in London and Oxford. Upon his return he married a South Carolina heiress, turned to politics, and was elected to the Assembly. Drayton championed the cause of British interest in the colonies and opposed such popular measures as the non-importation movement while defending the rights of the individual. Upon loosing his seat in the Assembly, Drayton left for England and returned shortly thereafter to …

Liberty Further Extended: Or Free Thoughts On The Illegality Of Slave-Keeping; Wherein Those Arguments That Are Used In Its Vindication Are Plainly Confuted. Together With An Humble Address To Such As Are Concerned In The Practice., Lemuel Haynes, Paul Royster , Ed.

Electronic Texts in American Studies

This is a regularized text of a private sermon or pamphlet manuscript, authored by a 23-year-old African American who had served in the “minuteman” militia and the Continental Army, and who became an ordained minister and was pastor to white Congregational churches for more than 50 years.

Haynes’ tract is an important and revelatory addition to the early anti-slavery literature in the American colonies. Only identified and published in 1983, it is uniquely situated at the crossroads of independence, anti-­slavery, Congregationalism, and African-American identity. Brought to light by Ruth Bogin, the work is testimony to the diversity of thought and …