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The Negro Christianized. An Essay To Excite And Assist That Good Work, The Instruction Of Negro-Servants In Christianity (1706), Cotton Mather, Paul Royster , Editor

Electronic Texts in American Studies

There were Africans in New England before there were Puritans there, and by 1700 they numbered about 1,000 out of a total population of 90,000. Roughly half of them lived in Massachusetts, and were concentrated in Boston and the coastal towns. Puritans actively participated in the trafficking of enslaved persons, importing Africans from the West Indies and sometimes selling native American prisoners overseas.

Cotton Mather’s household contained enslaved Negro servants, and his congregation at the Second (or North) Church included both merchants of slavery and persons of African descent. The pamphlet reprinted here appeared in 1706 without his name, but …

The Negro Christianized. An Essay To Excite And Assist That Good Work, The Instruction Of Negro- Servants In Christianity, Cotton Mather

Zea E-Books in American Studies

There were enslaved Negroes in New England before there were Puritans there, and by 1700 they numbered about 1,000 out of a total population of 90,000. Roughly half of them lived in Massachusetts, and were concentrated in Boston and the coastal towns. Puritans actively participated in the colonial slave trade, importing them from the West Indies and sometimes selling Indian prisoners into overseas slavery.

Cotton Mather was a slave-owner, and his congregation at the Second (or North) Church included both slave merchants and Negroes. The pamphlet reprinted here appeared in 1706 without his name, but his authorship of it was …

Letters, Petition To The King, February 12, 1699, April 10, 1966, And May 7, 1700, Don Patricio Hinachuba, Don Andres, Charles Ii King Of Spain (1661-1700), Rachel Louise Sanderson

Early Visions Bucket

"The letter from Don Patricio Hinachuba to the King is presented below along with selections from two other letters. The first is displayed in its entirety because so much of its value comes from its structure. Hinachuba purposefully constructed the letter according to courtly standards. Beginning with his distinguished introduction and extreme flattery, the letter gives the impression that among the many tragedies the most important was that his people were prevented from attending mass. The final two letters have been displayed in sections for the ease of the reader and to eliminate redundancies. In his response, the King emphasized …

Massachusetts: Or The First Planters Of New-England, The End And Manner Of Their Coming Thither, And Abode There: In Several Epistles (1696), John Winthrop, Thomas Dudley, John Allin, Thomas Shepard, John Cotton, Joshua Scottow, Paul Royster, Editor Of The Online Electronic Edition

Joshua Scottow Papers

In 1696 there appeared in Boston an anonymous 16mo volume of 56 pages containing four “epistles,” written from 66 to 50 years earlier, illustrating the early history of the colony of Massachusetts Bay.

The four “epistles” compiled in Massachusetts, or The First Planters were all originally addressed to English or European audiences:

1. The Humble Request of His Majesties Loyal Subjects (1630), sent from aboard the Arbella and usually attributed to John Winthrop, defended the emigrants’ physical separation from England and reaffirmed their loyalty to the Crown and Church of England.

2. Thomas Dudley’s letter “To the Right Honourable, My …

New Yorke Considered And Improved A.D. 1695, John Miller, Victor Hugo Paltsits, Paul Royster (Depositor)

Electronic Texts in American Studies

The following work is essentially a line-for-line facsimile of Victor Hugo Paltsits’ edition of John Miller’s New Yorke Considered and Improved A.D. 1695. Miller’s work was written during his tenure as chaplain to the British soldiers stationed in New York from June 1692 until July 1695. His first draft was thrown overboard to avoid its falling into the hands of the French privateers who captured the ship in which he was returning to England. Miller re-wrote his work while imprisoned in France, finished it after his return to England in 1696, and presented it as a report to his …

A Narrative Of The Planting Of The Massachusets Colony Anno 1628. With The Lords Signal Presence The First Thirty Years. Also A Caution From New-Englands Apostle, The Great Cotton, How To Escape The Calamity, Which Might Befall Them Or Their Posterity. And Confirmed By The Evangelist Norton With Prognosticks From The Famous Dr. Owen. Concerning The Fate Of These Churches, And Animadversions Upon The Anger Of God, In Sending Of Evil Angels Among Us. Published By Old Planters, The Authors Of The Old Mens Tears., Joshua Scottow, Paul Royster (Transcribed & Edited By)

Joshua Scottow Papers

This edition of A Narrative of the Planting of the Massachusets Colony Anno 1628 is based on the first edition published in Boston in 1694. The spelling, orthography, punctuation, and capitalization of the original have been retained; only obvious typographical errors have been corrected. Scottow's Narrative is the sequel to Old Mens Tears for their Own Declensions, published three years earlier. It is an expansion of the argument that God and history are being unkind to New England because its churches have strayed from the strict practice of the unanimously-minded early founders of the Congregational Way. Scottow treats of …

Old Mens Tears For Their Own Declensions, Mixed With Fears Of Their And Posterities Further Falling Off From New-England’S Primitive Constitution., Joshua Scottow, Paul Royster , Editor

Joshua Scottow Papers

This is an online edition of Scottow’s popular tract, published in Boston in 1691, based on the first edition. Later editions were published in Boston in 1715, 1733, and 1749, and in New London in 1769. It is a searchable PDF document. The characteristics of Scottow’s original text (spelling, punctuation, capitalization, italics, etc.) have been retained. Obvious typographical errors have been corrected, and a list of emendations is included at the end. Its typographic design is based on that of the original.

The work decries the falling off of New England from the purity and purpose of its original founding, …

Old Mens Tears For Their Own Declensions, Mixed With Fears Of Their And Posterities Further Falling Off From New-England’S Primitive Constitution, Joshua Scottow

Zea E-Books in American Studies

This is an online edition of Scottow’s popular tract, published in Boston in 1691, based on the first edition. Later editions were published in Boston in 1715, 1733, and 1749, and in New London in 1769. It is a searchable PDF document. The characteristics of Scottow’s original text (spelling, punctuation, capitalization, italics, etc.) have been retained. Obvious typographical errors have been corrected, and a list of emendations is included at the end. Its typographic design is based on that of the original. The work decries the falling off of New England from the purity and purpose of its original founding, …

An Arrow Against Profane And Promiscuous Dancing Drawn Out Of The Quiver Of The Scriptures, Increase Mather

Electronic Texts in American Studies

When a dancing master arrived in Boston in 1685 and offered lessons and classes for both sexes during times normally reserved for church meetings, the Puritan ministers went to court to suppress the practice. Increase Mather (1639-1723) took the leading part, writing and publishing this tract, which compiles arguments and precedents for the prohibition of “Gynecandrical Dancing, [i.e.] Mixt or Promiscuous Dancing, viz. of Men and Women … together.” These justifications were certainly shared with the court, which found the dancing master guilty, fined him £100, and allowed him to skip town.

Mather’s tract on dancing is an overwhelming compendium …

Excerpt, Origin And Beginning Of The Game Of Ball That The Apalachee And Yustagan Indians Have Been Playing Since Pagan Times Until The Year Of 1676, Juan De Paiva, Mikaela Perron

Early Visions Bucket

"Father Juan de Paiva's manuscript, detailing the ball game played by Florida natives, is valued today because it provides a first-hand account of the culture and customs of the seventeenth-century" Indigenous peoples.

The Cry Of Sodom Enquired Into, Samuel Danforth

Zea E-Books in American Studies

This is a well-known execution sermon from seventeenth-century Massachusetts, delivered on the occasion of the sentencing to death of a young man convicted of bestiality—specifically of copulation with a mare, in which he was discovered in the open in broad daylight. Samuel Danforth, who wrote and delivered the sermon, would have known the condemned young man very well. Benjamin Goad had been born into Danforth’s congregation at Roxbury and had grown up under his pastoral care. Danforth was also familiar with the anguish of a parent over the death of a child, having suffered the deaths of eight of his …

The Cry Of Sodom Enquired Into; Upon Occasion Of The Arraignment And Condemnation Of Benjamin Goad, For His Prodigious Villany. (1674) An Online Electronic Text Edition., Samuel Danforth, Paul Royster , Editor

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries: Faculty Publications

This is a well-known execution sermon from seventeenth-century Massachusetts, delivered on the occasion of the sentencing to death of a young man convicted of bestiality—specifically of copulation with a mare, in which he was discovered in the open in broad daylight. Samuel Danforth, who wrote and delivered the sermon, would have known the condemned young man very well. Benjamin Goad had been born into Danforth’s congregation at Roxbury and had grown up under his pastoral care. Danforth was also familiar with the anguish of a parent over the death of a child, having suffered the deaths of eight of his …

Phineas Pemberton, Ralph Pemberton, June 23, 1670, Phineas Pemberton

Pemberton Correspondence

A handwritten copy, dated May 4, 1924, of a letter dated July 23, 1670 (July 13, 1670 Old Style) from Phineas Pemberton to his father, Ralph Pemberton. The letter is an account of an attempt to imprison Phineas Pemberton for his religious beliefs. At the time, Phineas was just recently released from imprisonment in Lancaster Castle to appear at assizes. Apprehended by constables while taking his master's coat to a meeting in Manchester, Phineas is taken to a justice of the peace. After having his hat forcibly removed several times, he is questioned about his activities on the Sabbath Day. …

Phineas Pemberton, Ralph Pemberton, June 23, 1670, Phineas Pemberton

Pemberton Correspondence Transcriptions

A handwritten copy, dated May 4, 1924, of a letter dated July 23, 1670 (July 13, 1670 Old Style) from Phineas Pemberton to his father, Ralph Pemberton. The letter is an account of an attempt to imprison Phineas Pemberton for his religious beliefs. At the time, Phineas was just recently released from imprisonment in Lancaster Castle to appear at assizes. Apprehended by constables while taking his master's coat to a meeting in Manchester, Phineas is taken to a justice of the peace. After having his hat forcibly removed several times, he is questioned about his activities on the Sabbath Day. …

A Brief Recognition Of New-Englands Errand Into The Wilderness, Samuel Danforth

Zea E-Books in American Studies

Samuel Danforth’s election sermon of 1670 is a classic example of the New England jeremiad. Addressed to the assembled delegates on the occasion of the election of officers for the Massachusetts General Court, it asks the very pointed question: “What is it that distinguisheth New-England from other Colonies and Plantations in America?” The answer, of course, is that the Puritan colonies (Massachusetts, Plymouth, Connecticut, and New Haven) were founded for the pursuit of religious ends by the reformed Protestant churches of England:

“You have solemnly professed before God, Angels and Men, that the Cause of your leaving your Country, Kindred …

A Sermon Preach’D At The Election Of The Governour, At Boston In New-England May 19th 1669., John Davenport, Paul Royster , Editor

Electronic Texts in American Studies

John Davenport’s A Sermon Preach’d at the Election is a notable and fascinating document on numerous counts. As a statement of Puritan political theory, it outlines the rights of the governed to self-preservation from abusive authority—a subject that would be more extensively explored in the years leading up to the Revolution. But as a document of its specific place and time—Boston in 1669—it bore a large part in the politico-theological controversies that followed the Synod of 1662 that recommended the adoption of the so-called Half-Way Covenant. Davenport’s long digression on the proper role of the state in convening “Councils” on …

A Brief Recognition Of New-Englands Errand Into The Wilderness: An Online Electronic Text Edition, Samuel Danforth, Paul Royster (Transcriber & Editor)

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries: Faculty Publications

Samuel Danforth’s election sermon of 1670 is a classic example of the New England jeremiad. Addressed to the assembled delegates on the occasion of the election of officers for the Massachusetts General Court, it asks the very pointed question: “What is it that distinguisheth New-England from other Colonies and Plantations in America?” The answer, of course, is that the Puritan colonies (Massachusetts, Plymouth, Connecticut, and New Haven) were founded for the pursuit of religious ends by the reformed Protestant churches of England:

“You have solemnly professed before God, Angels and Men, that the Cause of your leaving your Country, Kindred …

Codex: Sarzana Introduction

Constitutions and Rules

No abstract provided.

James Harrison, Ann Harrison, September 30, 1665, James Harrison

Pemberton Correspondence

Letter dated September 20, 1665 (September 30, 1665 Old Style) from James Harrison to his wife, Ann Harrison. He expresses his happiness at hearing she is doing well.

An Astronomical Description Of The Late Comet Or Blazing Star; As It Appeared In New-England In The 9th, 10th, 11th, And In The Beginning Of The 12th Moneth, 1664. Together With A Brief Theological Application Thereof. (1665) An Online Electronic Text Edition., Samuel Danforth, Paul Royster (Editor)

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries: Faculty Publications

Samuel Danforth’s 1665 book on his observations of the great comet of 1664 (C/1664 W1) was one of the first works of astronomy printed in America. Danforth’s explanations of the various phenomena show his currency with contemporary knowledge: that the comet was a celestial body more distant than the moon; that it was not on fire, but that its flaming tail represented the reflection of the sun’s rays off exhalations from the head; that the tail always pointed away from the sun; that its motion in its path was uniform; and that it reached its perigee on December 18 (December …

Livre 2

1664 French edition

No abstract provided.

God’S Controversy With New-England (1662, 1871), Michael Wigglesworth, Reiner Smolinski , Editor

Electronic Texts in American Studies

Presented here is Wigglesworth’s manuscript poem "God’s Controversy with New-England" (1871)—courtesy of the Massachusetts Historical Society. Composed in 1662 on the occasion of a terrible drought, the poem is a versified jeremiad bewailing the backsliding of the rising generation. Thus, God uses nature’s drought as a secondary cause to punish the exsiccation of the spirit among the offspring of New England’s patriarchs, whose children were either unable (or unwilling) to accept the Half-Way Covenant (1662) governing church admission. More than that, "God’s Controversy" encapsulates the Federal Covenant between God and Saints, whose chastisement, paradoxically, is a sign of God’s loving …

The Christian Commonwealth: Or, The Civil Policy Of The Rising Kingdom Of Jesus Christ, John Eliot

Zea E-Books in American Studies

John Eliot (1604-1690), the Puritan missionary to the New England Indians, developed this plan of political organization for the Christianized tribes that he converted. In the late 1640s, he adapted it for English use and sent a manuscript copy to England, where it appeared in print 10 years later, in 1659, following the death of Cromwell and before the accession of Charles II.

Eliot’s “Preface” to the work was far more radical and troublesome than the utopian theocracy described in the main body. “Much is spoken of the rightful Heir of the Crown of England, and the unjustice of casting …

The Christian Commonwealth: Or,The Civil Policy Of The Rising Kingdom Of Jesus Christ. An Online Electronic Text Edition., John Eliot, Paul Royster (Editor & Depositor)

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries: Faculty Publications

John Eliot, the Puritan missionary to the New England Indians, developed this plan of political organization for the Christianized tribes that he converted. In the late 1640s, he adapted it for English use and sent a manuscript copy to England, where it appeared in print 10 years later, in 1659, following the death of Cromwell and before the accession of Charles II. Eliot’s “Preface” to the work was far more radical and troublesome than the utopian theocracy described in the main body. “Much is spoken of the rightful Heir of the Crown of England, and the unjustice of casting out …

Common Rules: English

Constitutions and Rules

No abstract provided.

Limitations On The Power Of The Federal Government To Acquire Lands Within A State Or: The Metamorphosis Of A Constitutional Provision, Marion H. Sass

South Carolina Law Review

No abstract provided.

Case Notes

South Carolina Law Review

No abstract provided.

Milk For Babes. Drawn Out Of The Breasts Of Both Testaments. Chiefly, For The Spirituall Nourishment Of Boston Babes In Either England: But May Be Of Like Use For Any Children, John Cotton

Zea E-Books in American Studies

John Cotton’s Milk for Babes (also known as Spiritual Milk for Babes), a beginning catechism for children and young Christians, was first published in the 1640s and remained in print continuously for over 200 years. In a series of 64 questions and answers, it rehearses sin and the law, the ten commandments, the role of the Church, the nature of grace, the covenant, salvation, the sacraments, and the last judgment. It is annotated with 203 marginal Bible references on which Cotton based his statement of the fundamental Puritan credo. In its 13 small pages, Cotton’s catechism encompasses the Reformed …

Milk For Babes. Drawn Out Of The Breasts Of Both Testaments. Chiefly, For The Spirituall Nourishment Of Boston Babes In Either England: But May Be Of Like Use For Any Children (1646), John Cotton B.D., Paul Royster , Editor

Electronic Texts in American Studies

John Cotton’s Milk for Babes (also known as Spiritual Milk for Babes), a beginning catechism for children and young Christians, was first published in the 1640s and remained in print continuously for over 200 years. In a series of 64 questions and answers, it rehearses sin and the law, the ten commandments, the role of the Church, the nature of grace, the covenant, salvation, the sacraments, and the last judgment. It is annotated with 203 marginal Bible references on which Cotton based his statement of the fundamental Puritan credo. In its 13 small pages, Cotton’s catechism encompasses the Reformed …

A True Relation Of The Late Battell Fought In New England, Between The English, And The Salvages: With The Present State Of Things There. (1637), Philip Vincent [P. Vincentius], Paul Royster , Editor

Electronic Texts in American Studies

This brief account of the major engagement of the Pequot War appeared about six months after the Mystic Massacre of May 26, 1637. Its authorship is attributed to Philip Vincent, of whom little is known, including whether he was a witness or even in America, or, if not, who his informant was. The work obviously enjoyed some popularity, going through three separate editions in 1637–38.

The Pequots occupied the region on the north shore of Long Island Sound around present-day New London, Connecticut. Hostilities began in late summer of 1636, when the Massachusetts authorities sent a punitive expedition under John …