Why do the Puritans Matter Today?
Listen to the lecture “Why do the Puritans Matter Today?” in the media player below or directly on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
Listen on Spotify or Apple Media.
Transcript of lecture:
Quick links to primary sources: Harvard Charter of 1650 and John Winthrop’s City on a Hill sermon
As a reminder, the learning goals of the lecture are:
…for learners to be able to explain and reflect on at least one of the reasons that I give. Here are my answers to the question “Why do the Puritans matter today?”
Discussion questions and forum:
- Go to the City on a Hill archive site (https://sites.wustl.edu/americanexceptionalism/) and explore the “data” section (link in the top header ribbon). To what does “city on a hill” most commonly refer to, and in what genre? Choose three examples of how this phrase is used under “citations” for a certain referent, and analyze how the referent is portrayed using this phrase.
- Choose the idea of American exceptionalism, jeremiads, or Puritan-founded schools, and expand on how knowing about the Puritan context can deepen our understanding of that idea. Then choose an example of one of these things from the contemporary or recent times and explain how knowing about the Puritans helps us to understand it.
Respond to these discussion questions (or other topics of your choosing, relating to the lectures) here: