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The Puritan Experiment: New England Society from Bradford to Edwards
This revised and updated edition of an out-of-print classic once again makes the broad background of Puritanism accessible to students and general readers. Based on a chronology that begins with the Act of Supremacy in 1534 and ends with Jonathan Edwards's death in 1758, Francis J. Bremer's interpretive synthesis of the causes and contexts of the Puritan movement integrates analyses of the religious, political, sociological, economic, and cultural changes wrought by the movement in both Old and New England. From meeting house architecture to Salem witch trials, from relations with Native Americans to the founding of the nation's first colleges, he details with style and grace "a living system of faith" that not only had profound significance for tens of thousands of Englishmen and Americans in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, but also affected the course of history in the New World.
283 pages, Paperback
First published March 1, 1976
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About the author
Francis J. Bremer
22 books6 followersFrancis J. Bremer is Emeritus Professor of History at Millersville University.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
October 4, 2022
A thorough but disengaging history
January 16, 2022
This is a gem. Belongs above Perry Miller. Pair with Stout's "The New England Soul" and a nice port at hand and you've got yourself a nice evening.
October 13, 2020
If you're looking for one digestible inquiry into the origins and unfolding of American Puritan thought, culture and religious life, this is it. Bremer blends the best scholarship into a fair and sympathetic take on the primary subject. The result is a clear and readable narrative that gives enough meat to chew on thoughtfully without ever bogging down.
The only evident weakness of this book is the closing two chapters that feel a bit hurried and lead to a conclusion that leaves the reader wanting a little more. But that ends up only being a minor detraction from what in the whole is a rich, accessible portrait of New England's founders and their challenges at maintaining a coherent, faithful sociopolitical order while weathering escalating tensions from the neighboring natives and French colonies and the turbulent changes in the mother country.
If you only have time to read one book to gain a better understanding of Puritan and early New England history, and not a lot of time to do so, Bremer's book is it.
The only evident weakness of this book is the closing two chapters that feel a bit hurried and lead to a conclusion that leaves the reader wanting a little more. But that ends up only being a minor detraction from what in the whole is a rich, accessible portrait of New England's founders and their challenges at maintaining a coherent, faithful sociopolitical order while weathering escalating tensions from the neighboring natives and French colonies and the turbulent changes in the mother country.
If you only have time to read one book to gain a better understanding of Puritan and early New England history, and not a lot of time to do so, Bremer's book is it.
April 30, 2023
I did a little searching and selected this book to give me a bit more history about Puritanism. I am teaching The Crucible (set in Salem Village during the witch trials in the 1690's) in one of my ELA classes and I wanted to brush up on my regional history.
Probably the most substantive takeaway from this read is that the Puritan's were not an obscure little cult that couldn't find a home in England so they moved across the pond and started their own country. The Puritans were a direct result of the Protestant Reformation of 1517 which was sparked by Martin Luther in Wittenburg, Germany.
It is easy to see the historical events of the past as stale and stagnant, but at the time, the reformation was an absolute cataclysm in Europe. The reformation called the Catholic Church into question and challenged its power (of which it had a monopoly.). In 1500's Europe there was no separation between church and state, so when I say that the Catholic Church was all powerful without question, I mean it in a literal sense. Then Luther.
Luther's big statement was "sola scriptura" which means that power resides solely in the scripture (the bible) which almost all people could now read themselves since the invention of the printing press in the 1400's.
Luther believed that the Catholic Church was drunk on power so Protestantism splits off from Catholicism and challenges the religious and state structures in all of Europe. A problem begins to rise in Protestantism now though. Whenever someone disagrees even about finer points they split off and start a new denomination, thus begins the unending series of splits that is Protestantism. A point to highlight here is that, in many occasions in the wake of the reformation, these forever multiplying protestant sects hated each other as much as they hated the Catholic church (I thought people were supposed to unify against a common enemy).
This is the scene that births Puritanism. The Puritans believed that the English Church was not pure enough so they sought to build a utopian community on earth that was a true picture of what the Christian Church should be. They were persecuted in England, gave it a shot in the Netherlands, then came to the new world and created a successful English Colony, which is absolutely incredible. Their ideas about community, morality and ethics and their sense of purpose were a perfect combination that allowed them to be the seed of a new country.
An interesting point, however, is that they were not in any way trying to build a pluralistic society. Everyone involved knew this. They learned through their exclusion in England, how to forcefully exclude others and they did this to anyone that did not 100% agree with their entire view of orthodoxy.
It is fascinating to me that the United States is now a pluralistic society, though the Puritans were attempting to create a utopian theocracy. Maybe this is why some people can be incredibly intolerant in the United States. Maybe they have this false expectation that they are only going to have to neighbor with people that look like them and believe that exact same things as them about nearly everything. Maybe this is why we don't know how to disagree and still peacefully inhabit the same universe.
Anyways, I four starred this book because it gave me the background I was looking for and I found it to be fairly readable with some dry parts. If you are interested in Puritanism or the founding of America, I would suggest it.
Probably the most substantive takeaway from this read is that the Puritan's were not an obscure little cult that couldn't find a home in England so they moved across the pond and started their own country. The Puritans were a direct result of the Protestant Reformation of 1517 which was sparked by Martin Luther in Wittenburg, Germany.
It is easy to see the historical events of the past as stale and stagnant, but at the time, the reformation was an absolute cataclysm in Europe. The reformation called the Catholic Church into question and challenged its power (of which it had a monopoly.). In 1500's Europe there was no separation between church and state, so when I say that the Catholic Church was all powerful without question, I mean it in a literal sense. Then Luther.
Luther's big statement was "sola scriptura" which means that power resides solely in the scripture (the bible) which almost all people could now read themselves since the invention of the printing press in the 1400's.
Luther believed that the Catholic Church was drunk on power so Protestantism splits off from Catholicism and challenges the religious and state structures in all of Europe. A problem begins to rise in Protestantism now though. Whenever someone disagrees even about finer points they split off and start a new denomination, thus begins the unending series of splits that is Protestantism. A point to highlight here is that, in many occasions in the wake of the reformation, these forever multiplying protestant sects hated each other as much as they hated the Catholic church (I thought people were supposed to unify against a common enemy).
This is the scene that births Puritanism. The Puritans believed that the English Church was not pure enough so they sought to build a utopian community on earth that was a true picture of what the Christian Church should be. They were persecuted in England, gave it a shot in the Netherlands, then came to the new world and created a successful English Colony, which is absolutely incredible. Their ideas about community, morality and ethics and their sense of purpose were a perfect combination that allowed them to be the seed of a new country.
An interesting point, however, is that they were not in any way trying to build a pluralistic society. Everyone involved knew this. They learned through their exclusion in England, how to forcefully exclude others and they did this to anyone that did not 100% agree with their entire view of orthodoxy.
It is fascinating to me that the United States is now a pluralistic society, though the Puritans were attempting to create a utopian theocracy. Maybe this is why some people can be incredibly intolerant in the United States. Maybe they have this false expectation that they are only going to have to neighbor with people that look like them and believe that exact same things as them about nearly everything. Maybe this is why we don't know how to disagree and still peacefully inhabit the same universe.
Anyways, I four starred this book because it gave me the background I was looking for and I found it to be fairly readable with some dry parts. If you are interested in Puritanism or the founding of America, I would suggest it.
March 16, 2018
Francis J. Bremer's The Puritan Experiment is a great overview of the history of Puritan New England. It starts by tracking the foundations of the Puritan movement in England to the establishment of the first New England colonies and concludes only shortly before the time of the American Revolution.
What I particularly found interesting in Bremer's work is his focus not just on the New England colonies themselves, but also in there interaction with England, their home country. This helps you understand their origins, the differences between the Pilgrims and the Puritans, and how these roots and later events led to a lot of conflict and friction between the New England Colonies and England, particularly the English Monarchy. The chain of events made me think that it was no surprise that so much of the force behind the American Revolution came from within New England. This was something in the background for a long time prior.
I also enjoyed his presentation of the Puritans. He does a good job as presenting them as human, at least as best one can do in such a work. I think that the popular opinion of Puritans is rather negative, at least I know that tends to be my own view of them, but Bremer doesn't seek to make them heroes or villains. He tries to clear up certain misunderstandings people have of Puritans, but is quite open about their flaws. He also shows them as not just a religious people. That was a guiding force, but there was also political power and English culture and history influencing their actions.
The only real negative I'd put forward is that it is an academic work, so if you're not a big fan of academic history books, this may not be for you. I mean it's not terribly difficult, but it's not an engaging read either. Another possible one is that the book is about 23 years old as of the time of writing, so it's possible that newer works have come out that are even better.
Overall, I found The Puritan Experiment to be an enjoyable and eye-opening read. The Puritans are an interesting bunch, I still may not like them very much, but they are a significant part of American history. The work may be a little academic for some, maybe even most, but I think it helped me see what motivated the Puritans and how interactions both with each other and their home country set a number of foundations for what would become the United States of America.
What I particularly found interesting in Bremer's work is his focus not just on the New England colonies themselves, but also in there interaction with England, their home country. This helps you understand their origins, the differences between the Pilgrims and the Puritans, and how these roots and later events led to a lot of conflict and friction between the New England Colonies and England, particularly the English Monarchy. The chain of events made me think that it was no surprise that so much of the force behind the American Revolution came from within New England. This was something in the background for a long time prior.
I also enjoyed his presentation of the Puritans. He does a good job as presenting them as human, at least as best one can do in such a work. I think that the popular opinion of Puritans is rather negative, at least I know that tends to be my own view of them, but Bremer doesn't seek to make them heroes or villains. He tries to clear up certain misunderstandings people have of Puritans, but is quite open about their flaws. He also shows them as not just a religious people. That was a guiding force, but there was also political power and English culture and history influencing their actions.
The only real negative I'd put forward is that it is an academic work, so if you're not a big fan of academic history books, this may not be for you. I mean it's not terribly difficult, but it's not an engaging read either. Another possible one is that the book is about 23 years old as of the time of writing, so it's possible that newer works have come out that are even better.
Overall, I found The Puritan Experiment to be an enjoyable and eye-opening read. The Puritans are an interesting bunch, I still may not like them very much, but they are a significant part of American history. The work may be a little academic for some, maybe even most, but I think it helped me see what motivated the Puritans and how interactions both with each other and their home country set a number of foundations for what would become the United States of America.
June 5, 2018
Really enjoyed this overview of Puritan life in New England. I am reading about what influences lead to the American Revolution and this book was very helpful in outlining the Puritans beliefs, and how they established their government and society. A historical classic!
January 1, 2024
Very insightful work on the Puritans, beginning in England and then focusing on the American Puritans. Well-written and engaging. It cleared up many aspects of Puritanism that I had been confused about for a while, specifically regarding church polity and congregationalism.
January 21, 2011
A wonderful survey of Puritan history, life and thought. In brief chapters he gets across a great amount of detail and while it ends a little abruptly with the Great Awakening and the Enlightenment in the 18th c., it does make a few connections all the way to the American Revolution. Bremer treats the religious, intellectual, and devotional aspects of Puritan life with a good depth, as well as handling social, cultural, and political history. I appreciate his characterizations of Anne Hutchison (not an advocate of religious freedom, but an arch-zealot) and Roger Williams. The bibliography at the end is excellent though already dated (of the writing of books about the Puritans there is no end) and the page numbers in the index were off.
"Though rarely given credit for it, the Puritans were less rigorous than many governments of their time in that they did not search out the secret thoughts of men but contented themselves with taking actions against public expressions of heresy. Individuals such as Roger Williams and Anne Hutchinson were not banished for ideas they wished to harbor in private, but for proselytization of those errors. There was no toleration for those who publicly dissented from the New England Way. Despite the filiopietistic sentiments of some nineteenth-century writers, the Puritans did not come to America to espouse or establish religious liberty. Their goal was to be free to institute and practice what they believed to be the one true faith."
"those who differed from the orthodox majority were encouraged to exercise their liberty elsewhere."
"Though rarely given credit for it, the Puritans were less rigorous than many governments of their time in that they did not search out the secret thoughts of men but contented themselves with taking actions against public expressions of heresy. Individuals such as Roger Williams and Anne Hutchinson were not banished for ideas they wished to harbor in private, but for proselytization of those errors. There was no toleration for those who publicly dissented from the New England Way. Despite the filiopietistic sentiments of some nineteenth-century writers, the Puritans did not come to America to espouse or establish religious liberty. Their goal was to be free to institute and practice what they believed to be the one true faith."
"those who differed from the orthodox majority were encouraged to exercise their liberty elsewhere."
January 19, 2010
Not always the most thrilling read, Bremer's Experiment will give you a thorough foundation in Puritan Studies with lots of suggestions for further reading. A must-read for anyone studying early American literature.
March 23, 2012
The Puritan Experiment is a must read to anyone interested in Puritan history.
June 14, 2012
An excellent overview of Puritan New England, with a useful chronology and extensive bibliography. My go-to reference on the period.
November 16, 2016
Great overview of early New England history.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews