The Puritan Tradition in America, 1620-1730

by Alden T. Vaughan (Editor)

Many students of our national character would agree that, for better or worse, the Puritan tradition had an enormous effect on the assumptions and aspirations of today's Americans. This book tells the story, largely through the participants' own words, of the emergence of that tradition. It provides a broad range of primary documents--religious, political, social, legal, familial, and economic--for an understanding of Puritanism in early New England. Originally published in 1972, it is reissued here with a new introduction and two new extracts from Anne Hutchinson's trial and from John Winthrop's "Experiencia".

Genres: History, Church History

384 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1972

About the author

Alden Vaughan has been an Affiliate Professor at Clark since 2002, and since 1994 a Professor Emeritus of History at Columbia University, where he taught for 33 years. His research examines British America in the sixteenth through eighteenth centuries, especially the interaction of Europeans, Native Americans, and Africans.