principles, but as part of their regular practice of political life, the merger of an appreciation for and encouragement of the individual as a free and thus, responsible agent in society, with a strong communal ethos that emphasized group unity. Puritan theology nurtured a strong sense of individual responsibility as well as individual rights;and New Englanders recognized the interdependence of diverse individuals as necessary to the ongoing success and vitality of their society. Negotiating this balance between individual and society required New Englanders to develop all of the implications of their shared founding commitment to three essential principles: the moral equality of persons, the importance of industry as a personal and public virtue, and a deep and abiding sense of civic love, or communion. These commitments were challenged in the difficult Andros’ regime, but ultimately, in 1689, they emerged as the basis for restoring Puritan selfgovernment in Massachusetts (in the short run) and civic identity in the colony—and later, America—in the longer term.

/pdf/with-a-publick-spirit-community-and-commitment-in-new-42fh7obs2g.pdf

The religious foundations of civic virtue

Citations

"With a publick spirit": community and commitment in New England, 1630-1689

References

"With a publick spirit": community and commitment in New England, 1630-1689

Related Papers (4)

The Oxford handbook of church and state in the United States

Secular Utilitarianism: Social Science and the Critique of Religion in the Thought of Jeremy Bentham

Catholicism and the Shaping of Nineteenth-Century America: Introduction

Catholicism and the Shaping of Nineteenth-Century America: The Protestant Conundrum