A fresh, original history of America’s national narratives, told through the loss, recovery, and rise of one influential Puritan sermon from 1630 to the present day In this illuminating book, Abram Van Engen shows how the phrase “City on a Hill,” from a 1630 sermon by Massachusetts Bay governor John Winthrop, shaped the story of American exceptionalism in the twentieth century. By tracing the history of Winthrop’s speech, its changing status throughout time, and its use in modern politics, Van Engen asks us to reevaluate our national narratives. He tells the story of curators, librarians, collectors, archivists, antiquarians, and often anonymous figures who emphasized the role of the Pilgrims and Puritans in American history, paving the way for the saving and sanctifying of a single sermon. This sermon’s rags-to-riches rise reveals the way national stories take shape and shows us how those tales continue to influence competing visions of the country—the many different meanings of America that emerge from its literary past.
In [this book], ... Daniel Rodgers tells the surprising story of one of the most celebrated documents in the canon of the American idea"--Dust jacket fla
With full-color illustrations and rhyming verses the book clearly teaches how the church is depicted as the body of Christ in 1 Corinthians 12.
City College of New York is perhaps the longest-running, radical social experiment in American history. For one hundred and fifty years, City has been the bellwether of this nation's effort...
The American history of the 'city on a hill' metaphor from its Puritan beginnings to its role in Reagan's American civil religion and beyond.
Finally, an illustrated chronology of significant events in Boston history enhances the main text and puts it all in perspective. Boston: City on a Hill is certain to be treasured and turned to again and again.
City Upon a Hill: The Legacy of America's Founding
Though a Protestant king, James did not like the purifying “separatists” who opposed his court, state, and church. A separatist was an extreme Puritan. He was a stubborn Englishman who would not declare loyalty to the Church of England, ...
This second volume (formerly called From Reformation to Colonization) picks up where A New World in View ends. It presents the story of America's founding and early years up through the Great Awakening.
An account of Boston's planning history. Nine chapters detail the key developments that shaped each period of Boston's growth, focusing on the post-World War II era. The text describes the...
Four centuries later, Americans are still building Cities Upon a Hill. In Cities on a Hill Pulitzer Prize-winner Frances FitzGerald explores this often eccentric, sometimes prophetic inclination in America.