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The Puritan Dilemma

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The Puritan Dilemma
“The Puritan Dilemma: The Story of John Winthrop” This book talks about the life of one of the most influential puritans John Winthrop. “The Puritan Dilemma was written by Edmund Morgan. Edmund Morgan was a History professor at Yale University from 1955 to 1986. Edmund Morgan wrote many other popular books such as “Birth of a republic, American slavery, American Freedom” and “Inventing The people, the rise of popular sovereignty in England.” This puritan dilemma was written for the intent of future history students reading and learning about John Winthrop and his influence on modern culture and religion.
The Author clearly states the thesis in the beginning on the book, He talks about the “Puritan Dilemma” it is about the puritans and their struggle to keep up with their religion and the moral obligations that comes along with being a puritan, while dealing with the temptations of daily life, and staying in line with the religious laws in England. Winthrop talks about liking to hunt but not finding practicality in hunting. The Puritans set out not to separate from the Church of England, but only to purify it. In the book the author uses a lot of quotations and transcripts from letters and journals written by John Winthrop. Though not all were completely clear it gave a good picture of how John Winthrop deal with things. The length of the book does a good job of helping the reader understand the importance that John Winthrop had on our young nation. The Author had as strong agenda in writing the “Puritan Dilemma” he wants his readers to see that John Winthrop was a very smart and deeply religious man and he used a mixture of the qualities to successfully set up and run government in the colonies.
Winthrop was born in Suffolk, England, his father was a lawyer and owned a textile business and several properties in Suffolk. John Winthrop was deeply involved in religion from a very young age, he would often sit and listen to his father talk about religion with his

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