world are the ministers and political leaders of seventeenth-century New England.According

to the standard history of American philosophy, nowhere else in colonial America was “So much important attached to intellectual pursuits ” According to many books and articles, New England’s leaders established the basic themes and preoccupations of an unfolding, dominant Puritan tradition in American intellectual

life.To

take this approach to the New Englanders normally mean to start with the Puritans’ theological innovations and their distinctive ideas about the church-important subjects that we may not neglect.But

in keeping with our examination of southern intellectual life, we may consider the original Puritans as carriers of European culture adjusting to New world circumstances.The

New England colonies were the scenes of important episodes in the pursuit of widely understood ideals of civility and virtuosity.The

early settlers of Massachusetts Bay included men of impressive education and influence in England.`Besides

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