john winthrop
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Week 2
John Winthrop
The piece on John Winthrop from From These Beginnings by Roderick Nash and Gregory Graves provides much information on the governor of the Massachusetts Bay colony. John Winthrop was born in 1588, an important era in the history of England. England had become the world's foremost naval power after the defeat of the Spanish armada and was on its way to becoming the dominant force in North America.
John Winthrop was born to Adam Winthrop, a man who quickly took advantage of the changing tide in England's economy to make his way into the ranks of the "landed gentry". Soon Protestantism entered his life and changed him. He was convinced into leading an immigration party of Puritans into the New World. Once he got there he was elected leader and he took a major role in the building of a governing body for the community. He experienced difficulties in the form of people or ideas that led people to question the system that was in place but did his best to keep the order and discipline that was essential in a godly community in their "city upon a hill", their religious experiment. He died on March 26, 1649, but not before leaving an indelible mark on the "New World". "The habits of discipline, hard work, and piety and the desire for perfection and purity so much a part of John Winthrop's society proved a lasting legacy for many generations of Americans...