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Main currents in American thought An interpretation of American literature from the beginnings to 1920

Vernon Louis Parrington

of the Church_ (1520); _A Treatise on Christian Liberty_ (1520). For discussion, see L. H. Waring, _The Political Theories of Martin Luther_ (New York and London, 1910). For Calvin, see Williston Walker, _John Calvin, The Organiser of Reformed Protestantism_ (New York and London, 1906; with bibliographical note). II. The Transplanting of Ideas: For political history see James Truslow Adams, _The Founding of New England_ (Boston, 1921). For literary history consult the invaluable work of Moses Coit Tyler, _A History of American Literature, 1607-1765_ (2 vols., New York, 1878). Histories of Congregationalism will be found in Henry M. Dexter, _The Congregationalism of the Last Three Hundred Years as Seen in Its Literature_ (New York, 1880; with full bibliography); Williston Walker, _A History of the Congregational Churches in the United States_ (New York, 1900); also W. Walker, _Creeds and Platforms of Congregationalism_ (New York, 1893). III. John Cotton: Little of Cotton’s work has been reprinted. _A Reply to Mr. Williams His Examination_ was reissued in _Narragansett Club Pub._, Vol. II, pp. 1-240. His most important work is _The Way of the Congregational Churches Cleared_ (London, 1648). No life has been written. See Cotton Mather’s _Magnalia_; W. Walker’s _Ten New England Leaders_ (New York, 1901); A. Young, _John Cotton’s Life and Letters. Chronicles of the First Planters, etc._ (Boston, 1846). John Winthrop: _Journal ..._ (Hartford, 1790); as _The History of New England ..._ edited by J. Savage (2 vols., Boston, 1825-26, 1853); edited by J. K. Hosmer (2 vols., New York, 1908). See R. C. Winthrop, _Life and Letters of John Winthrop_ (2 vols., Boston, 1863, 1866, 1869, 1895). J. Twitchell, _John Winthrop, First Governor of Massachusetts_ (New York, 1892). IV. Thomas Hooker: His works have not been reprinted. The _Survey of the Summe of Church-Discipline ..._ was published in London in 1648. Contemporary notes of his _Sermon before the General Court on May 31, 1638_, were printed with comment by J. Hammond Trumbull, in _Conn. Hist. Soc. Col._, Vol. I, No. 19. For his life, see G. L. Walker, _Thomas Hooker, Preacher, Founder, Democrat_ (New York, 1891; with bibliography by J. H. Trumbull). Roger Williams: _The Works of Roger Williams. Edited by members of the Narragansett Club_ (6 vols., Providence, 1866-1874). No satisfactory life has been written. The best is Oscar S. Straus, _Roger Williams, the Pioneer of Religious Liberty_ (New York, 1894). See also Edmund J. Carpenter, _Roger Williams: A Study of the Life, Times and Character of a Political Pioneer_ (New York, 1909; Grafton Hist. Series). Book I: Part II I. Samuel Sewall: _Diary_ (printed in _Mass. Hist. Soc. Col._, Series 5, Vols. 5-7). No life has been written. II. Increase Mather: The extensive bibliography is confused, and a definitive list is being prepared by T. J. Holmes and G. P. Winship. Few works have been reprinted, and about the only available title is _Illustrious Providences_ (Boston and London, 1684; London, 1687); under title of _Remarkable Providences_ (London, 18561, 1890). The authoritative life is by Kenneth B. Murdock, _Increase Mather, The Foremost American Puritan_ (Harvard University Press. 1925; with bibliography). See also Williston Walker, _Ten New England Leaders_ (New York, 1901). Cotton Mather: The bibliography is enormous, but few titles are available. _The Wonders of the Invisible World_ (Boston, 1693) has been twice reprinted: with title, _Salem Witchcraft ..._ and notes by S. P. Fowler (Cambridge, 1861); and with I. Mather’s _Account of the Tryals of the New-England Witches_ (Library of Old Authors, London, 1862). _The Bostonian Ebenezer_, Boston, 1698, was reprinted in Old South Leaflets, Boston, 1896. The _Magnalia Christi Americana_, London, 1702, was reissued (2 vols., Hartford and New Haven, 1820); and the same with notes by T. Robbins, and translations of foreign quotations by L. F. Robinson, and a life by S. G. Drake (Hartford, 1853). The _Essays to Do Good_ has been reprinted ten times, the latest editions London, 1842, and Boston, 1845. The most available text is _Selections from Cotton Mather_, edited with introduction, by K. B. Murdock (New York, 1926; American Authors Series). The best life is by Barrett Wendell, _Cotton Mather, Puritan Priest_ (New York, 1891; Harvard University Press, 1925). See also A. P. Marvin, _The Life and Times of Cotton Mather_ (Boston, 1892). III. John Wise: _The Churches Quarrel Espoused ..._ (Boston, 1710, 1715, 1745, 1772); reissued with the _Vindication_, with introduction by J. S. Clark (Boston, 1860). _A Vindication of the Government of the New-England Churches. Drawn from Antiquity; the Light of Nature; Holy Scripture ..._ (Boston, 1717, 1772); reissued with the preceding title (Boston, 1860). No life of Wise has been written. Book II: Part I I. Colonial Backgrounds: See Herbert L. Osgood, _The American Colonies in the Eighteenth Century_ (2 vols., New York, 1924). New Stock: See John R. Commons, _Races and Immigrants in America_ (New York, 1902, 1920). F. R. Diffenderfer, _The German Immigrants into Pennsylvania ..._ (New York, 1900). _The Diary of John Harrower (Amer. Hist. Review_, Vol. VI, p. 65). The Frontier--Lubberland: _The Journal of Sarah Kemble Knight_ (New York, 1825; Albany, 1865; Norwich, Conn., 1901). William Byrd: _Westover Manuscripts: containing the History of the Dividing Line ... A Journey to the Land of Eden ..._ (Petersburg, Va., 1841); reissued under title, _The History of the Dividing Line_ (edited by T. H. Wynne; 2 vols., Richmond, 1866). Also _The Writings of “Colonel William Byrd of Westover in Virginia, Esq.”_ Edited by J. S. Bassett (New York, 1901). The Frontier--Land of Promise: _Letters from an American Farmer ..._ (London, 1782; with note by W. P. Trent and introduction by Ludwig Lewisohn, New York, 1904). _More “Letters from an American Farmer,”_ edited with introductions by H. L. Bourdin, R. G. Gabriel, and S. T. Williams, and issued under the title, _Sketches of Eighteenth Century America_ (New Haven, 1925). For the life of Crèvecœur, see Julia Post Mitchell, _St. Jean de Crèvecœur (Col. Univ. Studies in English and Comp. Lit._, New York, 1916). II. Jonathan Edwards: _Works_ (8 vols., Leeds, 1806-11). _Works_, edited by S. E. Dwight (10 vols., New York, 1829, 1830). _Works_ (10 vols., Edinburgh, 1847). Numerous other editions and many reprints. The best life is by V. G. Allen, _Jonathan Edwards_ (Boston, 1889, 1890; with bibliography). See also Woodbridge Riley, _American Thought_ (New York, 1915). III. Benjamin Franklin: The best edition of his works is that edited by J. Bigelow (10 vols., New York, 1889). The _Autobiography_ was first printed complete by J. Bigelow, New York, 1874. The latest reprint is in the American Authors Series, edited with introduction by Percy H. Boynton (New York, 1926). Of the several lives, see James Parton, _Life and Times of Benjamin Franklin_ (2 vols., New York, 1864); J. B. McMaster, _Benjamin Franklin as a Man of Letters_ (Boston, 1887); J. T. Morse, _Benjamin Franklin_ (American Statesmen Series, Boston, 1889). See also W. A. Wetzel, _Benjamin Franklin as an Economist_ (_Johns Hopkins Studies in Hist. and Pol. Science_, Thirteenth Series, Vol. IX, pp. 421-476). A recent life: Phillips Russell, _Benjamin Franklin: The First Civilized American_ (New York, 1926). Book II: Part II I. Imperial Sovereignty and Home Rule: For the literature of the Revolutionary period, see the invaluable _Literary History of the American Revolution_, by Moses Coit Tyler (2 vols., New York, 1897; with annotated bibliography). For the political phases, see C. H. Van Tyne, _The Causes of the War of Independence ..._ (Boston and New York, 1922); A. M. Schlesinger, _The Colonial Merchants and the American Revolution, 1763-1776_ (New York, 1918); J. T. Adams, _Revolutionary New England, 1691-1776_ (Boston, 1923). II. Thomas Hutchinson: _The History of Massachusetts_ (3 vols., Boston and London, 1764-1767-1828; Vols. I and II, Boston, 1795). _Diary and Letters of Thomas Hutchinson ..._, edited by P. O. Hutchinson (2 vols., Boston, 1884-1886). J. K. Hosmer, _Life of Thomas Hutchinson_ (Boston, 1896). Daniel Leonard: _Massachusettensis_ (London, 1776); reissued with _Novanglus_ by John Adams, and ascribed on the title page to Jonathan Sewall (Boston, 1819). Jonathan Boucher: _A View of the Causes and Consequences of the American Revolution_ (London, 1797). III. John Dickinson: _Political Writings_ (2 vols., Wilmington, 1801). _Writings_, edited by P. L. Ford (3 vols., Philadelphia, 1895). See C. J. Stillé, _The Life and Times of John Dickinson_ (Philadelphia, 1891). IV. Samuel Adams: _Writings_, edited by H. A. Cushing (4 vols., New York, 1904-08). See J. K. Hosmer, _Samuel Adams_ (Boston, 1884); revised edition (1898, American Statesmen Series). W. V. Wells, _The Life and Public Services of Samuel Adams_ (3 vols., Boston, 1865). V. John Trumbull: _Poetical Works_ (2 vols., Hartford, 1820). _The Progress of Dulness_ (New Haven, 1772-73). _An Elegy on the Times_ (Boston, 1774; New Haven, 1775). _M’Fingal_ (printed in parts from 1775 to 1782, and much revised; first published entire, Hartford, 1782; numerous contemporary editions). _The Progress of Dulness_ and _M’Fingal_ are reprinted in _The Connecticut Wits_, edited with introduction and bibliography by Vernon L. Parrington (New York, 1926, American Authors Series). No life of Trumbull has been written. Francis Hopkinson: _Miscellaneous Essays and Occasional Writings_ (2 vols., Philadelphia, 1792). George Hastings, _Life and Works of Francis Hopkinson_ (University of Chicago Press, 1926). Jonathan Odell: _The Loyal Verses of Joseph Stansbury and Doctor Jonathan Odell_, edited by Winthrop Sargent (Albany, 1860). Samuel Peters: _A General History of Connecticut ... to which is added an Appendix, wherein New and True Sources of the Present Rebellion are pointed out ... By a Gentleman of the Province_ (London, 1781; New Haven, 1829; New York, 1877). Book III: Part I I. Agrarianism and Capitalism: A vivid account of the party struggles of the time is given in Claude G. Bowers, _Jefferson and Hamilton_ (Boston, 1925), with full bibliography. For political theory, see Harold J. Laski, _Political Thought in England from Locke to Bentham_ (New York, 1920). Charles E. Merriam, _A History of American Political Theories_ (New York, 1903). A dramatic account of Shays’s Rebellion is given in Edward Bellamy, _The Duke of Stockbridge_ (New York, 1901). II. The Great Debate: The bibliography is extensive. See J. Elliot, _Debates in the Several State Conventions on the Adoption of the Federal Constitution ..._ (4 vols., Washington, 1827, 1836; 5 vols., Philadelphia, 1906). Max Farrand, _Records of the Federal Convention of 1787_ (3 vols., New Haven, 1911). S. B. Harding, _The Contest over the Ratification of the Federal Constitution in the State of Massachusetts_ (New York, 1896). Charles A. Beard, _An Economic Interpretation of the Constitution of the United States_ (New York, 1913). _The Federalist_, numerous editions; the best are those edited by H. C. Lodge (New York, 1886) and by P. L. Ford (New York, 1898). Richard Henry Lee, _Observations leading to a fair examination of the system of government ... In a number of Letters from the Federal Farmer to the Republican_ (reprinted in _Pamphlets on the Constitution of the United States, 1787-1788_, edited by P. L. Ford, Brooklyn, 1888). III. Alexander Hamilton: _Works, Comprising his Correspondence_, edited by J. C. Hamilton (7 vols., New York, 1850-51). _Works_, edited by H. C. Lodge (10 vols., New York, 1885).