Early American Literature
Spring 2003
This glossary is a reference aid to some of the historical
and cultural terms that appear in the study of early American literature and
Linebaugh and Rediker’s The Many-Headed Hydra. Its sources are several, but the glossary relies heavily on The
New Columbia Encyclopedia, 5th edition. The glossary is for brief reference; it is
neither comprehensive nor a substantive discussion of these terms.
Anabaptists – From the Greek, ‘rebaptizers’. Name applied, originally with scorn, to
Protestant groups holding that the Scriptures do not authorize infant baptism
and that baptism should be administered only to adult believers. During the Reformation in the 1500s,
Anabaptists became the radical wing of Protestantism, with greatest presence in
Germany, Switzerland, Moravia (the Czechlands), and the Netherlands. They modeled their new churches after the
Christian communities of apostolic times, depicted as a free gathering of
convinced believers dedicated to leading a saintly life in accord with
Scripture. They were critical of
orthodox Lutheranism, and were persecuted by Protestants and Catholics
both. In radical Protestantism and its
religious politics, Anabaptism came to signify a belief that all church members
are equal and should share equally in the world. Some Anabaptists were antinomians. In the British Isles, this religious tendency was strongest
during the English Revolution in 1640s and 1650s. Their closest contemporary descendants in the North America are
the Mennonites and Hutterites, who are evangelical and pacifistic Anabaptists.
Antinomianism – From the Greek, ‘against the
law’. Historic belief that Christian
conscience cannot be bound by moral law (e.g. the Old Testament), religious
hierarchy, or the civil state. Radical
rejection of religious hierarchy, emphasizing the right of individual
conscience. See Romans 6 for usual
argument against antinomianism.
Baptists – A 17th-century Protestant movement that
developed from Anabaptist theology. It
asserted that baptism should be administered only to adult believers and that
immersion is the New Testament-mandated mode of baptism. Formally established in England in 1644 with
a confession of faith by affiliated churches.
In North America, Roger Williams and his Rhode Island
congregation rejected infant baptism and adopted individual profession of faith
in 1639. In the Southeast, Baptists
influenced by Calvinist concepts of salvation became known as Hardshell
Baptists or Primitive Baptists.
The Baptist movement is congregational in church organization. The movement split into northern and
southern conventions in 1845 over the question of slavery and communion with
slaveholders.
Bourn – boundary between agricultural fields.
Bridewell – early English term for prison,
after a prison of the same name.
Originally built in London as a training school for apprentices in 1553
and converted to a prison; demolished in 1863.
Brownism -- After English clergyman Robert Browne [1550-1633]. Browne conceived the church as separate from
the Church of England and self-governing.
This movement advocated small congregational churches whose governance
is based on mutual consent. Browne and
his followers established a congregation in Norwich in 1580, then fled to
Holland in 1581 where Browne published tracts that provided the intellectual
foundation for Congregationalism.
Browne returned to England in 1684 to imprisonment and excommunication,
but was eventually reconciled with the Church of England and submitted to
episcopal ordination.
Calvinism – Generally, religious ideas and
teaching developed from the writings of French Protestant theologian John
Calvin [1509-64]. Calvinism
differed from Lutheranism concerning communion via church sacraments, in its
rigid doctrine of predestination, in its concept of grace as irresistible, and
in its theocratic view of the state.
The classical form of Calvinism stresses the absolute sovereignty of
God’s will, holds that only those God specifically elects are saved, and that
individuals can do nothing to effect this salvation. Jonathan Edwards was the leading 18th-century exponent
of Calvinism in North America. Methodism
and Baptism challenged strict Calvinist doctrine.
Commons – historically open lands, for farming or grazing,
available to all without fee.
Creole – From Spanish, criollo. Originally applied to American-born
descendants of Spanish conquistadors, the term expanded to distinguish many
Euro-American ethnic mixtures. The
term’s applicability varies between countries (e.g. in Louisiana, Creole refers
to descendants of the French Arcadian community). In linguistics, creole and creolization refer to a pidgin
language adopted to replace a mother language (e.g. Krayol in Haiti, replacing
French) and the process of creole language creation.
Diggers – A small English religio-economic movement that
flourished briefly in the English Revolution; so-called because they attempted
to dig and cultivate on common lands.
An offshoot of the more influential Puritan group, the Levelers. The Diggers established several small
communes in Surrey that were destroyed by mob action in 1650. Gerrard Winstanley was the leader of
the Diggers and best-known exponent of their egalitarian and communistic philosophy. In Law of Freedom (1652), Winstanley
argued that English law and institutions should be altered to bring social and
economic equality to all through common ownership of the land.
Donatism – A 4th-century Christian schismatic
movement in North Africa, named after early bishop Donatus and the theologian
Donatus Magnus. Important to 16th
and 17th-century religious radicalism because of its belief that
only those living a blameless life should be in communion with the church, and
for its opposition to corrupt and worldly church hierarchies. Although Donatists outnumbered orthodox
Christians in North Africa in the 4th century, this movement
eventually disappeared after strong attack by St. Augustine.
English Revolution – Generally, from 1642-60, the
conflict between the Crown and the ‘parliamentarians’ that culminated in the
defeat and 1649 execution of Charles I.
Period included two civil wars, the establishment of the Commonwealth,
the rise of Oliver Cromwell [1599-1658], and ended with the restoration
of Charles II in 1660. Also termed the English
Civil War and the Puritan Revolution.
Fens – marshlands.
Fifth Monarchists – Religious group active during
the English Revolution. As
millenarians, they anticipated the return of Jesus to establish the fifth
monarchy described at Daniel 2:36-45.
The Fifth Monarchy Men objected to the Church of England and attempted
to establish their vision of Christ’s rule on earth in 1657 and 1661 uprisings.
Levellers – Puritan group active during the
English Revolution. Name was applied to
them derisively for their belief in social equality. Demanded constitutional reform including a written constitution,
a single supreme parliament elected by universal male sufferage, proportional
representation, and abolition of the monarchy and aristocracy. These ideas, advanced by Leveler leader John
Lilburn, were discussed at the Putney debates of October 1647. Oliver Cromwell and Henry Ireton opposed the
Leveler movement as radical subversion of property interests. After several Leveler mutinies in the army
in 1649, Cromwell suppressed the movement.
Liberalism – Classical liberalism from the
Age of Enlightenment stressed human rationality, individual property rights,
natural rights, constitutional limitations on government, and personal freedom
from external restraints. The term
should not be confused with modern use of ‘liberalism’ in the US that refers to
social reform advocacy or proactive governmental doctrines (e.g. ‘New Deal
liberals’).
Maroons – From Spanish ‘cimarrones’, a term for runaway
slaves. Runaway slaves and their
descendants throughout the Caribbean resisted enslavement and, often with
success, fought European military expeditions sent to suppress them. Maroons formed autonomous, self-governing
communities, most frequently in inaccessible areas; sometimes they lived in
small bands, and sometimes in stable communities of thousands. Although approximately 20 maroon communities
existed in the southern US states (e.g. in the Great Dismal Swamp of Virginia
and North Carolina), the largest Maroon communities were in Brazil, central
Latin America, and the Caribbean. The
first Maroon revolt was against the Spanish in 1519 in Hispaniola. Maroons were especially successful in the
First Maroon War in Jamaica, 1720-39, led by Nanny, although the British
eventually won. Maroon revolts
continued in the early 1800s, until the demise of slavery. Maroonage refers to the creation of
free communities by ex-slaves, who often intermarried with Native American
peoples.
Mercantilism – Dominant economic philosophy
among European trading nations of the 16th, 17th, and 18th
centuries. Based on the premise that
national wealth and power were best served by increasing exports and collecting
precious metals in return. In a period
of religious and economic wars, mercantilism provided revenues – especially
through import tariffs -- to maintain armies and pay the growing costs of
central governments. The state
exercised heavy control over economic life, chiefly through quasi-state
corporations and chartered trading companies (e.g. the Royal African Company). Protective shipping legislation, such as the
Navigation Acts that enabled England to destroy the commerce of its
rival Holland, were major features of mercantilist state policy.
Methodism – Doctrines developing from
English theologian John Wesley [1793-1791] and a group at Oxford,
including George Whitefield, that began meeting in 1729. The movement’s 1744 Articles of Religion
emphasized repentance, faith, sanctification, full and free salvation for all,
and evangelical missionary work.
Separated from the Church of England in 1784. During 1843-45, the Methodist movement in the United States split
into separate conventions over the question of slavery.
Muggletonians – English religious sect named
after Lodowicke Muggleton [1609-1698], its leader and prophet. In 1652 Muggleton and his cousin, John
Reeve, announced themselves anointed by God, that God took human form, that Eve
was the incarnation of evil, and other reinterpretive ideas. Initially suppressed as a nonconformist
sect, the group eventually died out in the 19th century.
Puritanism – A movement, beginning in the
1560s and strongest in the 16th and 17th centuries, for
reform of the Church of England and that had massive influence on the social,
political, ethical and theological ideas of England and America. Its Calvinist theology stressed
predestination, demanded scriptural warrant for all forms of public worship,
and produced a spare – some might say bleak – cultural and artistic
aesthetic. For Puritans, humans were
wholly sinful and could achieve good only by severe discipline. However, they also emphasized education and
reading as unmediated access to the Bible.
Valued social qualities included self-reliance, frugality, and energetic
industry, the behavioral bases of early capitalism. The main body of Puritans supported a central church government (Presbyterianism),
while a strong minority preferred autonomous congregations of believers (Congregationalism). After the English Revolution, the Clarendon
Code (1661) expelled Puritans from the Church of England and they became known
as Nonconformists. In North
America, the Cambridge Platform (1648) established the principles of a
Puritan theocracy, with limited franchise for men in communion with the
church. The Massachusetts Charter of
1692 ended this Puritan theocracy and provided secular government for the
colony, unlinking suffrage from religious qualification. Puritanism as a political entity in North
America died after the 17th century.
Putney Debates – During October-November 1647,
constitutional debates were held at the Church of St. Mary, Putney, Surrey,
between factions of the revolutionary New Model Army. The Grandees were the conservative faction that sought to protect
property; the Levellers were the radical faction that demanded universal male
suffrage. The debates adjourned without
conclusion, but the constitutional proposal, An Agreement with the People,
came to represent the democratic promise of the English Revolution. A transcript of the debates can be found at http://privatewww.essex.ac.uk/~muss/webstuff/putney.htm
Quakers – A popular name for the Religious Society of
Friends, and originally a term of derision.
Founded in mid-17th century by George Fox
[1624-1691]. Fox argued that no clergy,
rite or sacrament is needed to establish communion between the soul and
God. Every soul could gain understanding
and guidance in divine truth through the ‘inner light’ supplied by the Holy
Spirit. Quakers refused to attend
worship in the Church of England, pay tithes, or participate in armed conflict. Subject to official persecution prior to the
Toleration Act of 1689, many emigrated to North America and established
Penn’s Colony (Pennsylvania). Important
early American writers from Quaker communities include John Woolman, Lucretia
Mott, and John Greenleaf Whittier.
Ranters – Followers of an antinomian movement in England,
with greatest strength during the English Revolution. Principal teaching was pantheistic, that God is present in
nature. Appealed to the inner
experience of Christ and denied the authority of Scripture. Accused of immorality and were suppressed by
acts of Parliament.
Tilth – plowing or harrowing fields.
Thermidore – Refers to the 11th
month of the French revolutionary calendar, when a coup d’etat removed
Robespierre, ended the Reign of Terror, and suppressed the Jacobin
faction. In political terms, the phrase
refers to a more conservative phase that ends or follows a revolutionary
period.
Transcendentalism – From Latin, ‘overpassing’. A philosophical and literary movement that
flourished in New England from about 1836 to 1860, originating among a small
intellectual group that was reacting against Calvinist orthodoxy and Unitarian
rationalism, developing instead a conceptual vocabulary that emphasized the
divinity of humanity and nature.
Transcendentalism emphasizes that God in immanent in nature and that
individual self-understanding is the highest source of knowledge. This led to philosophic optimism, individual
self-reliance, and rejection of traditional authority. Intellectually, this position represented an
American elaboration of German romanticism (Kant) and relied heavily on
Carlyle, Coleridge and Wordsworth. The
Transcendentalist journal The Dial (1840-1844) published writings by Ralph
Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, Margaret Fuller, Bronson
Alcott, Theodore Parker, and others. Fuller and others from the Transcendentalist group established a
communal farm, Brook Farm (1841-47).
Transcendentalism had particular influence on Hawthorne, Melville and
Whitman, and Transcendentalist essayists were leaders in the antislavery movement. Also called American Romanticism.
Triangle Trade – The 17th and 18th-century
trade pattern from England, with merchandise such as weapons, ammunition,
metal, liquor, trinkets, and cloth, to the west coast of Africa; then from
Africa, with human cargo, to either West Indies or English colonies; and
finally a return to England with agricultural products such as sugar or timber.
Whiteboys – Illegal bands of
mostly-Catholic peasant revolutionaries that roamed 18th-century
Ireland. Wearing white clothes, they attacked landlords, in protest against
enclosure of common lands, and rent collectors. Heavily suppressed by government and military action in the
1760s, with periodic outbreaks throughout the late 18th-century. Protestants had short-lived similar groups,
the Oakboys and Steelboys.