Errands into the Metropolis
New England Dissidents in Revolutionary London
Publication Year: 2009
Through chapters focusing on John Cotton, Roger Williams, Samuel Gorton, John Clarke, and the Quaker martyrs, Field traces an evolving discourse on the past, present, and future of colonial New England that revises the canon of colonial New England literature and the contours of New England history. In the broader field of early American studies, Field's work demonstrates the benefits of an Atlantic perspective on the material cultures of print. In the context of religious freedom, Errands into the Metropolis shows Rhode Island's famous culture of toleration emerging as a pragmatic response to the conditions of colonial life, rather than as an idealistic principle. Errands into the Metropolis offers new understanding of familiar texts and events from colonial New England, and reveals the significance of less familiar texts and events.
Published by: Dartmouth College Press
Title Page
Contents
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pp. xi-
Acknowledgments
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pp. xiii-xv
The opportunity to acknowledge the many debts I have accumulated in writing this book is one of the greatest joys that comes with finishing it. What is good in this book is largely the responsibility of the names that follow; its limitations and errors...
Introduction
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pp. 1-16
In 1663, Charles II, the restored king of England, granted a charter to the colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. The king put his seal to several colonial charters in the early years of his reign, but the charter for Rhode Island was...
1. 50% Cotton: Authorship, Authority, and the Atlantic
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pp. 17-25
The first dissident errand from New England to London was Roger Williams’s 1643–44 trip to London. Roger Williams began and ended his this trip by publishing works concerning Indians. However...
2. A Key for the Gate: Roger Williams, Parliament, & Providence
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pp. 26-47
Among the first generation of English settlers in New England, Roger Williams is one of the most appealing figures for present-day readers. In contrast to contemporaries whose names are bywords for intolerance, scholars hail Williams as a prophet...
3. "A Belcher-Out of Errours": Samuel Gorton and the Atlantic Subject
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pp. 48-71
Roger Williams demonstrated to his neighbors at home in Rhode Island that it was possible for a member of a religious minority to describe the state of affairs in New England in a way that would persuade Parliament to intervene on its behalf against...
4. Antinomians, Anabaptists, and Aquidneck: Contesting Heresy in Interregnum London
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pp. 72-89
Samuel Gorton’s errand secured the integrity of the mainland portion of the colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, and, in the form of Gorton’s passport, generated a rebuke to the Bay Colony for its highhanded relations with its neighbors...
5. Suffering and Subscribing: Configurations of Authorship in the Quaker Atlantic
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pp. 90-115
In the late 1650s and early 1660s, Quakers suffered in New England and published in England, just as Clarke and Gorton had before them. Publishing Quaker sufferings, however, was a far more elaborate proposition. Quaker apologists...
Conclusion: "A Lively Experiment”
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pp. 116-127
Quaker sufferings in New England reached their zenith as the Restoration occurred in England, and shaped the nature of their appeals to metropolitan authority. At the same time, the Restoration was a moment of great uncertainty for the inhabitants...
Notes
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pp. 129-148
Index
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pp. 149-154
E-ISBN-13: 9781584658238
E-ISBN-10: 1584658231
Print-ISBN-13: 9781584657743
Page Count: 176
Publication Year: 2009
Series Title: Reencounters with Colonialism: New Perspectives on the Americas
