The Puritan Cosmopolis: The Law of Nations and the Early American Imagination by Nan Goodman (review)

Nan Goodman’s book The Puritan Cosmopolis is about the way Massachusetts Puritans revealed “cosmopolitan” sensibilities, if only during the thirty or so years that witnessed the revocation of the Massachusetts Bay Charter by King James and the revolt of Massachusetts men against Royal Governor Andros. Due in large measure to the writings of Hugo Grotius, John Selden, and Alberico Gentili, a new “law of nations” appeared that would govern nation-states and instill in men, including late seventeenth- and early eighteenth-century Massachusetts Puritans, a common sense of belonging to the world. Treaties, such as the treaties of Westphalia, appeared for the first time; and, to use Goodman’s words, “War was no longer an instrument of justice; the law was” (79). These were perhaps the basic qualities of the type of cosmopolitanism that Goodman discusses here, and it makes for interesting reading, providing insight into some of the most interesting events in Puritan New England history.

Puritans, of course, always had a sense of community that was religious, and they had “fellow feelings” for other saints of the Massachusetts Puritan community who were struggling with the same religious concerns about salvation and church membership. However, Goodman speaks here of a sense of world community and sympathies for distant others simply because they are human and have the same or similar feelings all humans have. These interests in others were extended by late seventeenth-century Puritans to, for example, the Ottomans, whose penitence after defeat in war was of interest to Massachusetts Puritans, who similarly felt it necessary to humble themselves before God when their charter was revoked. The new “law of nations,” which governed the relations between warring nations, made such identification with even the infidel possible, and identification with others, however limited (Turks, for example, were still not redeemable), would be a key component of Puritan cosmopolitanism.

As Goodman explains, the suggestion that the law of nations contributed significantly to cosmopolitanism represents something of a departure from traditional thought about the law of nations, which is often viewed as the predecessor to “international law,” with its nationalist rivalries and impassable borders. The challenge in this book, as Goodman points out, is explaining how the law of nations in New England’s Puritan period gave rise to a legal atmosphere that was far more inclusive and cosmopolitan than the system of “international law” that ultimately arose from the law of nations.

For Puritans in particular, there were several ways in which the law of nations influenced the development of a Puritan cosmopolis. As explained, there appeared among late seventeenth-century Puritans a universalism that found even Turkish religious customs of interest. Not surprisingly given the migrations of different religions to the new world, Puritans began to see themselves as affiliated locally and globally with Protestants of other denominations in New England, Great Britain, and Germany, especially as the enemy French and Spanish colonists became prominent in the Puritan mind. There was also a return to Jewish sources, notably the Noahide laws of the Bible promoted by John Selden. These laws could be applied equally to strangers and citizens of local communities in the modern world, just as the Hebrews of the Bible applied it in their world, thus providing a basis for greater inclusion of peoples other than Jews. As the law of nations developed, so too did the creation of treaties among nations; and treaties became literature. Many, such as the treaties of Westphalia, were read for their general interest. These developments in the law of nations appeared as New England Puritans revised their ideas about the covenant, the millennium, evidences, and Pietism, all of which became more cosmopolitan, Goodman maintains.

Among the more significant contributions of Goodman’s book is her discussion of the way the Puritan covenant evolved from a symbol of Puritan exclusivity early in the history of the Massachusetts colony to a symbol of participation by the...