Puritan Covenant Source Analysis Worksheet
Early Colonial New England • Document Lab Primary Source Workshop
Puritan Covenant & Community
Name:
Date:
Period:
Historical Context: In 1630, nearly 1,000 English Puritans sailed to Massachusetts Bay under Governor John Winthrop. Puritans believed they entered a sacred covenant with God to establish a holy commonwealth where private lives and public institutions served divine law.
Document A
John Winthrop, A Model of Christian Charity (1630)
Sermon preached aboard the Arbella
Governor Winthrop outlined how the colonists must live together to ensure God's blessing in the New England wilderness:
“Now the only way to avoid this shipwreck, and to provide for our posterity, is to follow the counsel of Micah, to do justly, to love mercy, to walk humbly with our God. For this end, we must be knit together in this work as one man. We must entertain each other in brotherly affection. We must be willing to abridge ourselves of our superfluities, for the supply of others’ necessities. We must uphold a familiar commerce together in all meekness, gentleness, patience, and liberality...
For we must consider that we shall be as a City upon a hill. The eyes of all people are upon us. So that if we shall deal falsely with our God in this work we have undertaken, and so cause Him to withdraw His present help from us, we shall be made a story and a by-word through the world.”
Key Terms
Posterity: Future generations.
Superfluities: Extra luxuries or possessions.
By-word: An object of public scorn or mockery.
Source A Analysis: Community Covenant & Mutual Obligation
1. Close Reading: What specific sacrifices does Winthrop state colonists must make for one another? Cite one direct phrase. Evidence & Explanation
2. Metaphor & Purpose: Explain the phrase “City upon a hill.” What high expectations did this place on the Puritan community? Historical Interpretation
3. Theological Stakes: According to Winthrop, what will happen if the community fails to honor its covenant with God? Cause & Consequence
Unit 1: The New England Colonies Page 1 of 2 • Continue to Document B on reverse
Early Colonial New England • Document Lab Part II: Personal Piety & Synthesis
Personal Devotion & Communal Reality
Document B
Anne Bradstreet, Verses upon the Burning of our House (July 10, 1666)
Private Devotional Poem
After her family's home in Andover burned down, Bradstreet wrestled between grief for her lost goods and devotion to God:
“And when I could no longer look,
I blest His name that gave and took,
That laid my goods now in the dust.
Yea, so it was, and so ’twas just.
It was His own, it was not mine,
Far be it that I should repine...
Thou hast a house on high erect,
Framed by that mighty Architect...”
Puritan Doctrine: Providence
Puritans believed God actively controlled all worldly events. Even catastrophic loss was understood as a divine test designed to prevent believers from worshipping earthly worldly possessions instead of God.
Repine: To complain or fret against God's will.
4. Internal Tension: How does Bradstreet reconcile her grief over her destroyed home with her Puritan beliefs? Cite evidence from the poem. Textual Evidence
Part III: Synthesis & Historical Argumentation
5. Synthesis Prompt: Compare John Winthrop’s public sermon (Doc A) with Anne Bradstreet’s personal reflection (Doc B). How did Puritan religious beliefs shape both how the community governed itself and how individuals coped with personal misfortune?
Evidence & Analysis Checklist Ensure your answers include:
Direct quotes from both sources
Explanation of Puritan “covenant”
Connection to daily colonial life
Unit 1: The New England Colonies Early American Primary Source Analysis Series
