OSHER 211 - Our Colonial Origins: Faith, Order, and Liberty

Puritanism dominated the intellectual and political life of colonial New England and had a direct impact on American political and cultural development. Studying the foundational documents of the New England political experiment reveals how and why this occurred. Of course the Magna Carta, the English Constitution, and the Declaration of Independence were important but there are many lesser known documents of equal if not more importance to the development of moral and political ideas derived from that time. In each class session we will consider one or two primary documents and examine them in the historical context of time, place, and the people involved and how their effect manifests today.