History Comes Alive

Puritan missions in New England were slow to start. Once they did, it became difficult to know where sincere evangelism ended and politics began. John Eliot received a lot of help to launch his missionary work, but there was a lot of controversy surrounding those efforts. In this episode, we will explore some of those controversies. They can tell us a lot about how deception can bring power and how that power can be wielded. Puritan missions in New England were slow to start. Once they did, it became difficult to know where sincere evangelism ended and the politics began. John Eliot received a lot of help to launch his missionary work. But there was a lot of controversy surrounding those efforts. In this episode, we will explore some of those controversies. They can tell us a lot about how deception can bring power and how that power can be yielded.

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If there is a sincere desire to succeed, one will often look to those who have already succeeded for guidance. Thomas Mayhew had been successful in missions. John Eliot and Massachusetts Bay did not look to Thomas Mayhew's example. His had been genuine. Instead, their commitment became political. It was through deception and determination that Puritan New England launched their missionary efforts. In this episode, we'll see the opening vollies of Puritan missions in New England.

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In the wake of so many controversies, there arose one more for the Puritan Oligarchy. This was in their wheelhouse and presumably should have been a slam dunk. It wasn't. The missionary efforts of The United Colonies, led by John Eliot, was marred with political intrigue and disappointing results. The records, the sentiments from those who were there, and the numeric results are a testimony not to doctrine, but to approach. Sometimes, the old adage really is true, "It's not what you say, but how you say it." In this two-part episode, we'll measure the efforts of John Eliot on the backdrop of Thomas Mayhew's work on Martha's Vineyard and the political activity of the Magistrates.

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Massachusetts Bay had been eyeing Narragansett Bay for a long time. They had been positioning themselves to absorb it. They were invited to come. Then they overreached. They scared the people that had invited them. They created a political firestorm. A legal firestorm that would be carried across the Atlantic. Although they won many battles and wrote the popular history of their day, they would not win this battle... Rhode Island would not be theirs. Join us and find out what happened!

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In a post-Pequot world, in a post-Miantonomo world, Narragansett Bay and all of Rhode Island was a coveted piece of property. The Puritans wanted it. All the Puritan groups. Even though they had formed the United Colonies, a formidable power block, they were still acting independently in their quest for land and treasure. Massachusetts Bay had the resources and manpower, not to mention the savvy, to frame the argument and control the narrative. Only one man really stood in their way. That man was Samuel Gorton. His one-man crusade to stand up to the magistrates of Massachusetts Bay opened the door to liberty for many people. He accomplished what many strong men and women could not: he beat the Magistrates of Massachusetts Bay at their own game. Check it out!

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Using the same playbook as with Sassacus, the English destroyed Miantonomo. Nobody is perfect, but he appears to have tried to accommodate and appease his English counterparts repeatedly. Even at the expense of his own culture and reputation. It did not change the outcome.

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In part three of our Trilogy on the Philosophy that drives the podcast "History Comes Alive", we will distill down the two questions: "What is the role of government?" and "What do you really know about American History?" into application. How do you process the history that you know? Does it move you to action? Are your opinions and emotions driven by your knowledge of history? Your convictions? What does that look like? How can history inspire us? Is the exercise of conviction mere mechanics, or is it utilitarian? Finally, what can Abraham Lincoln teach us about the knowledge, understanding, and application of history? Let's develop answers to these questions together.

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Last week we asked the question, "What's the Purpose of Government?" This week, we'll expand some of the principles we discussed and move the conversation forward. What do you really know about American History? Like last week, the idea behind the question is more philosophical than specific. Last week, we distilled the question down to two primary considerations, personal interest and personal rights. This week, we'll talk about the concepts of trivia and real knowledge. With the help of Socrates, George Washington, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson, we will build a philosophical framework to help us as we move forward with the colonial narrative in just a few weeks.

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As we move past the pivotal Pequot War and more toward the development of the New England Colonies, we are going to take a few weeks and begin to develop an outline of the philosophical approach to government, from my perspective, under our current order, The Constitution of the United States of America. Thumbnail sketches. Fragments of thoughts that outline what we ended up with as a Federal Government. We will begin to fill in these outlines with color over the next year or two with colonial experiences and examples. So we begin with the question: What's the purpose of government? I hope you enjoy this brief field trip away from the actual narrative.

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It would seem reasonable that after the massacre at Mystic the remaining Pequots would have been able to simply escape into the landscape and slowly be absorbed into other native groups. They weren't. The English goal had shifted. They wanted to completely erase the Pequot name from the list of nations. Their efforts were relentless, and the results were tragic. Join us for a look at the final days of the Pequot nation.

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