The Enduring Vision (Boyer) Chapter 3 analysis: The Emergence of Colonial Societies, 1625-1700 By: David Schlais

Readers of The Enduring Vision (Boyer) could break down most of the third chapter into two basic themes: development and religious/moral tension. The third chapter takes these two themes and compares them between the different regions: the Chesapeake, New England, the Middle Colonies, and the Southern Colonies. The 17th century was full of colonists learning to be self-sufficient, building societies, and figuring out how to establish their own ideas of a utopian society. Each idea changed from region to region. However, their beliefs on what was needed to create a long-lasting society all had one common ingredient: a stable economy. As the colonies started to build their own economic systems regionally based on its geography, their development as a society became inevitable. During this time period, however, one of the major issues of the time was in regards to religion and morality. Not only was the protestant vs. Catholic issue going on between European countries, but colonies also had to decide what their stance on religious toleration (if any) they should have. Each region also varied in their stance of what role religion had. Some argued that it should be the center of the society, and therefore the center of politics as well, while others believed that it should be kept from political affairs. Many conflicts and tensions arose from not only these religious questions, but also in deciding morality on certain issues such as slavery. The chapter starts off with the religious vs. political debate in the Chesapeake. In Virginia, the church seems to have been the center of economic matters. However, the textbook did not expand on the extent of which this was carried out, and the social consequences from this. Given that Virginia was an English colony, and many people left England in order to have religious freedom, a set church with laws enforcing all citizens to attend would have many implications. In this aspect, the book did not expand enough to get the feeling of religious tension in its entirety. And given that religious tension was one of the major themes during this time period, it is something that is important to realize and understand. However, Marylands situation was described well and in full. The reader could really sense the religious tension, not only prior to the Act for Religious Toleration, but also afterwards through the

political conflicts that came up due to a Catholic-based society (along with mentioned physical fighting and resistance) (Boyer 55). Despite the area being Christian in nature, the book shows the sense of indifference to slavery. The book does a great job in portraying the mentality of those in the Chesapeake area and their views of slavery. By showing the expansion of slavery and demands for importing slaves, it is shown that little opposition to reduce slavery was successful in the region. One thing that I thought the book could have improved on was talking more about the viewpoints of the people during the time instead of just showing the implications made when we look back at the history today. For example, Boyer goes in detail about Bacons Rebellion, and talks about the wickedness of his actions and is portrayed in a negative light. And although most people today would agree with this opinion, Boyer never stated what others viewed him as back then. Many people at the time, and even some people today, see him as a hero rather than a villain. A few churches from the time even had stained glass windows of him (Swan 1). I thought that Boyer could have done a better job to at least mention this other side of the argument or stating the different viewpoints of people from that time period to prevent bias. Besides when presenting about Nathaniel Bacon, I thought that the book did a great job of letting the reader come up with their own conclusions. As a good history textbook should, this chapter presented the facts and let the reader come up with their own conclusions. For example, in terms of Anne Hutchinson and Roger Williams, Boyer expressed their radical beliefs, stated the fact that they were banished, and left the major issues of the morality and correctness of their banishments for the readers to determine, rather than presenting a one-sided, biased argument. Another thing that I loved about this book was the interconnections between the social, political, and economic views at the time. Although often taught separate from the others, these three biggest factors of history all contribute to tell the same story, and are actually one and the same.

Readers that put them all together helps create the best view of history. This chapter does that well, and even has a header, Economic and Religious Tensions. Instead of separating the two, both are put together to show that these tensions built on each other and are important to view together. Not only did the religious clergy and the church in general create conflict with merchants and other economic contributors, but the growing influence and power of the new wealth was a threat to the church. Social views of the time can also be implied when Boyer talks about the merchants influence on public opinion (Boyer 67). In that same section he also talks about the undermining of religious power due to social and economic changes. This is important so that the reader can see the decline from the prior dominance of mandatory religious view to a less important, optional one. Grasping the big ideas such as this is important to understanding history in its entirety: which is why I give a thumbs-up to this book over many others that are mostly or entirely trivial-knowledge based. Although there are some aspects of the book that I thought could be improved, overall, I thought it did a great job showing the big picture of this segment of American history. There were points where I would have liked to seen elaboration on the impact that specific events or ideas had on society as a whole rather than just stating what happened. However, this book was almost perfect for my style of learning, with showing the connections between everything instead of chunking and separating all of the topics. I also thought the book did a good job at limiting the amount of bias that was put into the book. Instead of lots of claims made by modern-day authors, the book usually just stated what happened and let the reader decide for him or herself. The idea of what a perfect textbook varies from person to person, which is why there are so many textbooks out there. However, for me, this book helped me see the big picture and understand the main ideas in each of the chapters Ive read (not only Chapter 3), which is why I would definitely give my recommendation to anyone looking to understand American history.

Works Cited
Boyer, Paul S. The Enduring vision. Chapter 3: The Emergence of Colonial Societies. Belmont: Wadsworth, 2011. Print. Swan, Kathleen Owings. "HSI: Historical Scene Investigation." William & Mary. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 June 2011. <http://web.wm.edu/hsi/cases/bacon/bacon_teacher.html>.