Denominations were not equal.
Congregationalists predominated the colonial population. Their religious discourses swamped secular pamphlets 4 to 1, and outnumbered other denominations' religious ones.
For local New England audiences, their message was couched totally in covenantal terms.
For other colonies, to which their exhortations were massively exported, they used the secular vernacular of rights and property which all colonies shared.
The Rebellion was couched in secular terms because diversity of sects required a common denominator, and a rhetoric that would disguise the ulterior motive's of the rebellion's New England leaders. Clark, p.44
No comments:
Post a Comment