Puritan Democracy in Dedham, Massachusetts: Another Case Study

Abstract

HE origins of American democracy in seventeenth-century New England have for some years been matter of controversy among historians. Whether colonial Massachusetts was democratic or whether it was theocracy, far from being democracy, a religious oligarchy' are still matters of some concern to anyone who would understand Puritan society and its contributions to later American civilization. This detailed study of single town, Dedham, Massachusetts, is offered as one piece of evidence that might help to clarify the issue. Until historians make careful studies from local records the answers will be merely opinions or guesswork, and unfortunately, many of the requisite sources are no longer extant. Dedham offers particularly valuable study because the records there are available in the right combination to give us some fairly precise information. From its beginning in i635 Dedham was governed by locally conceived framework called the which laid down general rules covering social, economic, and religious problems. The Covenant was essentially an agreement among the town's inhabitants to abide by certain rules and was to be signed by all newcomers who planned to make Dedham their home. The first rule, and therefore the one which