Rhetoric and history in Revolutionary New England

Abstract

This book attempts to reconstruct the subjective world-view of the evangelical ministers who preached in revolutionary New England, by analysing in each chapter the sermons of a representative minister. Exploring the habits of mind, the hopes, and the sense of history displayed by the ministers and perhaps shared by the people, Donald Weber shows how the clergy explained revolutionary times and what stories they summoned to effect the collective passage from dependence to Independence. He finds that the patriot clergy were often uncertain about the course of history and the outcome of events. Rather than restoring or redrawing boundaries, the sermons convey a sense of contingency; the designs of Providence are no longer apparent. Weber concludes that the changing rhetorical styles of the preachers reflect the passage of the country through this limited historical period.