Prologue: "Bonds of affection" : three founding moments -- pt. 1. Winthrop and America's point of departure. Hawthorne's suggestion. A model of Christian charity. Two cities upon a hill -- pt. 2. Jefferson and the founding. 1776 -- the other document. A model of natural liberty. "To close the circle of our felicities" -- pt. 3. Lincoln and the refounding of America. From Tom to Abe. "Hail fall of furry! Reign of reason, all hail." "This nation, under God." A model of civic charity -- Conclusion: bonds of freedom. -- Appendix A. John Winthrop's "a model of Christian charity" speech -- Appendix B. Thomas Jefferson's "original rough draught" of the Declaration of Independence -- Appendix C. Thomas Jefferson's first inaugural -- Appendix D. Abraham Lincoln's second inaugural
Summary
Notions of Christian love, or charity, strongly shaped the political thought of John Winthrop, Thomas Jefferson, and Abraham Lincoln as each presided over a foundational moment in the development of American democracy. Matthew Holland examines how each figure interpreted and appropriated charity, revealing both the problems and possibilities of making it a political ideal. Holland first looks at early American literature and seminal speeches by Winthrop to show how the Puritan theology of this famed 17th century governor of the Massachusetts Colony (he who first envisioned America as a City up
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references (pages 291-307) and index