Narratives of the Insurrections, Sixteen Seventy-Five to Sixteen Ninety

In the year 1676, the date of the first narrative in this volume, the Enghsh settlements in America were still in the formative stage of their development. Though ideas and institutions were taking shape, the social order was unsettled and there prevailed a great variety of opinions similar to those held in England and ranging from the conservative belief in passive obedience and the divinity of kings to the radical notions of Levellers and Fifth Monarchy men. As a rule, colonists radical in opinion and restless in spirit crossed the water to A merica, and naturally the environment into which they entered did little to arouse conservative instincts. Intolerance was a characteristic of those who differed on questions of government and religious faith, and much quarrelling accompanied the establishing of homes in the New World. The colonies were still receiving new accessions of people English, French, and German and each newcomer, having fled from persecution or economic distress abroad, added his quota to the stock of varied and often antagonistic opinions on matters of politics and religion. A mong the colonies themselves many diversities appeared. The New Englanders were homogeneous in race, social relations, religion, and methods of government, but to a degree greater than elsewhere were they illiberal toward others and independent of all that concerned the interest and welfare of the mother country. Virginia was largely homogeneous in race but not in class, and in political organization and economic relations was in close accord with the government at home.(Typographical errors above are due to OCR software and don't occur in the book.)About the Publisher Forgotten Books is a publisher of historical writings, such as: Philosophy, Classics, Science, Religion, History, Folklore and Mythology.Forgotten Books' Classic Reprint Series utilizes the latest technology to regenerate f