In this revelatory account of the people who founded the New England colonies, historian David D. Hall compares the reforms they enacted with those attempted in England during the period of the English Revolution. Bringing with them a deep fear of arbitrary, unlimited authority, these settlers based their churches on the participation of laypeople and insisted on ""consent"" as a premise of all civil governance. Puritans also transformed civil and criminal law and the workings of courts with the intention of establishing equity. In this political and social history of the five New England colonies, Hall provides a masterful re-evaluation of the earliest moments of New England's history, revealing the colonists to be the most effective and daring reformers of their day.
- ISBN13 9780807873113
- Publish Date 1 August 2012 (first published 1 January 2011)
- Publish Status Active
- Out of Print 12 March 2021
- Publish Country US
- Imprint The University of North Carolina Press
- Edition New edition
- Format Paperback
- Pages 288
- Language English