The New England Mind: The Seventeenth Century

"The New England Mind is a work of profound scholarship. For much of the nineteenth century, the Puritans who founded New England were dismissed by their descendants as a retrograde people; so much so that the word ‘puritan’ was a term of abuse. Miller, a professor at Harvard, showed that the Puritan founders were actually an incredibly learned group who led the Reformation and were at the forefront of seventeenth-century scientific thought. Miller rehabilitated the Puritans and in so doing, transformed the twentieth-century understanding of America’s origins. The New England Mind is a sprawling, two-volume work; no one is going to take it to the beach. But if anyone is interested in exploring the modern foundations of how we understand New England, it’s indispensable reading. The Massachusetts Bay Colony’s success was built on Puritan colonists’ ability to develop a thriving economy. To sustain a religious culture, including learned clergymen and cultured congregants, Puritans needed wealth. The cost of shipping during the Age of Sail was so high that Puritans could only profit from voyages that carried high-value commodities. But New England’s climate and conditions didn’t yield any commodity that remained in sustained demand. Colonists had to find a place to sell what they could produce, simple farm products and salted meats. And they had to find a place where merchants could then buy goods someone in London would want. This is where the West Indies came in; sugar plantations needed food for slaves, plus barrels and wood products. “The Massachusetts Bay Colony’s success was built on Puritan colonists’ ability to develop a thriving economy” To sustain this trade, merchants needed some form of currency. So, from the very beginning, Boston merchants became creative. At first, they adopted wampum, which they wrongly believed was Indian money. Then, they melted down Spanish silver and started coining New England’s own money. No other colony did this; it was most likely illegal. It was the beginning of experimental finance. That’s the way Boston became a financial center."