Puritan Attitudes Towards Recreation in Early Seventeenth-century New England
Puritan Attitudes Towards Recreation in Early Seventeenth-century New England

Author: Hans-Peter Wagner

Publisher: Peter Lang Gmbh, Internationaler Verlag Der Wissenschaften

Published: 1982

Total Pages: 280

ISBN-13:

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

The interdisciplinary approach of this study tries to bridge a gap in the field of Puritan Studies, the one between the two camps of intellectual and social science historians. Focusing on the attitudes of the early Puritan church members in New England towards sport and recreation in general, the book attemps to show the differences between Puritan theory and New England reality. At no point in their history were the Puritan leaders able to enforce their secular and ecclesiastical laws. Even within the leadership itself a wide spectrum of opinions on recreation existed. The Puritan preachers reacted to this dilemma in their hortatory sermons, the jeremiads, which were employed to shame the younger generations into comformity by inventing the myth of the godly founding fathers. But the Puritan utopia was condemned to failure from the very start: the church members could not resist temptation.

People of Prowess
People of Prowess

Author: Nancy L. Struna

Publisher: University of Illinois Press

Published: 1996

Total Pages: 306

ISBN-13: 9780252065521

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Prowess--extraordinary skill and ability, especially in sports--has always been important to Americans, even in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Nancy L. Struna explores the significance, meaning, and structure of competitive matches and displays of physical prowess for both men and women in colonial culture. Engrossingly written for the general reader as well as sport and leisure historians, People of Prowess is a pioneering work that explores a rarely examined area of colonial history and society.

Worldly Saints
Worldly Saints

Author: Leland Ryken

Publisher: Zondervan Academic

Published: 2010-09-28

Total Pages: 429

ISBN-13: 0310874289

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

"Ryken's Worldly Saints offers a fine introduction to seventeenth-century Puritanism in its English and American contexts. The work is rich in quotations from Puritan worthies and is ideally suited to general readers who have not delved widely into Puritan literature. It will also be a source of information and inspiration to those who seek a clearer understanding of the Puritan roots of American Christianity." -Harry Stout, Yale University "...the typical Puritans were not wild men, fierce and freaky, religious fanatics and social extremists, but sober, conscientious, and cultured citizens, persons of principle, determined and disciplined excelling in the domestic virtues, and with no obvious shortcomings save a tendency to run to words when saying anything important, whether to God or to a man. At last the record has been put straight." -J.I. Packer, Regent College "Worldly Saints provides a revealing treasury of primary and secondary evidence for understanding the Puritans, who they were, what they believed, and how they acted. This is a book of value and interest for scholars and students, clergy and laity alike." -Roland Mushat Frye, University of Pennsylvania "A very persuasive...most interesting book...stuffed with quotations from Puritan sources, almost to the point of making it a mini-anthology." -Publishers Weekly "With Worldly Saints, Christians of all persuasions have a tool that provides ready access to the vast treasures of Puritan thought." -Christianity Today "Ryken writes with a vigor and enthusiasm that makes delightful reading-never a dull moment." -Fides et Historia "Worldly Saints provides a valuable picture of Puritan life and values. It should be useful for general readers as well as for students of history and literature." -Christianity and Literature

Puritanism and the Pursuit of Happiness
Puritanism and the Pursuit of Happiness

Author: S. Bryn Roberts

Publisher: Boydell & Brewer Ltd

Published: 2015

Total Pages: 234

ISBN-13: 1843839784

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Reveals a much neglected strand of puritan theology which emphasised the importance of inner happiness and personal piety.

City Games
City Games

Author: Steven A. Riess

Publisher: University of Illinois Press

Published: 1991

Total Pages: 372

ISBN-13: 9780252062162

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Investigative reporters Newfield (NY Daily News) and Barrett (Village Voice) attempt to expose the Koch administration's descent into corruption and criminality. No bibliography. Dealing primarily with the time of the industrial radial city (1870-1960), Riess (history, Northeastern Illinois U.) examines the complex interrelationship and interdependence of sport and the city. He shows how demographic growth, evolving spatial arrangements, social reform, the formation of class and ethnic subcultures, the expansion of urban government, and the rise of political machines and crime syndicates all interacted to influence the development of American sport. Heavily annotated, with many striking bandw illustrations. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Margaret Cavendish
Margaret Cavendish

Author: Emma Rees

Publisher: Manchester University Press

Published: 2024-06-04

Total Pages: 225

ISBN-13: 1526184036

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Margaret Cavendish was one of the most prolific, complex and misunderstood writers of the seventeenth century. A contemporary of Descartes and Hobbes, she was fascinated by philosophical, scientific and imaginative advances, and struggled to overcome the political and cultural obstacles which threatened to stop her engagement with such discourses. Emma Rees examines how Cavendish engaged with the work of thinkers such as Lucretius, Plato, Homer and Harvey in an attempt to write her way out of the exile which threatened not only her intellectual pursuits but her very existence. What emerges is the image of an intelligent, audacious and intrepid early modern woman whose tale will appeal to specialists and general readers alike.

Of Gods and Games
Of Gods and Games

Author: William J. Baker

Publisher: University of Georgia Press

Published: 2016-11-01

Total Pages: 94

ISBN-13: 0820349860

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

That Americans take to sports with a spiritual fervor is no secret. Athletics has even been called a civil religion for how it permeates our daily lives as we chase our own dreams of glory or watch others compete. Few would deny our national devotion to sports; however, many would gloss over it as all of a piece. To do that, as William J. Baker shows us, is to miss the fascinating variety of experiences at the intersection of sports and religion—and the ramifications of such on a national citizenry defined, as Baker writes, “by the team they cheer on Saturday and the church they attend on Sunday.” With nods to modern and ancient history, Baker looks at the ever-changing relationship between faith and sports through vignettes about devout athletes, coaches, and journalists. Of Gods and Games offers an accessible entrée into some of the larger issues embedded in American culture’s sports–religion connection. Baker first considers two Christian athletes who have engaged sports and religion on fundamentally different terms: Shelly Pennefather, one of the dominant women’s basketball players of the late 1980s, who left the sport for life as a cloistered nun; and Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow, who has used his college and pro football careers as a platform for evangelizing. In discussing basketball coach Dean Smith (University of North Carolina) and football coaches Steve Spurrier (University of South Carolina) and Bill McCartney (University of Colorado) Baker looks at how each strove to honor faith amid sometimes complicated personal lives and ever-crushing professional demands. Finally, Baker looks at how faith inspired such sportswriters as Grantland Rice, who sprinkled his stories with religious allusions, and Watson Spoelstra, who struck a deal with God at his daughter’s deathbed (she recovered) and subsequently devoted his off-hours and retirement years to charity work.

America's Indomitable Character Volume II
America's Indomitable Character Volume II

Author: Frederick William Dame

Publisher: BoD – Books on Demand

Published: 2014-09-09

Total Pages: 442

ISBN-13: 3735746276

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Volume II of America's Indomitable Character has information on: A synopsis of Volume I. A preview concerning the content of Volume II with the sub-themes of Nature, human nature, society, the social contract, and education and how they weave into American character identity. American character identity and its Colonial connection to the philosophy of Jean-Jacques Rousseau. The historical personage Michel Guillaume (J. Hector St. John) de Crèvecoeur, a French, British, American Colonial citizen, and the America farmer par excellence who posed the famous question: What is an American? Benjamin Franklin's contributions to the developing American character identity. Thomas Paine's revolutionary views on American character identity. Thomas Jefferson's philosophical contributions to American character identity. John Dickinson, America's soldier and founding father. Hugh Henry Brackenridge, American publisher and author who educated Colonial Americans in politics. The literary group the Connecticut Wits who were both for and against America's independent development. The role of Colonial Religion and early attitudes concerning the American Colonial Theater as they relate to American character identity. The American dramatist and jurist Royall Tyler and his play The Contrast (A Comedy in Five Acts) in which the newly developing American consciousness of independence, including female independence, vis-à-vis English foppery and buffoonery are presented. Further, the use of the Native American's chanson du mort, in this case the Song of Alknomook and the dramaturgical presentation of Yankee Doodle are of utmost importance in understanding The Contrast and how they interplay with American character identity. The Albany Plan of Union. The Declaration of Independence written by the Founding Fathers. The Articles of Confederation (and Perpetual Union). A chronology of theatrical events between 1600 and 1800.

The Sport of Kings and the Kings of Crime
The Sport of Kings and the Kings of Crime

Author: Steven A. Riess

Publisher: Syracuse University Press

Published: 2011-06-24

Total Pages: 476

ISBN-13: 0815651546

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Thoroughbred racing was one of the first major sports in early America. Horse racing thrived because it was a high-status sport that attracted the interest of both old and new money. It grew because spectators enjoyed the pageantry, the exciting races, and, most of all, the gambling. As the sport became a national industry, the New York metropolitan area, along with the resort towns of Saratoga Springs (New York) and Long Branch (New Jersey), remained at the center of horse racing with the most outstanding race courses, the largest purses, and the finest thoroughbreds. Riess narrates the history of horse racing, detailing how and why New York became the national capital of the sport from the mid-1860s until the early twentieth century. The sport’s survival depended upon the racetrack being the nexus between politicians and organized crime. The powerful alliance between urban machine politics and track owners enabled racing in New York to flourish. Gambling, the heart of racing’s appeal, made the sport morally suspect. Yet democratic politicians protected the sport, helping to establish the State Racing Commission, the first state agency to regulate sport in the United States. At the same time, racetracks became a key connection between the underworld and Tammany Hall, enabling illegal poolrooms and off-course bookies to operate. Organized crime worked in close cooperation with machine politicians and local police officers to protect these illegal operations. In The Sport of Kings and the Kings of Crime, Riess fills a long-neglected gap in sports history, offering a richly detailed and fascinating chronicle of thoroughbred racing’s heyday.

A Cultural History of Work in the Age of Enlightenment
A Cultural History of Work in the Age of Enlightenment

Author: Anne Montenach

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2020-09-17

Total Pages: 248

ISBN-13: 1350078271

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Winner of the 2020 PROSE Award for Multivolume Reference/Humanities The Enlightenment led to revised ideas about work together with new social attitudes toward work and workers. Coupled with dynamism in the economy, and the rise of the middling orders, work was more frequently perceived positively, as a commodity and as a source of social respectability. This volume explores the cultural implications of the transition from older systems based on privilege, control and embedded practices to a more open society increasingly based on merit and ability. It examines how guild controls broke down and political and commercial systems loosened. It also considers the theoretical justifications that brought new binding ideas, such as the strengthening of ideology on home, domesticity for the female, and work and politics for the male. North America embodied the extremes of these transitions with free workers able to make their way in a society based on ability and initiative while solidifying the ravages of the slavery system. A Cultural History of Work in the Age of Enlightenment presents an overview of the period with essays on economies, representations of work, workplaces, work cultures, technology, mobility, society, politics and leisure.