# The Puritan Origins of American Patriotism



## VirginiaHuguenot (Jul 11, 2007)

_The Puritan Origins of American Patriotism_ by George McKenna is due to be published in August 2007.


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## crhoades (Jul 11, 2007)

Pre-ordered! Good find! Amazon has them for 23.10


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## VirginiaHuguenot (Nov 4, 2007)

Any reviews yet?


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## VirginiaHuguenot (Dec 31, 2007)

It is an interesting read.


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## Semper Fidelis (Dec 31, 2007)

Does he link Rutherford's _Lex Rex_ to some of the contributing thought (i.e. the idea that subjects are permitted to resist the tyranny of a King)?


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## VirginiaHuguenot (Dec 31, 2007)

SemperFideles said:


> Does he link Rutherford's _Lex Rex_ to some of the contributing thought (i.e. the idea that subjects are permitted to resist the tyranny of a King)?



He does not refer to Rutherford or Philippe Duplessis-Mornay (aka Junius Brutus), though he does refer to Jonathan Mayhew. He has very little to say about the Puritan / Covenanter / Huguenot theories of resistance to tyranny which influenced the American War of Independence.


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## AV1611 (Jan 1, 2008)

VirginiaHuguenot said:


> He has very little to say about the Puritan / Covenanter / Huguenot theories of resistance to tyranny which influenced the American War of Independence.



I thought it was more Locke's influence and his social contract theory that influenced it rather than Puritan / Covenanter / Huguenot theories of resistance


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## VirginiaHuguenot (Jan 1, 2008)

AV1611 said:


> VirginiaHuguenot said:
> 
> 
> > He has very little to say about the Puritan / Covenanter / Huguenot theories of resistance to tyranny which influenced the American War of Independence.
> ...



John Adams said that _A Defense of Liberty Against Tyrants_ by the Huguenot Duplessis-Mornay was "one of the most influential books in America on the eve of the Revolution," more so than Thomas Paine's _Common Sense_. 

And while the US Declaration of Independence is arguably Deistic, scholars have linked it to the 1581 Dutch Declaration of Independence and the 1775 Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence, both of which articulate Calvinistic theories of resistance to tyranny.

"The Revolution of 1776, so far as it was affected by religion, was a Presbyterian measure. It was the natural outgrowth of the principles which the Presbyterianism of the Old World planted in her sons, the English Puritans, the Scotch Covenanters, the French Huguenots, the Dutch Calvinists, and the Presbyterians of Ulster." -- George Bancroft


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## Reformed Covenanter (Jan 1, 2008)

AV1611 said:


> VirginiaHuguenot said:
> 
> 
> > He has very little to say about the Puritan / Covenanter / Huguenot theories of resistance to tyranny which influenced the American War of Independence.
> ...



There is a bit of both. The book _A Defence of Liberty Against Tyrants_ is supposed to have been very influential.

The America Revolution was a great victory for freedom and limited civil government.


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## Stephen (Jan 1, 2008)

After this year's Presidential election in the U.S, Americans may need another revolution.


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## Reformed Covenanter (Jan 1, 2008)

Stephen said:


> After this year's Presidential election in the U.S, Americans may need another revolution.



If Hilary Clinton gets in you certainly will.


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## Stephen (Jan 1, 2008)

Daniel, if she is elected it will be the judgment of the LORD on America, and I am serious on that point. You raise a point that might make for good discussion. Are Christian's obligated to oppose tyranny and when does a government become tyrannical? It is imposed in the U.S Constitution that states can withdraw from the union.


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## RamistThomist (Jan 1, 2008)

Stephen said:


> Are Christian's obligated to oppose tyranny and when does a government become tyrannical? It is imposed in the U.S Constitution that states can withdraw from the union.



The 14th amendement sort of put a stop to that, unfortunately. Yes, Christians have the right to resist, but not always violently. There must be a lesser civil magistrate and if this is to be successful, it needs to be on the local level.

Sorry, I didn't see Josh's post. I won't say no more.


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