In 1678; the Puritan minister Samuel Nowell preached a sermon he called "Abraham in Arms;" in which he urged his listeners to remember that "Hence it is no wayes unbecoming a Christian to learn to be a Souldier." The title of Nowell's sermon was well chosen. Abraham of the Old Testament resonated deeply with New England men; as he embodied the ideal of the householder-patriarch; at once obedient to God and the unquestioned leader of his family and his people in war and peace. Yet enemies challenged Abraham's authority in New England: Indians threatened the safety of his household; subordinates in his own family threatened his status; and wives and daughters taken into captivity became baptized Catholics; married French or Indian men; and refused to return to New England.In a bold reinterpretation of the years between 1620 and 1763; Ann M. Little reveals how ideas about gender and family life were central to the ways people in colonial New England; and their neighbors in New France and Indian Country; described their experiences in cross-cultural warfare. Little argues that English; French; and Indian people had broadly similar ideas about gender and authority. Because they understood both warfare and political power to be intertwined expressions of manhood; colonial warfare may be understood as a contest of different styles of masculinity. For New England men; what had once been a masculinity based on household headship; Christian piety; and the duty to protect family and faith became one built around the more abstract notions of British nationalism; anti-Catholicism; and soldiering for the Empire.Based on archival research in both French and English sources; court records; captivity narratives; and the private correspondence of ministers and war officials; Abraham in Arms reconstructs colonial New England as a frontier borderland in which religious; cultural; linguistic; and geographic boundaries were permeable; fragile; and contested by Europeans and Indians alike.
#454315 in Books Chronicle Books 2001-09-01Ingredients: Example IngredientsOriginal language:EnglishPDF # 1 1.00 x 1.00 x 1.00l; #File Name: 081182783631 pages
Review
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful. I Love This Book: Great for ResearchBy N. JohnstonI'm writing a novel about two Irish immigrants; Aislin and Liam (a married couple); and this gave me a lot of information that I couldn't find on the internet. Having ancestors from Ireland and Scotland--and having the red hair and Scottish last name; Johnston; to prove it--I really like learning about what life might have been like for them back hundreds of years ago. I think that if you want to learn about how life was back then from their days in Ireland all the way to their days in the American land; this is a great source to use; whether it's for a research paper; writing a novel (as I am); or just learning about people who left Ireland for the promised land. It's thorough; provides plenty of useful information; and has a lot of great extras; like letters and posters and more from the 1700s-1800s. If you're interested; buy this book.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Good price.By CustomerInteresting book. Good price.2 of 2 people found the following review helpful. What a cleaver idea!By P. LowisThe book has copies of actual letters tucked in envelopes on different pages. I loved the idea. I couldn't read some of them as they had faded through the years. But alas! They are reprinted at the end of the book. It was a good follow up to Out of Ireland. Thank you; Mr. And Mrs. Miller.
