Heavenly Merchandize offers a critical reexamination of religion's role in the creation of a market economy in early America. Focusing on the economic culture of New England; it views commerce through the eyes of four generations of Boston merchants; drawing upon their personal letters; diaries; business records; and sermon notes to reveal how merchants built a modern form of exchange out of profound transitions in the puritan understanding of discipline; providence; and the meaning of New England. Mark Valeri traces the careers of men like Robert Keayne; a London immigrant punished by his church for aggressive business practices; John Hull; a silversmith-turned-trader who helped to establish commercial networks in the West Indies; and Hugh Hall; one of New England's first slave traders. He explores how Boston ministers reconstituted their moral languages over the course of a century; from a scriptural discourse against many market practices to a providential worldview that justified England's commercial hegemony and legitimated the market as a divine construct. Valeri moves beyond simplistic readings that reduce commercial activity to secular mind-sets; and refutes the popular notion of an inherent affinity between puritanism and capitalism. He shows how changing ideas about what it meant to be pious and puritan informed the business practices of Boston's merchants; who filled their private notebooks with meditations on scripture and the natural order; founded and led churches; and inscribed spiritual reflections in their letters and diaries. Unprecedented in scope and rich with insights; Heavenly Merchandize illuminates the history behind the continuing American dilemma over morality and the marketplace.
#480581 in Books Lepore Jill 2011-08-28Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 8.46 x .65 x 5.57l; .50 #File Name: 0691153000232 pagesThe Whites of Their Eyes
Review
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. A cogent and coherent narrativeBy Vitr FoukaWith all of the distortions surrounding the origins of the Revolution; it is important to have an unbiased look at what really happened. Jill Lepore excels at bringing these obscure events of the time to light; while revealing the mythology pushed today by those trying to co-opt the events for their own purposes. It should be required reading in every high school.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Absorbing StudyBy NJReaderAbsorbing study of the Tea Party rise and especially interesting considering the events of the 2016 presidential election. A rigorous and insightful presentation - Jill Lepore's work always leads to discovering other authors and a deeper understanding of American events.6 of 7 people found the following review helpful. CompellingBy SassyNerdThis book is a good companion text to Peter Novick's That Noble Dream. Lepore explores why academic historians have a duty to engage with the world outside of the Ivory Tower. The audio book is also very well narrated.
