This paper examines three dimensions through which the notion of America as a "city on a hill" — drawn from Christ's Sermon on the Mount and popularized by John Winthrop's 1630 sermon — proved persuasive during the nation's founding era. The analysis moves from Puritan settlement in Massachusetts, where Calvinist predestination reinforced the image of moral example, to Quaker settlement in Pennsylvania, where the metaphor expressed social reform including abolitionism and prison reform, and finally to the Founding Fathers' constitutional design, which institutionalized perfectibility through the amendment process. The paper concludes by noting the darker consequences each tradition produced when the pressure of scrutiny became extreme.
What is America's role in the world? Considering that America was in many ways founded experimentally, it is only natural to imagine that outside observers are constantly looking to America as an example or a source of guidance. In particular, America's early status as an experiment in religious tolerance has led to the popularity of the phrase and image of "the city on a hill." Derived from Jesus Christ's Sermon on the Mount — where Christ tells his followers, "You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden" (Matt. 5:14) — the notion of America as both a model and a source of immense scrutiny remains popular to this day. This paper examines three ways in which the notion of America as a "city on a hill" was persuasive in the period of America's founding: the idea will be considered religiously, socially, and governmentally through the examples of Puritan settlement in Massachusetts, Quaker settlement in Pennsylvania, and through the political philosophy of the Founding Fathers.
The notion of America as the Biblical "city on a hill" is unsurprisingly derived from the early Puritan settlement. John Winthrop's 1630 sermon, preached to the first American Puritan colonists, drew on the Biblical text and suggested that these colonists would epitomize Christ's image of an example to others. What is interesting, however, is how easily the image itself would be undercut by Puritan religious beliefs. The notion of being under tremendous scrutiny is actually central to Puritanism. The Puritans believed in the Swiss theologian John Calvin's doctrine of predestination — the belief that, because God is all-powerful and all-knowing, He knows in advance which human beings are already going to Hell; in some sense, they are predestined to damnation. As a result, Puritan religious doctrine separates people into two categories: the Preterite, who are already going to Hell, and the Elect, who are guaranteed salvation no matter what they do. Consequently, one's behavior should present an impeccable exterior in the eyes of others — that is how a Puritan demonstrates membership among God's Elect. To Winthrop's congregation, the willingness of these particular Puritans to assert their religious principles enough to join this utopian experiment in the Massachusetts Bay Colony guaranteed their Election; it was now only important for them to behave accordingly.
"Quaker inner light and social reform movements"
"Constitution as a model of governmental perfectibility"
"Dark consequences and enduring influence of the ideal"
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