Albions Seed: Marriage and Cultural Folkways

Table of Contents

Introduction
Jonathan Edwards
George Whitefield
Conclusion
Bibliography
Footnotes

Introduction

David Hackett Fishers book called Albions Seed describes the folk customs of four groups of people who moved from different areas of Great Britain to the United States. The argument of the book is that the culture of each of the groups has been preserved and forms the basis of the political culture of the modern United States. Discussing the four influential directions that affected the marriage and folks of the modern community of America, Fisher highlights that the English Puritans and Anglicanism affected the formation of the insulations of family and marriage. The analysis of the lives of the representatives of Puritanism and Anglicism can depict the preserved traditions discussed by Fisher. The marriages of Jonathan Edwards and George Whitefield reflect the cultural folkways of East Anglia explained by Fisher in Albions Seed.

Jonathan Edwards

Jonathan Edwards, one of the greatest Christian thinkers of all time, was a man who had the amazingly rare fortune of uniting a Christian ministry of world-historical scope and happy marriage full of warmth and friendship. Edwards life can be described on the basis of Fishers chapter on the exodus of the English Puritans.¹ The Pilgrims and Puritans have influenced the corporate and educational culture of the northeastern United States. Sarah, Jonathans wife, came from the very heights of the Puritan community. Sarah was already an eligible bride among Puritan girls in New England who were usually married off at sixteen.²Edwards wrote nothing specifically on family issues. But many of his works are imbued with the atmosphere of warmth and love that was in his house. The basic principle of Edwards philosophy is the principle of love, and above all, Love for Being, by which he often and quite naturally for a Calvinist meant God Himself.³ All authentic existence is connected by the intimacy God has established in His community for His children. The earthly, in its idea, is similar to the heavenly.

The traditions described by Fisher in Albions Seed for the exodus of the English Puritans are connected with East Anglia and Massachusetts. For the Puritans, the most important biblical passage revealing Gods purpose in marriage was that the man should not be alone, as is stated in Bible.⁴ This passage wished that it was fellowship, not procreation, that was the primary natural purpose for marriage. The Puritans understood the foundation that binds families together: each was to love God and his other half. Puritan tradition highlights that people should love their husbands and wives, as it is their standard duty, and real marriage is where husband and wife are bound together by love. In addition, emphasizing the theme of love in family relationships, Puritans believed that love is the most vital of all other duties because none of them can be fulfilled without it. Despite the fact that Fishers highlights the educational culture of this folkway, marriage traditions are included in this sector.⁵ Therefore, Edwards marriage is an excellent example of the positive Biblical Puritans treatment of the union of men and women.

George Whitefield

George Whitefield was one of the most dynamic and famous Christian ministers of the 18th century. A British Anglican priest, Whitefields eloquent oratorical skills and charismatic personality helped spark a spiritual revival known as the Great Awakening in Britain, Scotland, Ireland, Wales, and the North American colonies.⁶ Contrary to the Edwards, Whitefields marriage was sorrowful. It was correlated with the widely spread among Anglicism belief that God provides man with a wife only when he can live without one.⁷ This duality and the devotion that God wanted to have a wife, but at the same time wanted to live as if without her, led Whitefield to disappointment in his personal life and an unhappy marriage.⁸ The strict divorce limitations defamed the Anglicanism tradition of marriage. Divorce was followed by remarriage and even considered illegal in early modern England, becoming a felony in 1604, classified as bigamy.⁹ Therefore, such a vision echoes Whitefields perception of marriage. Moreover, these problems with understanding marriage affected East Anglias folkway for opposing the above-mentioned position that God should grant love between men and women.¹⁰ As a result, a wrongful understanding was formed that people should not work over their relationships.

Conclusion

In discussing the East Anglia to Massachusetts migration path, Fisher highlights two controversial positions related to education in mperspectivesarriage. An example of an optimistic view is the experience of Jonathan Edward, who was the representative of Puritans. At the same time, the opposing perspective and beliefs can be seen in the example of George Whitefield, whose marriage had an ill ideology. The development of the discussed cultural folkway was illustrated by the actual examples of outstanding personalities marriage experiences. Therefore, there is a direct correlation between Fishers representation of the cultural movements and the Anglicism and Puritanism marriage traditions.

Bibliography

Cowan, Edwards, Cunningham, Rodger, Fisher, David, McKinney, Gordon and Waller, Altina. Culture Wars: David Hackett Fischers Albions Seed. Appalachian Journal 19, no. 2 (1992): 161200. Web.

Edwards, Jonathan. Sermon Eleven: Undergoing Sufferings a Duty to Christ. Ethical Writings 8, (1749): 314326. Web.

Fisher, David. Albions Seed: Four British Folkways in America. Oxford University Press (1989).

Lambert, Frank. Pedlar in Divinity: George Whitefield and the Great Awakening, 17371745. Journal of American History 77, no. 3 (1990): 812837. doi:10.2307/2078987

Winiarski, Douglas. Jonathan Edwards, Enthusiast? Radical Revivalism and the Great Awakening in the Connecticut Valley. Church History 74, no. 4 (2005): 683739.

Footnotes

1. Edwards, Cowan, Roger, Cunningham, David, Fisher, Gordon, McKinney, and Altina, Waller. Culture Wars: David Hackett Fischers Albions Seed. Appalachian Journal 19, no. 2 (1992): 178. Web.
2. Winiarski, Douglas. Jonathan Edwards, Enthusiast? Radical Revivalism and the Great Awakening in the Connecticut Valley. Church History 74, no. 4 (2005): 689.
3. Jonathan, Edwards. Sermon Eleven: Undergoing Sufferings a Duty to Christ. Ethical Writings 8, (1749): 320. Web.
4. Winiarski, Jonathan Edwards, Enthusiast, 691.
5. David, Fisher. Albions Seed: Four British Folkways in America. Oxford University Press (1989): 798.
6. Frank, Lambert. Pedlar in Divinity: George Whitefield and the Great Awakening, 17371745. Journal of American History 77, no. 3 (1990): 818.
7. Lambert. Pedlar in Divinity, 824.
8. Fisher. Albions Seed, 112.
9. Fisher. Albions Seed, 118.
10. Lambert. Pedlar in Divinity, 824.