Winthrop, John

Winthrop, John (1588–1649), leader of the Puritan settlement in New England and first governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony.Between 1602 and 1620, John Winthrop attended Trinity College, Cambridge; studied law; was married three times and widowed twice; took over his father's estate at Groton Manor; served as justice of the peace; and became an acknowledged Puritan. Throughout the 1620s, economic pressures, political crises, and his intensifying engagement with Puritanism led Winthrop to despair of England's future and to join other Puritans planning an escape to America. As governor of the newly formed Massachusetts Bay Company, his sermon in 1630 on board the Arbella —“A Modell of Christian Charity”—defined the Puritans’ mission to create a biblical commonwealth in covenant with God that would “be as a Citty upon a hill.”

Winthrop's Journal documents his skillful guidance and leadership during the first two decades of settlement. A generally moderate man, he tried to balance the authority of the governors with the liberties and interests of the governed, seeking harmony in the face of conflicts and emphasizing communal over private interests. Deeply religious, he endeavored also to balance his lifelong quest for assurance of grace with an appreciation of life's pleasures, opposing Anne Hutchinson's claims to absolute spiritual assurance and Roger Williams's perfectionism. His wisdom, intelligence, and political acumen helped insure the survival and success of the Puritan experiment in America.
See also Colonial Era; Exploration, Conquest, and Settlement, Era of European; Religion.

Bibliography

Edmund S. Morgan , The Puritan Dilemma: The Story of John Winthrop, 1958.
James G. Moseley , John Winthrop's World: History as a Story; The Story as History, 1992.

Philip Greven