Glossary

Antinomianism

Anne Hutchinson's religious doctrine asserting that once human beings had experienced saving grace, God offers only direct revelation, meaning that true saints did not need the church or the state to help order their daily existence.

coverture

An English legal doctrine subordinating the legal identity of women in their husbands, who were the undisputed heads of households.

declension

The movement in New England away from the ideals of the founding fathers, which gave rise to tensions between settlers who adhered to the original mission and those who were attracted to commercial values.

divine right

A theory of kingship espoused by the Stuart kings of England which meant that kings were literally God's political stewards on earth.

femes sole

A legal status, under English and colonial law, permitting single, adult women and widows to own and manage property and households for themselves.

Great Migration

A term referring to the migration of about 20,000 Puritans to New England between 1630 and 1642.

headrights

Grants of land to persons who migrated to the Chesapeake colonies or who paid for the passage of others.

in favorem libertatis

English legal phrase meaning "in favor of liberty," under which English law did not recognize slavery.

jeremiad

A type of sermon, modeled on the tone of the prophet Jeremiah, used by New England clergymen to express their disapproval of the transition to commercial values.

Roundheads

English Puritans who opposed the "Cavalier" supporters of Charles I during the English Civil War.

separatists

Englishmen like the Pilgrims who believed that the Church of England was so corrupt that it could not be reformed.

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