Editorial Reviews
Book Description
It was indeed possible for Indians and Europeans to live peacefully in early America and for Indians to survive as distinct communities. Faith and Boundaries uses the story of Martha's Vineyard Wampanoags to examine how. On an island marked by centralized English authority, missionary commitment, and an Indian majority, the Wampanoags' adaptation to English culture, especially Christianity, checked violence while safeguarding their land, community, and ironically, even customs. Yet the colonists' exploitation of Indian land and labor exposed the limits of Christian fellowship and thus hardened racial division. The Wampanoags learned about race through this rising bar of civilization - every time they met demands to reform, colonists moved the bar higher until it rested on biological difference. Under the right circumstances, like those on Martha's Vineyard, religion could bridge wide difference between the peoples of early America, but its transcendent power was limited by the divisiveness of race.
About the Author
David J. Silverman is Associate Professor of History at the George Washington University. He has previously taught at Princeton University and Wayne State University. He is the author of several articles for such journals as William and Mary Quarterly and New England Quarterly. He has also been a Mellon Post-Dissertation Fellow at the American Antiquarian Society.
Faith and Boundaries: Colonists, Christianity, and Community Among the Wampanoag Indians of Martha's Vineyard, 1600-1871 (Studies in North American Indian History),David J. Silverman,Frederick Hoxie,Neal Salisbury,Cambridge University Press,0521842808,Christianity and culture,Ethnic Studies - Native American Studies - Tribes,Government relations,History,History - General History,History - U.S.,History: American,Religion,United States - General,United States - State & Local - New England,Wampanoag Indians,History / United States / General,History of specific racial & ethnic groups,Massachusetts,c 1600 to c 1700,c 1700 to c 1800,c 1800 to c 1900
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