This rare first-person account offers a glimpse into the life of a typical 19th-century American farmer. Nathaniel Stacy recounts his childhood in Massachusetts, his stint in the army during the War of 1812, and his experiences as a pioneer settler in Ohio and Indiana. His memoir provides a valuable perspective on early American history and the challenges of everyday life on the frontier. This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

How is a free faith expressed, organised and governed? How are diverse spiritualities and theologies made compatible? What might a religion based in reason and democracy offer today's world? This book will help the reader to understand the contemporary liberal religion of Unitarian Universalism in a historical and global context. Andrea Greenwood and Mark W. Harris challenge the view that the Unitarianism of New England is indigenous and the point from which the religion spread. Relationships between Polish radicals and the English Dissenters existed and the English radicals profoundly influenced the Unitarianism of the nascent United States. Greenwood and Harris also explore the US identity as Unitarian Universalist since a 1961 merger and its current relationship to international congregations, particularly in the context of twentieth-century expansion into Asia.

Winner of the Christianity Today 2010 Book Award for History/Biography, and praised in Christian Century as "witty...erudite...masterful," this groundbreaking history, the first of its kind, shows that far from being only about the age-old riddle of divine sovereignty versus human free will, the debate over predestination is inseparable from other central Christian beliefs and practices--the efficacy of the sacraments, the existence of purgatory and hell, the extent of God's providential involvement in human affairs--and has fueled theological conflicts across denominations for centuries. Peter Thuesen reexamines not only familiar predestinarians such as the New England Puritans and many later Baptists and Presbyterians, but also non-Calvinists such as Catholics and Lutherans, and shows how even contemporary megachurches preach a "purpose-driven" outlook that owes much to the doctrine of predestination. For anyone wanting a fuller understanding of religion in America, Predestination offers both historical context on a doctrine that reaches back 1,600 years and a fresh perspective on today's denominational landscape.

This book contains fifteen essays from leading historians and religious studies scholars, each originally presented as the annual Tanner lecture at the conference of the Mormon History Association. Approaching Mormon history from a variety of angles, such as gender, identity creation, American imperialism, and globalization, these scholars, all experts in their fields but new to the study of Mormon history itself, ask intriguing questions about Mormonism's past and future and analyze familiar sources in unexpected ways.

The Unitarian Universalist religious movement is small in numbers, but has a long history as a radical, reforming movement within Protestantism, coupled with a larger, liberal social witness to the world. Both Unitarianism and Universalism began as Christian denominations, but rejected doctrinal constraints to embrace a human views of Jesus, an openness to continuing revelation, and a loving God who, they believed, wanted to be reconciled with all people. In the twentieth century Unitarian Universalism developed beyond Christianity and theism to embrace other religious perspectives, becoming more inclusive and multi-faith. Efforts to achieve justice and equality included civil rights for African-Americans, women and gays and lesbians, along with strident support for abortion rights, environmentalism and peace. Today the Unitarian Universalist movement is a world-wide faith that has expanded into several new countries in Africa, continued to develop in the Philippines and India, while maintaining historic footholds in Romania, Hungary, England, and especially the United States and Canada. This second edition of Historical Dictionary of Unitarian Universalism contains a chronology, an introduction, an appendix, and an extensive bibliography. The dictionary section has over 400 cross-referenced entries on people, places, events and trends in the history of the Unitarian and Universalist faiths including American leaders and luminaries, important writers and social reformers. This book is an excellent resource for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more about Unitarian Universalism.

Small though it may be, Unitarian Universalism has had a big impact not only on its members but also on the world around it. Rejecting the constraints of other Christian denominations, it sought tolerance for itself and, surprisingly, freely granted tolerance to others. Evolving in its principles and practices over a relatively short lifetime, it shows every sign of developing further, reaching beyond Christianity to embrace what is good in other, more diverse religions. Unitarian Universalism has also regularly been at the forefront in fighting for social causes, including abolition, temperance, women's suffrage, pacifism, educational reform, environmentalism, and others. Unitarian Universalism has also spread with time. First developed in present-day Romania and Hungary, its center shifted early to England, but its most successful story is the way it grew and flourished in the United States. This reference covers numerous subjects, both historical and contemporary, with entries on the places where the church was present, many more on significant leaders, and an impressive number on causes and issues. All the important people, events, and ideas in this religion are included, as well as important late-20th-century battles, including racism and new principles and purposes.

A panel of top scholars presents the first comprehensive collection of primary sources from Unitarian Universalist history. This critical resource covers the long histories of Unitarianism, Universalism, and Unitarian Universalism in the United States and around the world, and offers a wealth of sources from the first fifty-five years of the Unitarian Universalist Association. From Arius and Origen to Peter Morales and Rebecca Parker, this two-volume anthology features leaders, thinkers, and ordinary participants in the ever-changing tradition of liberal religion. Each volume contains more than a hundred distinct selections, with scholarly introductions by leading experts in Unitarian Universalist history. The selections include sermons, theologies, denominational statements, hymns, autobiographies, and manifestos, with special attention to class, cultural, gender, and sexual diversity. Primary sources are the building blocks of history, and A Documentary History of Unitarian Universalism presents the sources we need for understanding this denomination’s past and for shaping its future.

These thirteen original essays are provocative explorations in the construction and representation of self in America's colonial and early republican eras. Highlighting the increasing importance of interdisciplinary research for the field of early American history, these leading scholars in the field extend their reach to literary criticism, anthropology, psychology, and material culture. The collection is organized into three parts--Histories of Self, Texts of Self, and Reflections on Defining Self. Individual essays examine the significance of dreams, diaries, and carved chests, murder and suicide, Indian kinship, and the experiences of African American sailors. Gathered in celebration of the Institute of Early American History and Culture's fiftieth anniversary, these imaginative inquiries will stimulate critical thinking and open new avenues of investigation on the forging of self-identity in early America. The contributors are W. Jeffrey Bolster, T. H. Breen, Elaine Forman Crane, Greg Dening, Philip Greven, Rhys Isaac, Kenneth A. Lockridge, James H. Merrell, Donna Merwick, Mary Beth Norton, Mechal Sobel, Alan Taylor, Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, and Richard White.