Violence in American Popular Culture [2 Volumes] by Schmid David;

Author:Schmid, David;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: ABC-CLIO, LLC
Published: 2016-04-14T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER ONE

Traversing the Boundaries of Moral Deviance: New England Execution Sermons, 1674–1825

Daniel Belczak

One sayes [sic] well, That Sermons Preached, are like Showers of Rain, that Water for the Instant; But Sermons Printed, are like Snow that lies longer on the Earth. God grant that the Truths falling from Heaven, in this Form, this Winter upon our Neighbours, may Soak into their Hearts, with a Sensible and a Durable Efficacy.1

Cotton Mather, Pillars of Salt, 1699

On April 2, 1674, seventeen-year-old Benjamin Goad stood on the Boston gallows waiting to be launched into eternity. Goad’s execution was in many ways emblematic of hundreds of others during the colonial and early national periods in New England. After committing his crime, Goad was tried, sentenced, and executed at a pace that compared to modern day executions could only be described as occurring at breakneck speed. His execution was also noteworthy for two reasons. First, Goad was the last of only a handful of men to be executed for bestiality in New England. As Goad stood on the gallows awaiting his fate, he and the gathered crowd watched as the mare with which he had committed his unnatural act was killed by the executioner. Second, Samuel Danforth delivered New England’s first published execution sermon in response to Goad’s criminal act and pending execution. Danforth’s sermon, The Cry of Sodom Enquired Into, used the story of the destruction of the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah as the Biblical text upon which to address the audience and the condemned prisoner. But just as Goad’s crime was anomalous, so, too, was Danforth’s sermon. Danforth spoke little of salvation, for either Goad or for his congregation, and instead focused on the wickedness and uncleanness that he saw pervading New England. Society was becoming polluted, and only through the amputation of this gangrenous member could God’s wrath be avoided.2

Less than a year after Benjamin Goad’s execution, two more men waited for their moment of execution on the Boston gallows, Robert Driver and Nicholas Feavour. After a reprimand for being slothful by their master and a release from his service, these two men killed their now former master as he sat in his parlor. For this execution, Increase Mather preached a sermon, The Wicked Mans Portion. Similar to Danforth’s earlier sermon, Mather also focused on avoiding lesser sins such as idleness, disobedience to parents, and drunkenness, as well as the importance of cutting off corrupted members of the community in order to avoid further social pollution. But unlike Danforth, Mather dedicated a significant portion of his sermon to the very real possibility of avoiding a second death. The first death of Driver and Feavour was already sealed. In execution, their bodies would die. Their souls, however, could still find life and ultimate salvation through true repentance. Although addressed specifically to the malefactors soon facing their own mortality, the message was clear for the community as well: Death will eventually claim all bodies, but the soul can still be saved.3

With some variation, this pattern of execution preaching would be followed by scores of ministers over the next 150 years.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.