The Puritan Family: Religion and Domestic Relations in Seventeenth-Century New England

First published in the 1940s and expanded into an enduring standard of historical scholarship, The Puritan Family explores how the devout settlers of Massachusetts Bay reconciled the supreme demands of divine love with the earthly bonds of marriage and kinship. Drawing extensively on contemporary letters, diaries, sermons, and legal records, Morgan demonstrates that the Puritans were neither dour ascetics devoid of affection nor monolithic zealots, but deeply human individuals striving to order their households beneath an all-sovereign God.

Morgan meticulously investigates the full spectrum of domestic life, from courtship, spousal duties, and the education of children to the place of servants and the role of the family as the bedrock of both church and commonwealth. In doing so, he illuminates the profound theological dilemma that haunted these early communities: the constant danger that natural, earthly love for a spouse or child might eclipse one’s ultimate devotion to the Creator.

With lucid prose and remarkable analytical nuance, Morgan presents a foundational reinterpretation of early American culture, demonstrating how Puritanism contained the seeds of its own transformation. This essential volume remains indispensable reading for historians, students of religious thought, and anyone seeking an authentic portrait of the families who shaped the intellectual and moral foundations of America.