The Making of an American Thinking Class: Intellectuals & Intelligentsia in Puritan Massachusetts

Darren Staloff's The Making of an American Thinking Class is a dense but well-researched analysis of the educated elites who dominated the early Colonial period — their formation, their structure, and the ways they transmitted the Protestant Christian values that were so essential to early American society. Staloff dives deep into the historical record to show that there were actually two different groups of elites — religious clergymen and secular magistrates (governors, deputies, etc.) — who, despite their conflicting interests, established a mutually beneficial alliance that was maintained in both formal and informal ways. The formal ways included the fact that clergymen were not permitted to intrude on magistrates' authority by running for political office, as well as the restriction of the vote to church members (which enhanced the power of the clergy). The book is not always an easy read but it highlights crucial features of early American culture and ideology. Recommended.