Increase Mather (1639-1723), American colonial representative, president of Harvard College, and author, was the most prominent member of the second generation in Massachusetts colony.Born in Dorchest...
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Increase Mather's son Cotton Mather was much better known to succeeding generations of New Englanders than was the father, perhaps because he published much more than Increase Mather, and because he m...
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In the following excerpt, first published in 1878, Tyler praises Mather for his simple, straightforward literary style.
… Of the six sons of Richard Mather, four became famous preachers, two...
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In the following essay, Levin questions whether Increase Mather and his son Cotton disagreed about the witch trials and studies the roles for which they are most remembered.
The question that I hav...
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In the following excerpt, Shea examines the narrative style and some key terminology of Mather's autobiography.
Except for the Adamses, who came later, no American family rivaled the Mathers...
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In the following excerpt, Walker offers an overview of Mather's life, paying particular attention to the influences on Mather as a young man, and to his conflicts with Harvard College in his la...
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In the following excerpt from a work first published in 1925, Murdock recounts Mather's involvement in the witch trials and argues that Mather has been unfairly labeled throughout history as a ...
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In the following excerpt, first published in 1927, Parrington assesses Mather as a religious and politically influential figure.
… The Mathers were a singularly provocative family, capable, ...
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In the following essay, Scheick examines Increase Mather's biography of his father, Richard Mather, paying particular attention to Increase's use of paternal imagery in a familial, spiri...
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In the following essay, Middlekauff asserts that while Mather's stated purpose in his scientific writings was to discredit scientific explanations of natural occurances, it was also this intere...
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In the following excerpt, Lowance analyzes Mather's attempts to combine scientific knowledge with theology to formulate explanations for occurrences in both nature and society, and also praises...
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In the following essay, first presented as a lecture at the 1977 American Antiquarian Society annual meeting, Lowance and Watters maintain that "New Jerusalem" reveals Mather's vi...
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In the following excerpt, Weisman assesses Mather's Cases of Conscience as an attempt to end theological uncertainties about the accusations of witchcraft.
… Even before the Salem tri...
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Increase Mather
Increase Mather
Critical Essay by Moses Coit Tyler
