Note i-75 — INTRODUCTION

For full backgrounds, see G. P. Gooch, English Democratic Ideas in the Seventeenth Century, W. A. Dunning, A History of Political Theories from Luther to Montesquieu; H. L. Osgood, "Political Ideas of the Puritans," Political Science Quarterly, VI, 1-29, 201-31; Mellen Chamberlain, John Adams ... with Other Essays (Boston, 1898), especially pp. 19-53, stressing the influence of Puritanism on political liberalism; Alice Baldwin, The New England Clergy and the American Revolution; J. W. Thornton, The Pulpit of the American Revolution (Boston, 1860), a collection of election sermons edited with an extensive introduction; C. H. Van Tyne, "The Influence of the Clergy ... in the American Revolution," American Historical Review, XIX, 44-64. In stressing the influence on Franklin of European ideas, it is important to remember that, as we shall see, it is probable that some of Franklin's interest in doing good (charity), in science, and in democracy may have been inspired by his exposure during his formative years to American Puritanism.