Invisible Masters: Gender, Race, and the Economy of Service in Early New England [Paperback]

Invisible Masters rewrites the familiar narrative of the relation between Puritan religious culture and New Englands economic culture as a history of the primary discourse that connected them: service. The understanding early Puritans had of themselves as Gods servants and earthly masters was shaped by their immersion in an Atlantic culture of service and the worldly pressures and opportunities generated by New Englands particular place in it. Concepts of spiritual service and mastery determined Puritan views of the men, women, and children who were servants and slaves in that world. So, too, did these concepts shape the experience of family, labor, law, and economy for those men, women, and childrenthe very bedrock of their lives. This strikingly original look at Puritan culture will appeal to a wide range of Americanists and historians.

ELISABETH CEPPI is an associate professor of English at Portland State University.

Acknowledgments Introduction: Unprofitable Servants The Child Who Serves: Household Obedience and the Public Authority of Masters Answering Back: Elizabeth Knapps Demonic Possession and the Gender of Public Service Servant to a Christian: Mary Rowlandsons Captivity and the Racialization of Obedience Racial Vocation: New Englands Calling to Slavery The Spirit of Mastery: Samson Occom, Benjamin Franklin, and Modern Hypocrisy Coda: Serving the Plot Notes Bibliography Index