Were there other people who could relate to Rowlandson's captivity narrative?

Mary Rowlandson's "Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson" has been acknowledged as one of the first best selling captivity narratives in American literature.  http://college.cengage.com/english/lauter/heath/4e/students/author_pages/colonial/rowlandson_ma.html  Her novel tells her story of being held captive by the Wompanog Indian tribe during King Philip's War.  Her story helped revolutionize American literature by using the genre of a captivity narrative.  Many people think that Rowlandson is the only author that had been captured by and Indian tried, but little do they know about a Reverend names John Williams. 



U all may be asking yourselves, "Who is John Wiliams?"  John Williams was a New England Puritan who was well known for writing "The Redeemed Captive Returning to Zion".  He was also uncle to the famous John Edwards.  "The Redeemed Captive Returning to Zion" was a narrative written by Williams to show people how his life was being held captive during the Raid on Deerfield in 1704.  http://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=24758  He was inspired to write his captive narrative because of Rowlandson's "Narrative of the Captivity and Restauration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson". 

He was also inspired to "Survive" because of Rowlandson's narrative.  During the invading of Deerfield Williams two children and his negro slave was killed.  http://www.crossmyt.com/hc/gen/deerfild.html  While held captive Williams was forced to convert to Catholicism, but ignored the rules.  Another thing Williams had in common with Rowlandson was that they both survived being held captive. Both of their narratives also helped focus on their religions and captivity experiences.  These two authors helped give readers a better understanding of not only how life wast as a Puritan, but also how life was being held captive during the colonial times.

How did the Age of Enlightenment have an affect on Thomas Paine?

"Common Sense" was written by the famous Thomas Paine.  The pamphlet was published January 10, 1776.  The pamphlet was written to challenge the authority of the British government and promote Independence for America.  "Common Sense" was based on believing that people should have the right to choose their own government, as well as being able to revolt against it. Paine felt that the government did not represent the people properly, nor did it promote their overall happiness.  http://www.bookrags.com/research/common-sense-thomas-paine-1776-ltsw/

The pamphlet was strongly based on the time period called the Age of Enlightenment.  The Age of Enlightenment was a period when people became more aware of things such as sciences and intellectual interchange.  They also became opposed to superstition. This time period also influenced Thomas Paine by encouraging him to inform people that the traditional way that the government ran things was not right and that they should do something about it. http://smarthistory.khanacademy.org/1700-1800-Age-of-Enlightenment.html  People like Isaac Newton, John Locke, and Pierre Bayle enlightened Thomas Paine to think and write in the sense that he did with the "Common Sense".

Another reason why the Age of Enlightenment is so crucial with Thomas Paine is because, it helped with the solidify the growth of the democratic party.  http://score.rims.k12.ca.us/score_lessons/growth_of_democratic/  Also during this time period, people started to examine the way that rulers governed and felt that they should examine their own government to see if it was being ran the proper way.  For example, at the time there was only one main ruler who contained all the power and held control over everything.  Paine thought the opposite and pushed for power to be separated and balance so that their own government wouldn't become corrupt. 

The Age of Enlightenment did not only lead to Thomas Paine's "Common Sense", but it also encouraged different people in different countries to start speaking up for their rights.  In my eyes, without this time period we wouldn't have had leaders such as Malcolm X, Martin Luther King Jr. , Rosa Parks, and many other leaders who helped revolutionize the way we think and act now and for the future.  

Why was "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" more famous than Jonathan Edwards other sermons?

Many people commonly refer to Jonathan Edwards as one of Americas's greatest theoligians.  They say this because he was a powerful, influential figure during the time of the Great Awakening.  The Great Awakening is referred to as a period of religious revival in American religious history.  But was this the only sermon that Edwards was famous for?  He was also famous for many different sermons such as, The Manner in Which the Salvation of the Soul is to be Sought, The Justice of God in the Damnation of Sinners, and Pressing into the Kingdom of God". http://www.jonathan-edwards.org/ 

So why; out of all his sermons was this one so important?  One difference between this sermon and his others is that in this one particular sermon had a great influence on American Christianity http://www.colonialwarsct.org/1740_s.htm.  He tries to scare people into believing that if u sin then God will cast you into hell. You can find these quotes in our book The Norton Anthology (pg. 426)  Some people may ask well why did he have to scare people into not sinning?  He did so because if people fear hell then they are more likely to buy into the whole salvation/heaven scenario. 

But the main reason Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God was so famous was because not only did it have a great impact during the Great Awakening, but because Edwards would literally stand outside in front of crowds of people and preach to them his sermon.  While reading the sermon you could tell that on several occassions Edwards would raise his voice as if to to show how serious and how much heart he had put into preaching what he was saying to the people of his congregation.  An example would be in our book The Northon Anthology on (pg. 432).  That is why I think Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God is the most famous of all the Jonathan Edwards sermons.