Studies in the Sociology of Early American Culture

FAIN: FB-12202-74

Stephen W. Botein
President and Fellows of Harvard College (Cambridge, MA 02138-3800)

To prepare three interlocking essays concerning early American intellectual history, each designed to promote methodological experimentation in the field. Particular focus will be on the demonstration to American scholars of the usefulness of various "sociological" modes of intellectual history currently being practiced at the Sorbonne. The first essay deals with the cultural channels by which pietistic thought made its way from England to 18th century American; the second, with the impact of the "occupational ideologies" of clergymen and lawyers on colonial culture; the third, with the relationship between the business of publishing and the politics of revolution. In these essays, early American intellectual history will be placed in the context of both European culture and American social structure.