The Wordy Shipmates

... by Sarah Vowell.

Sarah Vowell covers the puritan roots of the U.S.A. In doing so, she touches on themes that shape America today.

She argues that many American splits, are similar, if not rooted in, to the events that shaped puritan America.

She covers separation of church and state and shows how this was necessary for two reasons; to keep the state out of the church and to keep one church from ruling. The puritans prevented the Catholics or Anglicans from ruling America by demanding separation of Church and State.

She argues that the anti elitism we see today is a logical extension of the puritan church-- which struggled to become not-Catholic, not hierarchical. Where each local church ran itself independently and mistrusted outside experts.