Free speech Quote by Emma Goldman
““The history of New England, and especially of Massachusetts, is full of the horrors that have turned life into gloom, joy into despair, naturalness into disease, honesty and truth into hideous lies and hypocrisies. The ducking-stool and whipping post, as well as numerous other devices of torture, were the favorite English methods for American purification. Boston, the city of culture, has gone down in the annals of Puritanism as the “Bloody Town.” It rivaled Salem, even, in her cruel persecution of unauthorized religious opinions. On the now famous Common a half-naked woman, with a baby in her arms, was publicly whipped for the crime of free speech; and on the same spot Mary Dyer, another Quaker woman, was hanged in 1659. In fact, Boston has been the scene of more than one wanton crime committed by Puritanism. Salem, in the summer of 1692, killed eighteen people for witchcraft. Nor was Massachusetts alone in driving out the devil by fire and brimstone. As Canning justly said: “The Pilgrim fathers infested the New World to redress the balance of the Old.” The horrors of that period have found their most supreme expression in the American classic, THE SCARLET LETTER.””
About This Quote
Source Book: The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, 1850
The quote condemns the brutal religious oppression in early New England, highlighting how Puritan zeal turned society into a place of fear, cruelty, and hypocrisy.
In simple terms: Puritanism caused cruelty and hypocrisy in early New England.
Key Takeaway
Beware of dogma that justifies violence.
Themes
religion
history
oppression
hypocrisy
justice
Mood
somber
reflective
critical
Type
historical
political
cautionary
When to use this quote
- historical analysis
- literary criticism
- social justice activism
- education on religious tolerance
- museum exhibits on colonial America
Key Concepts
theocracy
social control
moral panic
Questions to Reflect On
- How does religious zeal become a tool for oppression?
- What lessons can modern societies learn from this history?
A Different Perspective
The narrative may oversimplify complex historical causes and ignore positive aspects of early New England society.
