135:. More recently, Princeton historian Dan T. Rogers has corrected the record, explaining that there was no grand sense of destiny among the first Puritans to settle Boston. They carried no ambitions to build a New Jerusalem. They did not name their new home Zion, or Canaan, the promised land of milk and honey. They sought only a place to uphold their covenant with God, free from the interference they experienced in England. By the second generation of settlement, New England was a backwater in the Protestant Reformation, an inconsequential afterthought to the Puritan Commonwealth in England and the wealthier Dutch Republic. In truth, America's sense of destiny came generations later.
289:...e have this big, messy, wonderful country where we fight with each other all the time, but nobody tells us what to think, what to fight about, what to vote for, except other Americans, and that's wonderful and often painful. But we're talking about a foreign government that tried to shape the way we think, we vote, we act. 're going to try to run it down and dirty it up as much as possible. That's what this is about. And they will be back, because we remain â as difficult as we can be with each other, we remain that shining city on the hill, and they don't like it.
240:
More than half of you represent the very first member of your family to ever attend college. In the most diverse university in all of New
England, I look out at a sea of faces that are African-American and Hispanic-American and Asian-American and Arab-American. I see students that have come here from over 100 different countries, believing like those first settlers that they too could find a home in this City on a Hillâthat they too could find success in this unlikeliest of places.
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180:âthe eyes of all people are upon us". Today the eyes of all people are truly upon usâand our governments, in every branch, at every level, national, state and local, must be as a city upon a hillâconstructed and inhabited by men aware of their great trust and their great responsibilities. For we are setting out upon a voyage in 1961 no less hazardous than that undertaken by the
159:
301:...But I am equally confident that America will overcome any challenge, from Communist China to the terrorist regime in Tehran. Because thatâs what free people do. We come together; we solve problems; we win, they lose; and we execute our foreign policy confident that we are that shining city on a hill.
269:
used the phrase during his speech announcing the suspension of his campaign. President Barack Obama also alluded to
President Ronald Reagan's use of the phrase, during his speech at the Democratic National Convention the same year, as he proposed a vision of America in contrast to that of Republican
126:
to settle Boston. In quoting
Matthew's Gospel (5:14) in which Jesus warns, "a city on a hill cannot be hid," Winthrop warned his fellow Puritans that their new community would be "as a city upon a hill, the eyes of all people are upon us", meaning, if the Puritans failed to uphold their covenant with
184:
in 1630. We are committing ourselves to tasks of statecraft no less awesome than that of governing the
Massachusetts Bay Colony, beset as it was then by terror without and disorder within. History will not judge our endeavorsâand a government cannot be selectedâmerely on the basis of color or creed
239:
It was right here, in the waters around us, where the
American experiment began. As the earliest settlers arrived on the shores of Boston and Salem and Plymouth, they dreamed of building a City upon a Hill. And the world watched, waiting to see if this improbable idea called America would succeed.
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I've spoken of the shining city all my political life, but I don't know if I ever quite communicated what I saw when I said it. But in my mind it was a tall, proud city built on rocks stronger than oceans, wind-swept, God-blessed, and teeming with people of all kinds living in harmony and peace; a
130:
Winthrop's lecture was forgotten for nearly two hundred years until the
Massachusetts Historical Society published it in 1839. It remained an obscure reference for more than another century until Cold War era historians and political leaders reinterpreted the event, crediting Winthrop's text,
127:
God, then their sins and errors would be exposed for all the world to see: "So that if we shall deal falsely with our God in this work we have undertaken and so cause him to withdraw his present help from us, we shall be made a story and a byword through the world".
256:
His domestic policies would lead to recession; his foreign policies would make
America and the world less safe. He has neither the temperament nor the judgment to be president, and his personal qualities would mean that America would cease to be a shining
213:
do not come as white or black, red or yellow; they are not Jews or
Christians; conservatives or liberals; or Democrats or Republicans. They are Americans awed by what has gone before, proud of what for them is still⌠a shining city on a
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city with free ports that hummed with commerce and creativity. And if there had to be city walls, the walls had doors and the doors were open to anyone with the will and the heart to get here. That's how I saw it, and see it still.
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or even party affiliation. Neither will competence and loyalty and stature, while essential to the utmost, suffice in times such as these. For of those to whom much is given, much is required ...
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three hundred and thirty-one years ago, as they, too, faced the task of building a new government on a perilous frontier. "We must always consider", he said, "that we shall be as a
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I have quoted John
Winthrop's words more than once on the campaign trail this yearâfor I believe that Americans in 1980 are every bit as committed to that vision of a shining
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and delivered in Boston harbor, an error introduced by a cover letter on an early manuscript not in
Winthrop's hand when the sermon was first published.
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referred to the same event and image in his election-eve address, "A Vision for America". Reagan was reported to have been inspired by author
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1091:"How modern leaders got John Winthrop's 'City on a Hill' wrong: A call for humility has become the battle cry for American exceptionalism"
201:, which alleged a secret order of philosophers had created the idea of America as a country for religious freedom and self-governance.
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649:"Address of President-Elect John F. Kennedy Delivered to a Joint Convention of the General Court of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts"
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Reagan would reference this concept through multiple speeches; notably again in his January 11, 1989, farewell speech to the nation:
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used the phrase while delivering an address at the inauguration of the Ronald Reagan Institute Center for Freedom and Democracy.
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Winthrop's warning that "we will become a story" has been fulfilled several times in the four centuries since, as described in
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514:, Oxford University Press, 2005, p. 171. It is often stated that the sermon was written aboard the flagship
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1114:"Reverse-Engineering the Covenant: Moses, Massachusetts Bay and the Construction of a City on a Hill".
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America has long been expected to be a shining city on a hill. A beacon of hope and freedom
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The Politics of the Sacred in America: The Role of Civil Religion in Political Practice
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on the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election:
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313:, used the phrase in his opening remarks on the first day of hearing on 9 June 2022.
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also made reference to the topic in his commencement address on 2 June 2006, at the
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1022:: "You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden."
1071:"John Winthrop's "City upon a hill" Sermon and an "Erasure of Collective Memory""
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in Massachusetts, often nicknamed the "city on a hill", and named as such by the
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919:"Read the full text of chair Bennie Thompson's remarks in first Jan. 6 hearing"
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The phrase is used in the hymn "Now, Saviour now, Thy Love Impart". written by
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In Search of the City on a Hill: The Making and Unmaking of an American Myth
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In Search of the City on a Hill: The Making and Unmaking of an American Myth
329:, and as a consequence this phrase is used to describe the objective of the
770:"Obama Speech â University of Massachusetts at Boston Commencement Address"
902:(Press release). Reagan Institute Center for Freedom and Democracy: U.S.
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A call for humility has become the battle cry for American exceptionalism
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209:, as were those long ago settlers ... These visitors to that city on the
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in Israel, considered by some to have been the city Jesus had in mind
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873:"Full Transcript and Video: James Comey's Testimony on Capitol Hill"
542:"A City Upon a Hill: Winthrop's "Modell of Christian Charity," 1630"
1177:
1042:
As a City on a Hill: The Story of America's Most Famous Lay Sermon
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As a City on a Hill: The Story of America's Most Famous Lay Sermon
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325:" was famously used in a 1949 conference speech by Prime Minister
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You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden
50:
824:"Read Ted Cruz's Speech on Dropping Out of the Presidential Race"
574:
How modern leaders got John Winthropâs âCity on a Hillâ wrong:
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United States House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack
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condemnation of Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign
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erroneously, as the foundational document of the idea of
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by early 17th century Puritans, it came to adopt broader
568:, Princeton University Press, 2018; Richard M. Gamble,
363:
592:
Wayward Puritans: A Study in the Sociology of Deviance
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Wayward Puritans: A Study in the Sociology of Deviance
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City on a Hill: A History of American Exceptionalism
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973:"Hymn number 469 Now, Saviour now, Thy love impart"
679:"The Cult of the Shining City Embraces the Plague"
512:John Winthrop: America's Forgotten Founding Father
1116:Journal of the Bible and its Reception, 8, no. 2.
265:During the 2016 presidential race, Texas Senator
27:Phrase derived from the parable of Salt and Light
244:In 2016, 2012 Republican presidential candidate
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797:"Romney: Trump playing Americans for suckers"
726:"Election Eve Address "A Vision for America""
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701:"Political Bookworm - Reagan and the occult"
531:, Harvard University Press, 1996, p.1 note 1
337:Use in Augustine and Roman Catholic politics
321:In Australian politics, the similar phrase "
1255:Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof
1001:(1). National Endowment for the Humanities.
703:. Voices.washingtonpost.com. Archived from
45:" is a phrase derived from the teaching of
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579:, CommonWealth Magazine, January 17, 2019.
991:"How America Became "A City upon a Hill""
848:"Full text: President Obama's DNC speech"
293:On November 10, 2020, Secretary of State
1417:1980 United States presidential election
281:used the phrase in testimony before the
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617:"The President-Elect: City Upon a Hill"
529:The Journal of John Winthrop, 1630-1649
493:. New York: Springer. pp. 62–63.
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97:This scripture was cited at the end of
572:, Continuum, 2012; and Carter Wilkie,
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692:
677:Sexton, Jared Yates (25 March 2020).
466:Speeches and debates of Ronald Reagan
57:. Originally applied to the city of
7:
1069:Edward OâReilly (December 5, 2018).
822:Beckwith, Ryan Teague (3 May 2016).
30:For the religious music albums, see
589:Erikson, Kai T. (October 7, 1966).
154:On 9 January 1961, President-elect
1320:Life of Jesus in the New Testament
1089:Carter Wilkie (January 17, 2019).
233:University of Massachusetts Boston
108:" delivered on March 21, 1630, at
25:
898:Pompeo, Mike (10 November 2020).
1339:The Kingdom of God Is Within You
989:Van Engen, Abram (Winter 2020).
917:Thompson, Bennie (9 June 2022).
752:"Farewell Address to the Nation"
350:
1377:New Testament words and phrases
1065:Continuum. ISBN 978-1441162328.
730:The American Presidency Project
1331:Our Lord's Sermon on the Mount
1045:. Princeton University Press.
947:Casey, Scott (10 March 2008).
248:incorporated the idiom into a
164:general court of Massachusetts
1:
1387:American political philosophy
1287:The Wise and Foolish Builders
283:Senate Intelligence Committee
277:In 2017, former FBI director
199:The Secret Destiny of America
1059:Gamble, Richard M. (2012).
949:"Keating! comes to Brisbane"
116:, before his first group of
106:A Model of Christian Charity
1075:New-York Historical Society
118:Massachusetts Bay colonists
69:, that of a declaration of
1438:
1315:Five Discourses of Matthew
756:reaganlibrary.archives.gov
340:
317:Use in Australian politics
36:City on a Hill (TV series)
29:
1412:1989 in American politics
1392:Speeches by Ronald Reagan
1157:
977:hymns.countedfaithful.org
605:– via Google Books.
158:quoted the phrase during
104:'s lecture or treatise, "
63:use in political rhetoric
34:. For the TV series, see
1280:Wolf in sheep's clothing
1109:. Yale University Press.
1105:Abram Van Engen (2020).
900:"The Promise of America"
546:Bill of Rights Institute
150:Use in American politics
1397:American exceptionalism
1362:17th-century neologisms
1270:The Tree and its Fruits
1235:Turning the other cheek
1112:Matthew Rowley (2021).
1093:. Commonwealth Magazine
411:American exceptionalism
401:American civil religion
270:presidential candidate
133:American exceptionalism
93:Speech by John Winthrop
71:American exceptionalism
32:City on a Hill (series)
699:Levingston, Steven E.
331:Australian Labor Party
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67:United States politics
1382:Christian terminology
1260:The Mote and the Beam
510:Bremer, Francis, J.,
421:Christian Dominionism
323:the light on the hill
120:embarked on the ship
1250:The Birds of the Air
489:Squiers, A. (2018).
441:Replacement theology
189:On 3 November 1980,
1422:Sermon on the Mount
1325:Mount of Beatitudes
1225:Lamp under a bushel
1162:Sermon on the Plain
1151:Sermon on the Mount
564:Daniel T. Rodgers,
55:Sermon on the Mount
1334:(4th century book)
1230:Light of the World
1037:Rodgers, Daniel T.
953:The Brisbane Times
877:The New York Times
732:. UC Santa Barbara
707:on August 10, 2011
362:. You can help by
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1303:Ministry of Jesus
1240:Love your enemies
1052:978-0-691-18437-1
774:obamaspeeches.com
499:978-3-319-68870-1
431:Empire of Liberty
426:Christian Zionism
416:British Israelism
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162:delivered to the
16:(Redirected from
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858:2017-03-20
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