These conditions were evident in a letter to his wife, where Winthrop described wintertime as "weather being cold and the waters perilous," and the difficulty of finding logs to burn for warmth.

The Puritan colonies survived, due in large part to Winthrop's efforts at both instilling this culture of discipline, and in addressing any growing factionalism within the ranks. Such actions have indeed been a double-edged sword, for they planted the seeds for suffering, they also ensured that the colony endured and later, flourished. In this way, Winthrop played a largely forgotten role in the founding of this country.

Works Cited

Bremer, Francis J. 2003. John Winthrop: America's Forgotten Founding Father. New York: Oxford University Press.

Morgan, Edmund S. 1958. The Puritan Dilemma: The Story of John Winthrop. New York: Little, Brown and Company.

Winthrop, John. 1630, "A Model for Christian Charity." Hanover Historical Text Project. Available online at http://history.hanover.edu/texts/winthmod.html...
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