Resisting Puritans.

This essay examines the evolution of Puritan studies over the past thirty years, identifying five key phases—Freestanding Puritanism, Diverse Puritanisms, Transatlantic Puritanism, Settler-Colonial Puritanism, and Persistent Puritanism—that reflect broader trends in early American studies. It highlights how Puritanism, once central to American cultural origins, has been recontextualized within a more diverse and critical framework that acknowledges both its role in resisting authoritarianism and its complicity in settler colonialism and oppression. The essay also discusses the dominant paradigm of oppression and resistance in Puritan scholarship, urging a nuanced approach that recognizes how Puritans themselves engaged in both simultaneously. Finally, it suggests new directions for research, including deeper aesthetic analysis and reconsideration of figures like Anne Bradstreet, to enrich understanding of Puritanism's complex legacies within early American literature and culture.