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City upon a hill" is a phrase derived from the teaching of salt and light in Jesus's Sermon on the Mount. [n 1] Originally applied to the city of Boston by early 17th century Puritans, it came to adopt broader use in political rhetoric in United States politics , that of a declaration of American exceptionalism , and referring to America acting ...
Aug 31, 2018 · John Winthrop used the phrase "City upon a Hill" to describe the new settlement, with "the eies of all people" upon them. And with those words, he laid a foundation for a new world. These new settlers certainly represented a new destiny for this land.
John Winthrop, first governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, the chief figure among the Puritan founders of New England. Winthrop famously composed a lay sermon in which he pictured the Massachusetts colonists in covenant with God and with each other, divinely ordained to build a city upon a hill.
A “city on a hill” is used to refer to America’s supposed standing in the world, as a “beacon of hope” which other nations can look to for moral guidance. The phrase has significant historical and political resonance.
Drawing upon Matthew 5:14–15, Winthrop articulated his vision of the prospective Puritan colony in New England as "a city upon a hill": an example to England and the world of a truly godly society.
Feb 18, 2020 · Invoking the “Sermon on the Mount,” where Jesus uses the metaphor to describe his followers (Matthew 5:14), Winthrop declared, “For wee must consider that we shall be as a city upon a hill. The eyes of all people are upon us.”
The sermon is famous largely for its use of the phrase “a city on a hill,” used to describe the expectation that the Massachusetts Bay colony would shine like an example to the world. But Winthrop’s sermon also reveals how he expected Massachusetts to differ from the rest of the world.
In the years to come, Winthrop’s “city upon a hill” sermon would become “the shining city on a hill” of President Reagan: a celebration of individual freedom, material prosperity, and American power—above all, a call for Americans to renew their optimism and believe in themselves again.
Massachusetts Bay — "The City Upon a Hill". This woodcut represents the earliest known map of New England from 1677. The mapmaker showed west at the top with north to the right. The passengers of the Arbella who left England in 1630 with their new charter had a great vision.
Jun 2, 2023 · It is one of America’s most powerful founding myths – the pilgrims on an errand into the wilderness to create a new model society– “we shall be like a city upon the hill,” Massachusetts Bay Colony Governor Winthrop was supposed to have said in 1630, “the eyes of the world upon us”.
