Expression

William Penn (1644-1718) was an English aristocrat who shocked his powerful family by joining the Quakers (the Society of Friends), a peaceable Protestant group that rejected violence, oaths, and social hierarchy, and was harshly persecuted. To repay a debt owed to Penn's father, King Charles II granted Penn a vast American territory in 1681 — Pennsylvania ('Penn's Woods'). Penn called his colony a 'Holy Experiment': a place built on religious freedom for all who believed in God, fair and peaceful dealings with the Lenape (native peoples) for whom he insisted on buying land honestly, and self-government under a written 'Frame of Government.' Philadelphia, the 'City of Brotherly Love,' became one of the most diverse and successful colonial cities. Penn's experiment ran parallel to an earlier Catholic one: Maryland, founded in 1634 by the Calverts (Lord Baltimore) as a refuge for England's persecuted Catholics. Maryland's 1649 Toleration Act was one of the first laws in the colonies guaranteeing freedom of worship to all Christians — a remarkable early step, though it was later overturned when Protestants gained control. Together, Quaker Pennsylvania and Catholic Maryland planted in American soil the radical idea that people of different faiths could live together in peace — a seed that would grow into the religious liberty of the United States.

Music in Puritan New England was as plain as its portraits. The Puritans believed worship music should be strictly biblical, so they sang only the Psalms, set to simple tunes, with no instruments and no fancy harmony — just voices, lifting God's own words. In 1640 they produced the Bay Psalm Book, the first book printed in English North America: a fresh translation of the Psalms into singable verse. Because few colonists could read music, congregations often sang by 'lining out' — a leader would sing a line, and the people would echo it back, learning by ear. The result was sturdy and heartfelt, if not polished; over time, untrained 'common singing' grew so rough that a 'regular singing' reform movement and the first American singing schools arose to teach it. Meanwhile, an ocean away, European church music was at a dazzling peak. The Baroque era was in full flower: Claudio Monteverdi had invented opera; soon Antonio Vivaldi, George Frideric Handel, and Johann Sebastian Bach would write music of staggering richness and emotional power (the subject of Week 24). The contrast is striking: the colonists sang plain psalms in log meetinghouses while Bach composed towering cathedral music in Germany. Both, in their own way, were lifting the human voice to God.

With your sources gathered (Week 22), it is time to organize and write. Step 1: SORT your notes. Read through everything you've collected and group the facts into 3-5 main points that together answer your research question. Step 2: OUTLINE. Build the skeleton: an INTRODUCTION (a hook, background, and your thesis — the one-sentence answer to your question); a BODY of 3-5 sections, each a main point with its supporting evidence; and a CONCLUSION (restate the answer and its significance). Use Roman numerals and indented sub-points. Step 3: DRAFT. Now write it out in full sentences and paragraphs — aim for 900-1200 words. As you use a fact from a source, mark it with an in-text citation (author or title and, if available, page). Don't stop to perfect every sentence; the goal today is a COMPLETE draft you can revise next week. Remember this week's grammar: no run-ons, comma splices, or fragments. A messy-but-complete draft beats a perfect-but-unfinished one.

Return to St. Isaac Jogues and the North American Martyrs. This week we saw the New World settled by many kinds of people for many reasons — profit, religious freedom, refuge — and we faced honestly the deep wrong of slavery that took root alongside the colonies' achievements. The martyrs of New France remind us that the deepest motive of all was love of Christ poured out for others, even unto death. Pray briefly for all who suffer injustice, remembering that every human person bears God's image. Then revisit your industriousness resolution from Day 2 — how did your work go this week?