New England and the Bavarian Illuminati

"New England and the Bavarian Illuminati" by Vernon Stauffer is a story about the end of the 1700s in New England, when things were changing a lot. It talks about how Puritanism was becoming less popular and how people were worried about a group called the Illuminati from Europe possibly taking over. The story looks at the fights between different ideas and how society was changing after the American Revolution. It also discusses how people reacted to the main religious groups at the time. It starts by explaining that people were anxious and worried because of new ideas and problems in politics. A preacher named Reverend Jedediah Morse gave some surprising sermons in 1798, blaming the Illuminati for all the trouble in America. The story then explores how these fears, even though they weren't really true, had a big impact on what people thought and talked about in politics and religion.