Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America

Mather, the first primary character of Kendi’s book, was a New England Puritan clergyman and writer. Grandson of Richard Mather and John Cotton, early settlers and leaders of the Boston Puritan community, Cotton’s prodigious childhood and time at Harvard catapulted him to fame.

As a highly-educated man, Mather was attuned to the philosophy of John Locke and the science of Sir Isaac Newton. He closely followed European thought. In the wake of scientific development, assimilationists believed that any spirit could access “White […] goodness,” even if the body was still enslaved. This became Mather’s viewpoint, traced from Aristotle down through the scientific, philosophical, and literary worlds to which his father and grandfather belonged.

Through his power and authority, Mather defined the dominant thinking of the 18th century: “As America’s first great assimilationist, Cotton Mather preached that African people could become White in their souls” (75). Navigating climate and curse theories, along with polygenesis and monogenesis justifications for slavery, Mather remained firmly tied to his religious leanings. He encouraged people to accept their God-given place, and he prioritized religious conversion and unity ahead of all else. This created trouble between him and some segregationists, as the latter hoped to keep black people subjugated and distant from the ideas of freedom that faith could engender.