To show how a central idea shapes a monolithic society, this social studies unit focuses on the idea of God's "providence" as the motivational force in Puritan thinking and analyzes the idea's sources, its truth, its impact, and its evolution through three generations of Puritan living. Sections of the unit discuss (1) the religious, economic, and political uses that the first generation of Puritans made of the idea of God's providence, (2) the jeremiads that the second generation of Puritans heard from the pulpit and their responses to these warnings, and (3) the ways that the third generation justified the Salem witch trials which contributed to the modification of the idea of God's providence. Included are excerpts from Salem court records, from 17th century religious tracts and sermons, and from the writings of men who shaped Puritan thinking--such as John Winthrop, Increase and Cotton Mather, Samuel Sewall, and John Danforth. [Not available in hard copy due to marginal legibility of original document.] (Author/JB)