When the Massachusetts General Court burned down, it was viewed in
the colony as an expression of divine displeasure, and the colonies'
ministers were invited to preach sermons calling on the people to repent
of the sins that had provoked the Lord. At the time, New England was
nearing the end of what contemporaries knew as “The Great Inflation.” After decades
of moderate inflation, New England's entry into King George's War had
involved all New England, and Massachusetts in particular, in expensive
military expeditions. When these expeditions were financed by printing
money, the price level doubled in just three years time. The inflation was a great
hardship on those whose money incomes were fixed. Among those most
affected were the colonies' ministers. Appleton used his sermon as an
opportunity to denounce the injustice that had befallen victims of the
inflation. His sermon gives a rare glimpse of how religious beliefs
helped set the stage for the currency
reform adopted the following year. Only the portion of Appleton's
sermon dealing with the inflation is reproduced here.
