Resource Center OLLibrary
|
38 |
|
Among the forty-one
names appended to this instrument were those of John Carver, the
first governor; William Bradford, the second governor, and the
historian of the settlement; the cultivated Edward Winslow; their
ruling elder, William Brewster; and the fearless soldier, Miles
Standish. They were employed about a month exploring the country
and searching for a suitable place for a settlement. At length
they reached the harbor of Plymouth; and, on the 21st of December,
went on shore and explored the adjacent country. This marks the
era of the lauding of the Pilgrim Fathers on what has been
called Plymouth Rock.
4. Difficulties and
discouragements soon gathered round the pilgrims, and many fell
sick from want and exposure. Before the end of March, death had
taken off nearly half of the little band. At one time there were
only seven well persons in the colony. The dead were buried near
their first landing-place; but these early graves were levelled
and sown with grass, to conceal them from the Indians, "lest, by
counting the number of the dead, they should ascertain the
weakness of the living."
5. Fortunately the Indians
did not molest them, during this time of their severe trial. The
pilgrims made a treaty of friendship, commerce, and mutual
defence, with Massasoit, the Great Sachem of the
Wampanoags.1 This treaty was kept inviolate until the
breaking out of King Philip's War -- a period of more than fifty
years. Canonicus, the proud and powerful chief of the
Narragansets, was at first hostile, but the determined course of
Governor Bradford led him to seek an alliance with the
colony.
6. The colonists began the
cultivation of the ground the spring after their arrival;
and the fruits of their industry were shared in common. The third
season a small portion of land was assigned to each family, and,
as a result, abundant harvests began to be raised. A profitable
trade was opened with the Indians. European trinkets were
exchanged for furs and other products of the chase; and, after a
few years, the pilgrims raised corn in such quantities as to be
able to sell it to the Indians, and to the fishermen who
frequenced the coast. Cargoes were 
occasionally
sent to England, made up of furs, sassafras, and lumber. In 1627
the colonists purchased the interests of the London
merchants, thus becoming the sole proprietors of the land on
which they had settled, and for which a patent had been procured
from the Council of Plymouth. The common property was now divided,
and each colonist received twenty acres of land as his own.
1 Early in the spring the colonists were surprised by hearing an Indian calling out, as he entered their village, "Welcome, Englishmen! Welcome, Englishmen!" This was Samoset, an Indian who had picked up a few English words from the Monhegan fishermen. He told the English that, a few years before, a plague had swept off all the natives, -- that there was neither man, woman, nor child remaining. Thus there was no one to lay claim to the land in which their lot had been cast. On a subsequent visit to the colony, Samoset brought with him Squanto, an Indian, who had been kidnapped and carried to Spain several years before, and afterwards to England, from whence he had lately been brought to the coast of Cape Cod. By means of these Indians the treaty with Massasoit as brought about. See p.22, note (II., 2).
QUESTIONS .-- What names are mentioned as appended to the constitution? What era is marked by the twenty-first of December? 4. What soon happened to the pilgrims? What is said of sickness and death among them? 5. What is said of the Indians? Massasoit? Canonicus? 6. What is said of the fruits of industry? What change was made the third season? Result? What of their trade? What change in 1627? How much land was assigned to each?
|
|
39 |
7. The form
of government was very simple. A governor was chosen by
popular vote. At first he had one assistant; afterwards his power
was limited by a council of five, and finally of seven assistants.
In council the governor had a double vote. The
legislature was "the whole body of the male inhabitants." In 1639
the diffusion of the population over a wide territory led to the
introduction of a representative legislature, to which each town
sent deputies. From this time the history of Plymouth will be
found with that of Massachusetts Bay, with which colony Plymouth
was united in 1692. See p. 41, § IV., and p. 76, ¶
3.
III. COLONY OF
MASSACHUSETTS BAY TO
THE UNION OF 1643 --
1. In 1626 Roger Conant, with a few associates, removed
from a fishing station at Cape Ann to Naumkeng, now Salem.
Two years later John 
Endicott
and one hundred Puritans settled there, and thus laid the
foundation of the colony of Massachusetts Bay.1 This
colony was sent out by a company that had obtained from the
Council of Plymouth a grant of land extending from three
miles north of any part of the Merrimac River to three miles South
of any part of the Charles River, and from the Atlantic to the
Pacific.
2. The next year this company, under the
name of "The Governor and Company of Massachusetts Bay, in New
England," obtained from Charles I., king of England, a
charter vesting the executive power in a governor, deputy
governor, and eighteen assistants, and the legislative power in
the proprietors. Another party of emigrants immediately came over,
and some of them settled at Charlestown, which had been
occupied the year before by a few persons from Naumkeag.
3. In 1630 the proprietors transmitted the
charter and powers of government from London to the colony
in
America. The officers, in the first instance, were chosen by the
company in England. The excellent John Winthrop was
appointed governor. He sailed for Massachusetts, accompanied by
about eight hundred emigrants, and was soon followed by several
hundred more, many of whom were persons of wealth
1 Named from the Massachusetts, a tribe of Indians. See p. 22, note (II., 2). The name of the tribe was probably derived from the Indian name of the Blue Hills of Milton, in its neighborhood.
QUESTIONS. -- 7. Describe the form of government. Who composed the legislature at first? Who, after 1639? When was this colony united with Massachusetts? 1. What is said of the settlement at Salem? What grant had been obtained by the company that sent out the colony? 2. Under what name did the company obtain a charter? In whom were the powers of government vested? what is said of the settlement of Charlestown? 3. Where were the powers of government transmitted In 16309 Who was appointed governor? How many immigrants accompanied him to Massachusetts, and haw many soon followed?
|
40 |
|
and
station, as well as of intelligence and piety. Some of then formed
settlements at Dorchester, Roxbury, Watertown, and
Lynn; others, with Winthrop, bearing of an excellent spring
of water there, established themselves at
Boston,1 which became the capital of the
colony.
4. Winthrop found the colony in a
condition of great distress. A large number had died, and sickness
prevailed among the survivors. Their stock of provisions was
nearly exhausted. Many of the planters, accustomed to a life of
affluence in England, were unable to endure the privations of a
new settlement. The next winter was one of great severity. There
were but few comfortable houses. Famine threatened the colony, and
many were obliged to subsist on shellfish, ground-nuts, and
acorns, which at that season could only be procured with the
greatest difficulty. A day was set apart for public fasting and
prayer: but on the day before that fixed upon, a ship arrived from
England laden with provisions, which were distributed among the
people, and the appointed fast was exchanged for a day of general
thanksgiving.
5. Early in 1631 two important
rules were adopted. First, that freemen alone should have
the power
of electing the magistrates, as the governor, deputy governor, and
his assistants were called. Second, that those only should be made
freemen who belonged to some church within the limits of the
colony. This latter rule remained in force more than thirty years.
In 1634 a change was effected in the mode of legislation.
The settlements had 
become
so numerous and extended that the freemen could not, without great
inconvenience, meet to transact public business. It was therefore
ordered that the whole body of the freemen should be convened only
for the election of the magistrates, who, with deputies to be
chosen by the towns, should have the power of enacting the laws.
Seven years afterwards a code of written laws was adopted,
called The Body of Liberties.
1 Indian name, Shawmut: called, at first, by the English, Tri-Mountain; afterwards Boston, from the English town of the same name, whence had come some of the principal settlers.
QUESTIONS. -- What places were settled by Winthrop and the immigrants of this year? 4. Describe the condition of the colony, as Winthrop found it. What of the next winter? Of their houses? To what straits were the colonists reduced by famine? Relate how a day of fasting was changed to a day of thanksgiving. 5. What two important rules? When adopted? What change in the mode of legislation, When effected? What of a written code?
|
|
41 |
6. The Puritans
did not escape religious dissensions in New England. In
1635, Roger Williams1 was banished 
from
the colony for publishing opinions which were deemed seditious and
heretical by the ministers and magistrates. Banishing Williams did
not end the trouble. A year later, Mrs. Ann Hutchinson began to
teach doctrines at variance with those generally received. She was
declared to be "like Roger Williams, or worse." This trouble
assumed a more formidable aspect from the fact that Henry
Vane,2 a young man of twenty-three, whose popular
talents and winning manners had caused him to be elected governor
that year, became one of her supporters. The next year, however,
Winthrop was again made governor, and Mrs. Hutchinson,3
with the most prominent of her followers, was exiled from the
colony. Frequent accessions of Puritans from England
continued to be made; three thousand came over with Vane, and at
least as many more in 1638.4
7. From this time to the close of
this Period the New England colonies had much in common; and it
will be convenient, in the history of Massachusetts, to narrate
many events in which the other colonies also took prominent part,
thus anticipating something of their history.
IV. COLONY OF
MASSACHUSETTS FROM THE UNION TO
THE CLOSE OF THE
PERIOD. -- 1. In 
1643,
the better to provide for their common security and welfare, the
colonies of Massachusetts, Plymouth, Connecticut,5 and
New Haven,6 united in a confederacy, styled the
United Colonies of New England.
This union continued more than forty
years, -- until the charters of the colonies were either taken
away or suspended. Each colony retained the management of its own
affairs, while all matters pertaining to the confederacy were
intrusted to commissioners, -- two from each
colony.
2. Maine. -- Between the years
1652 and 1658, Massachusetts, considering her grant7 to
embrace the southern 
portion
of Maine, with the consent of the inhabitants, asserted her
jurisdiction over the territory, as far as the Kenebec; and from
this time till 1820 the history of Maine remains merged in that of
Massachusetts. (See p. 54,¶ 8, and p. 76, ¶ 3.)
1 See p. 50, Chap. V.
2 Afterwards Sir Henry Vane. After his return to England he acted a prominent part in the civil wars of that country, and was ultimately convicted of high treason and executed.
3 Mrs. Hutchinson, after remaining some years in Rhode Island. removed to the territory of the Dutch, near New York, where she and her family, except one daughter, who was taken captive, were massacred by the Indians. See p. 54, ¶ 5, and note.
4 It is stated that Cromwell and Hampden had arranged to join the emigration of this year, but that they were prevented by the king, against whom they were the most active leaders in the troubles that followed.
5 See p. 46. 6 See p. 48. § II. 7 See p. 39, ¶ 1.
QUESTIONS. -- 6. What is said of Roger Williams? Of Ann Hutchinson? What prominent supporter of the latter? Fate of Mrs. Hutchinson? What accessions were made to the colony? What is said of the New England colonies from this time? 1. What confederacy was formed in 1643, and for what purpose? -- How long did this union continue? Terms of the union? 2 over what territory did Massachusetts assert her jurisdiction, and why?
4 *
|
42 |
|
Both the
French1 and the English2 early attempted to
establish colonies in what is now the State of Maine. About the
time of the founding of the Plymouth Colony, a few feeble
settlements were began along the coast; but 
before
they had gained much strength, the Council of Plymouth3
granted to several companies portions of the same territory,
from the Piscataqua to the Penobscot. These grants, in after
years, were the source of serious controversies. In 1639 Sir
Ferdinando Gorges, who had previously obtained a grant of the
province,4 secured a royal charter for all the land
from the Piscataqua to the Kennebec. This region was named the
Province of Maine.5 Saco was already a
considerable village. Massachusetts, having asserted jurisdiction,
confirmed it, in 1677, by purchasing of the heirs of Gorges their
claim.
3. Royal commissioners, appointed by
Charles II. to investigate colonial affairs in New England, and to
hear and determine complaints, arrived in Boston in 1664. Their
appointment was looked upon with great suspicion. Massachusetts
openly protested against their exercise of authority as in
conflict with her chartered rights; but in the other colonies they
were received with real or feigned respect. At length they were
recalled, and Now England enjoyed a season of peace and prosperity
till the breaking out of King Philip's War.
4. King Philip's War. --
In 1675,6 Philip, son and successor of the friendly
Massasoit, united most of the New 
England
Indians in a war against the colonies, called King Philip's
War. To defend their hunting grounds from the encroachments of
the whites, and to avenge personal wrongs, the Indians commenced
this war, which, for a time, endangered the very existence of the
English settlements. Connecticut alone, of all the New England
colonies, though liberally con-
1 See p. 32, note 4. 2 See p. 36, ¶¶ 1, 2, and note 4. 3 See p. ¶ 3. 4 See p. 45, ¶ 1.
5 "This eastern country had been commonly called the Mayne [main] land, in distinction front the numerous islands on its coast, and thus perhaps it was that Gorges's province obtained its name."- Palfrey.
6 One hundred years before the beginning of the revolutionary war. See p. 111.
QUESTIONS. -- What nations early attempted settlements in Maine? What is said of Ferdinando Gorges? Saco? How did Massachusetts confirm her jurisdiction? 3. By whom and for what purpose were commissioners sent to New England? When? How were they received? 4. Who was King Philip? For what purpose did he unite most of the New England Indiana, and when? Cause of the war?
|
|
43 |
tributing to the common defence, escaped its
ravages. For more than a year this savage contest spread
devastation and ruin among the scattered villages of the English.
There was safety nowhere; laborers in the field were slain by the
prowling enemy, travellers were shot from the wayside ambuscade,
families were torn from their beds in the dead of night and
butchered, congregations in the house of God were attacked and
massacred.
The death of Philip, who was shot by an Indian,
put an end to the war after it had continued little more than a
year This contest broke the spirit of the New England
Indians.
5.
The first attack was made upon the people of Swanzey
as they were returning from public worship on a day of humiliation
and prayer, appointed under the apprehension of an approaching
war. The whites were immediately aroused. Philip, soon
driven from Mount Hope, the chief seat of his tribe, with his
warriors spread through the country, scalping the defenceless
inhabitants, burning houses, and stirring up his red brethren to a
war of extermination against the English. The frontier
settlements were broken up, and the inhabitants flocked to the
fortified houses of the towns. The valley of the Connecticut, from
Northfield to Springfield, suffered from the attacks of the
savages. Early in the fall the eastern Indians fell upon the
settlements of Maine and New Hampshire, killing the inhabitants,
and consigning their houses, barns, and mills to the
flames.
6. The Narragansets had
pledged themselves, in the beginning of the war, to take no part
against the English. Learning, however, that they had harbored
Philip, and fearing that they would join him in the spring, a body
of troops from Massachusetts, Plymouth, and Connecticut, set out
in December to attack them. They found the enemy strongly
intrenched in a swamp in South Kingston. Enclosed by a palisade
and thick hedge were their wigwams and winter supply of food.
After a severe fight the English gained a complete victory. The
wigwams and stores were burned. Of about four thousand Indians
supposed to be in the enclosure, the sword, fire, famine, and
exposure left but a miserable remnant. This conflict is known as
the swamp fight.
QUESTIONS. -- Describe the ravages of the war. What put an end to it? Effect of the war upon the Indians? 5. What is said of the first attack? Of the whites? Of Philip? Of the Frontier settlements? 6. Why did the English attack the Narragansets? Describe the swamp fight.
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
© 1999, 2000, 2001 for NEGenWeb Project by Ted & Carole Miller