History of the United States Volume I Part 11

[Ill.u.s.tration: First Church in Salem.]

So early as 1631 this colony decreed to admit none as freemen who were not also church members. Thus Church and State were made one, the government a theocracy. The Ma.s.sachusetts settlers, though in many things less extreme than the Pilgrims, were decided Puritans, sincere but formal, precise, narrow, and very superst.i.tious. They did not, however, on coming hither, affect or wish to separate from the Church of England, earnestly as they deprecated retaining the sign of the cross in baptism, the surplice, marriage with ring, and kneeling at communion.

Yet soon they in effect became Separatists as well as Puritans, building independent churches, like those at Plymouth, and repudiating episcopacy utterly.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Seal of Ma.s.sachusetts Bay Company.]

[1635]

Much as these Puritans professed and tried to exalt reason in certain matters, in civil and religious affairs, where they took the Old Testament as affording literal and minute directions for all sorts of human actions for all time, they could allow little liberty of opinion.

This was apparent when into this theocratic state came Roger Williams, afterward the founder of Rhode Island. Born in London, England, about 1607, of good family, he was placed by his patron, c.o.ke, at the Charter House School. From there he went to Pembroke College, Cambridge. In 1631 he arrived in Boston. Somewhat finical in his political, moral, and religious ideas, he found it impossible, having separated from the Church of England, in which he had been reared, to harmonize here with those still favoring that communion. At Salem he was invited by a little company of Separatists to become their teacher. His views soon offended the authorities. He declared that the king's patent could confer no t.i.tle to lands possessed by Indians. He denied the right of magistrates to punish heresy, or to enforce attendance upon religious services. "The magistrate's power," he said, "extends only to the bodies, goods, and outward state of men."

Alarmed at his bold utterances, the General Court of Ma.s.sachusetts, September 2, 1635, decreed his banishment for "new and dangerous opinions, against the authority of magistrates." His fate was not, therefore, merely because of his religious views. The exile sought refuge at Seekonk, but this being within the Plymouth jurisdiction, he, on Governor Winslow's admonition, moved farther into the wilderness, settling at Providence. He purchased land of the natives, and, joined by others, set up a pure democracy, inst.i.tuting as a part thereof the "lively experiment," for which ages had waited, of perfect liberty in matters of religious belief. Not for the first time in history, but more clearly, earnestly, and consistently than it had ever been done before, he maintained for every man the right of absolute freedom in matters of conscience, for all forms of faith equal toleration.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Roger Williams' House at Salem.]

[1638]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Edward Winslow.]

Some friends of Mrs. Anne Hutchinson established a colony on Aquidneck, the Indian name for Rhode Island. Williams went to England and secured from Parliament a patent which united that plantation with his in one government. Charles II.'s charter of 1663 added Warwick to the first two settlements, renewing and enlarging the patent, and giving freest scope for government according to Williams' ideas. Mrs. Hutchinson, a woman of rare intellect and eloquence, who maintained the right of private judgment and pretended to an infallible inner light of revelation, was, like Williams, a victim of Puritan intolerance. She and her followers were banished, and some of them, returning, put to death, 1659-60. She came to Providence, then went to Aquidneck, where her husband died in 1642. She next settled near Hurl Gate, within the Dutch limits, where herself and almost her entire family were butchered by the Indians in 1643.

In 1633 the Dutch erected a fort where Hartford now is, but some English emigrants from Plymouth Colony, in defiance of a threatened cannonade, sailed past and built a trading-house at Windsor, where, joined by colonists, from about Boston, they soon effected a settlement.

Wethersfield and Hartford were presently founded. In 1630 the Plymouth Company had granted Connecticut to the Earl of Warwick, who turned it over to Lord Brooke, Lord Say-and-Seal, and others. Winthrop the Younger, son of Governor Winthrop, of Ma.s.sachusetts, commissioned by these last, built a fort at Saybrook. Till the expiration of his commission the towns immediately upon the Connecticut were under the government of Ma.s.sachusetts. Their population in 1643 was three thousand. A convention of these towns met at Hartford, January 14, 1639, and formed a const.i.tution, like that of Ma.s.sachusetts Bay, thoroughly republican in nature. Connecticut breathed a freer spirit than either Ma.s.sachusetts or New Haven, being in this respect the peer of Plymouth.

At Hartford Roger Williams was always welcome.

Meantime, in 1638, having touched at Boston the year before, Davenport, Eaton, and others from London began planting at New Haven. The Bible was adopted as their guide in both civil and religious affairs, and a government organized in which only church members could vote or be elected to the General Court. The colony flourished, branching out into several towns. In 1643 it numbered twenty five hundred inhabitants.

As early as 1622, Mason and Gorges were granted land partly in what is now Maine, partly in what is now New Hampshire; and in 1623 Dover and Portsmouth were settled. Wheelwright, a brother-in-law of Mrs.

Hutchinson, with others, purchased of the natives the southeast part of New Hampshire, between the Merrimac and the Piscataqua, and in 1638 Exeter was founded. In the same year with Wheelwright's purchase, Mason obtained from the council of the Plymouth Company a patent to this same section, and the tract was called New Hampshire. These conflicting claims paved the way for future controversies and lawsuits. The settlers here were not Puritans, nor were they obliged to be church members in order to be deputies or freemen.

The settlement of Maine goes back to 1626, when the Plymouth Company granted lands there both to Alexander and to Gorges. In 1639 Gorges secured a royal charter to re-enforce his claim. Large freedom, civil and religious, was allowed. For many years the Maine settlements were small and scattered, made up mostly of such as came to hunt and fish for a season only.

[1650]

From 1643 to 1684 Ma.s.sachusetts, Plymouth, Connecticut, and New Haven formed a confederation under the style of the United Colonies of New England. Maine, Providence, and Rhode Island sought membership, but were refused as being civilly and religiously out of harmony with the colonies named. Connecticut, offensive to the Dutch, and exposed to hostilities from them, was the most earnest for the union, while at the same time the most conservative as to its form. It was a loose league, leaving each colony independent save as to war and peace, Indian affairs, alliances and boundaries. Questions pertaining to these were to be settled by a commission of two delegates from each of the four colonies, meeting yearly, voting man by man, six out of the eight votes being necessary to bind.

The confederacy settled a boundary dispute between New Haven and New Netherland in 1650. It received and disbursed moneys, amounting some years to 600 pounds, for the propagation of the gospel in New England, sent over by the society which Parliament incorporated for that purpose in 1649. It was also of more or less service in securing united action against the savages in Philip's War. The union was, however, of little immediate service, useful rather as an example for the far future. Its failure was due partly to the distance of the colonies apart, and to the strength of the instinct for local self-government, a distinguishing political trait of New England till our day. Its main weakness, however, was the overbearing power and manner of Ma.s.sachusetts, especially after her a.s.sumption of Maine in 1652. In 1653 the Plymouth, New Haven, and Connecticut commissioners earnestly wished war with New Netherland, but Ma.s.sachusetts proudly forbade--a plain violation of the articles. After this there was not much heart in the alliance. The last meeting of the commissioners occurred at Hartford, September 5, 1684.

CHAPTER VI.

BALTIMORE AND HIS MARYLAND

[1630]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Maryland Shilling.]

The very year that witnessed the landing of the Pilgrims records the beginning of another attempt to colonize the New World. While Secretary of State, having been appointed in 1619, Sir George Calvert, a member of the Virginia Company from 1609 until its dissolution in 1624, determined to plant a colony for himself. In the memorable year 1620 he bought of Lord Vaughan the patent to the south-eastern peninsula of Newfoundland, the next he sent colonists thither with a generous supply of money for their support. In 1623 King James gave him a patent, making him proprietary of this region. In 1625 Calvert boldly declared himself a Catholic, and resigned his office of Secretary. Spite of this he was soon afterwards enn.o.bled, and his new t.i.tle of Lord Baltimore is the name by which he is best known. Visiting his little settlement in 1627 he quickly came to the conclusion that the severity of the climate would make its failure certain. He therefore gave up this enterprise, but determined to repeat the attempt on the more favorable soil of Virginia.

Confident of the goodwill of Charles I., to whom he had written for a grant of land there, he did not await a reply, but sailed for Virginia, where he arrived in 1629. In 1632 the king issued a patent granting to Baltimore and his heirs a territory north and east of the Potomac, comprising what we now call Maryland, all Delaware, and a part of Pennsylvania. The name Maryland was given it by the king in, honor of his queen, Henrietta Maria. But before this charter had received royal signature Lord Baltimore had breathed his last, and his son Cecil succeeded to his honors and possessions.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Henrietta Maria.]

The Maryland charter made the proprietary the absolute lord of the soil.

He was merely to acknowledge fealty by the delivery of two Indian arrows yearly to the king at Windsor. He could make laws with the consent of the citizens, declare war or peace, appoint officers of government; in fact, in most respects he had regal power. The colonists were, however, to remain English subjects, with all the privileges of such. If they were not represented in Parliament, neither were they taxed by the Crown. If the proprietary made laws for them, these must not be contrary to the laws of England. And they were to enjoy freedom of trade, not only with England but with foreign countries.

[1634-1635]

This charter, as will be readily seen, could not please the Virginians, since the entire territory conveyed by it was part of the grant of 1609 to the London Company for Virginia. But as this and subsequent charters had been annulled in 1624, the new colony was held by the Privy Council to have the law on its side, and Lord Baltimore was left to make his preparations undisturbed. He fitted out two vessels, the Ark and the Dove, and sent them on their voyage of colonization. They went by the way of the West Indies, arriving off Point Comfort in 1634. Sailing up the Potomac, they landed on the island of St. Clement's, and took formal possession of their new home. Calvert explored a river, now called the St. Mary's, a tributary of the Potomac, and being pleased with the spot began a settlement. He gained the friendship of the natives by purchasing the land and by treating them justly and humanely.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Supposed Portrait of William Clayborne.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Clayborne's Trading Post on Kent Island.]

The proprietary was a Catholic, yet, whether or not by an agreement between him and the king, as Gardiner supposes, did not use either his influence or his authority to distress adherents of the Church of England. The two creeds stood practically upon an equality. But if religious troubles were avoided, difficulties of another sort were not slow in arising. About the year 1631, Clayborne, who had been secretary of the Virginia colony, had chosen Kent Island in Chesapeake Bay as a station for trading with the Indians. This post was in the very midst of Maryland, and Calvert notified Clayborne that he should consider it a part of that province. Clayborne at once showed himself a bitter enemy.

The Indians became suspicious and unfriendly, Clayborne, so it was believed, being the instigator of this temper. An armed vessel was sent out, with orders from Clayborne to seize ships of the St. Mary's settlement. A fight took place, Clayborne fleeing to Virginia. Calvert demanded that he should be given up. This was refused, and in 1637 he went to England. A committee of the Privy Council decided that Kent Island belonged to Maryland.

[1638]

In 1635 the first Maryland a.s.sembly met, consisting of the freemen of the colony and the governor, Leonard Calvert, the proprietary's brother, who was presiding officer. Lord Baltimore repudiated its acts, on the ground that they were not proposed by him, as the charter directed. The a.s.sembly which gathered in 1638 retaliated, rejecting the laws brought forward by the proprietary.

[1639]

For a time the colony was without laws except the common law of England.

But Baltimore was too wise and conciliatory to allow such a state of affairs to continue. He gave authority to the governor to a.s.sent to the acts of the a.s.sembly, which he himself might or might not confirm.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fight between Clayborne and the St. Mary's Ship.]

Accordingly in 1639 the a.s.sembly met and pa.s.sed various acts, mostly relating to civil affairs. One, however, was specially noteworthy, as giving to the "Holy Church" "her rights and liberties," meaning by this the Church of Rome, for, as Gardiner says, the t.i.tle was never applied to the Church of England. It was at the same time expressly enacted that all the Christian inhabitants should be in the enjoyment of every right and privilege as free as the natural-born subjects of England. If Roger Williams was the first to proclaim absolute religious liberty, Lord Baltimore was hardly behind him in putting this into practice. As has been neatly said, "The Ark and the Dove were names of happy omen: the one saved from the general wreck the germs of political liberty, and the other bore the olive-branch of religious peace."

[1646]

During the civil war in England the affairs of Maryland were in a very disturbed condition. Clayborne, Maryland's evil genius, seized the opportunity to foment an insurrection, possessed himself once more of Kent Island, and compelled the governor to flee to Virginia. Returning in 1646, Calvert was fortunate enough to recover the reins of government, but the following year witnessed the close of his administration and his short though useful and eventful life. Few men intrusted with almost absolute authority have exercised it with so much firmness and at the same time with so much ability, discretion, and uprightness.

[1650]

His successor, Greene, a Catholic, was not likely to find favor with the Puritan Parliament of England, and Baltimore, in 1648, to conciliate the ruling powers and to refute the charge that Maryland was only a retreat for Romanists, removed the governor and appointed instead one who was a Protestant and a firm supporter of Parliament. The council was also changed so as to place the Catholics in the minority. The oath of the new governor restrained him from molesting any person, especially if of the Roman Catholic persuasion, on account of religious profession. The way was thus opened for the Act of Toleration pa.s.sed in 1649. This law, after specifying certain speeches against the Trinity, the Virgin, or the saints as punishable offences, declared that equal privileges should be enjoyed by Christians of all creeds. Whatever the motives of Baltimore, his policy was certainly wise and commendable.

A new and troublesome element was now introduced into the colony. Some Puritans who had not been tolerated among the stanch Church-of-England inhabitants of Virginia were invited by Governor Stone to Maryland.

Their home here, which they named Providence, is now known as Annapolis.

The new-comers objected to the oath of fidelity, refused to send burgesses to the a.s.sembly, and were ready to overthrow the government whose protection they were enjoying. Opportunity soon offered.

Parliament had already in 1652 brought Virginia to submission. Maryland was now accused of disloyalty, and when we notice among the commissioners appointed by the Council of State, the name of Clayborne, it is not difficult to understand who was the author of this charge. The governor was removed, but being popular and not averse to compromise, was quickly restored. Then came the accession of Cromwell to power as Protector of England. Parliament was dissolved. The authority of its commissioners of course ceased. Baltimore seized this opportunity to regain his position as proprietary. He bade Stone to require the oath of fidelity to the proprietary from those who occupied lands, and to issue all writs in his name. He maintained that the province now stood in the same relations to the Protectorate which it had borne to the royalist government of Charles I.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Oliver Cromwell.]

So thought Cromwell, but not so Clayborne or the Maryland Puritans. They deposed Stone, and put in power Fuller, who was in sympathy with their designs. There resulted a reversal of the acts of former a.s.semblies, and legislation hostile to the Catholics. The new a.s.sembly, from which Catholics were carefully excluded by disfranchis.e.m.e.nt, at once repealed the Act of Toleration. Protection was withdrawn from those who professed the popish religion, and they were forbidden the exercise of that faith in the province. Severe penalties were threatened against "prelacy" and "licentiousness" thus restricting the benefits of their "Act concerning Religion" to the Puritan element now in power. The authority of the proprietary himself was disputed, and colonists were invited to take lands without his knowledge or consent.

[1656]