The Colonization Of North America Part 11

THE PROVIDENCE ISLAND COMPANY

The Puritan leaders.--During the great struggle between king and parliament, several of the merchant princes were on the Puritan side.

One of the most powerful of these was Robert Rich, Lord Warwick. He had been an active member of the Virginia and Somers Islands companies, of the Guinea and Guiana companies, and of the Council of New England.

Closely a.s.sociated with Warwick were Lord Saye and Sele, Lord Brooke, Sir Nathaniel Rich, and John Pym. As the parliamentary contest increased in intensity, these leaders decided to plant a Puritan colony in the Caribbean.

The Providence Island Company.--The site selected was on one of the Mosquito Islands off the coast of Nicaragua. In 1629 a company was formed which was granted the greater part of the Caribbean Sea, from Haiti to the coast of Venezuela and to the mainland of Central America.

Besides Jamaica, then in the possession of Spain, the Cayman Islands fell within these limits. The English fleet which was sent out in 1630 temporarily occupied Tortuga, where colonists from Nevis had recently arrived, and the company asked that this island be included in the patent. The request was granted, but the English were able to hold the island only until 1635 when they were driven out by the Spaniards. The islands along the Mosquito coast were occupied by the company, and a project was formed to colonize the mainland. In 1635 Providence Island was unsuccessfully attacked by a Spanish fleet, but in 1641 the Spaniards succeeded in overcoming the colony, thus for the time ending English operations on the Central American coast.

READINGS

VIRGINIA

Becker, Carl, _The Beginnings of the American People_, pp. 65-80; Beer, G.L., _The Origins of the British Colonial System_, 78-175; Brown, Alexander, _Genesis of the United States; The First Republic in America_; Bruce, P.A., _Economic History of Virginia in the Seventeenth Century_, I, 189-330; _Inst.i.tutional History of Virginia in the Seventeenth Century_, II, 229-262; Channing, Edward, _History of the United States_, I, 143-224; Doyle, J.A., _English Colonies in America_, I, 101-184; Eggleston, Edward, _The Beginners of a Nation_, 25-97; Fiske, John, _Old Virginia and her Neighbors_, I, 40-222; Hamilton, P.J., _Colonization of the South_, 55-119; MacDonald, William, _Select Charters Ill.u.s.trative of American History_, 1-23; Osgood, H.L., _The American Colonies in the Seventeenth Century_, I, 23-97; Scott, W.R., _The Const.i.tution and Finance of English, Scottish, and Irish Joint-Stock Companies to 1720_, II, 246-289; Tyler, L.G., _England in America_, 34-103; Tyler, L.G., ed., _Narratives of Early Virginia_; Wertenbaker, T.J., _Virginia under the Stuarts_, 1-84; Johnston, Mary, _Pioneers of the Old South_; Flippin, P.S., _The Royal Government in Virginia, 1624-1775_.

MARYLAND

Brown, W.H., _Maryland_, 1-50; Channing, Edward, _History of the United States_, I, 241-268; Doyle, J.A., _English Colonies in America_, I, 275-296; Eggleston, Edward, _Beginners of a Nation_, 220-257; Fiske, John, _Old Virginia and her Neighbors_, I, 255-275; Hall, C.C., ed., _Narratives of Early Maryland_; MacDonald, William, _Select Charters_, 53-59; Mereness, N.D., _Maryland as a Proprietary Province_; Osgood, H.L., _The American Colonies in the Seventeenth Century_, II, 58-79; Tyler, L.G., _England in America_, 118-132.

THE BERMUDAS AND THE CARIBBEAN

Beer. G.L., _The Origins of the British Colonial System_, 12-20; Cunningham, William, _The Growth of English Industry and Commerce in Modern Times_, I, 331-339: Lucas, C.P., _A Historical Geography of the British Colonies_, II, 5-14, 43-50; Newton, A.P.. _The Colonizing Activities of the English Puritans_, 13-282; Scott, W.R., _The Const.i.tution and Finance of English, Scottish, and Irish Joint-Stock Companies to 1720_, II, 259-299, 327-337; Tilby, A.W., _Britain in the Tropics_, 44-50.

CHAPTER VII

THE BEGINNINGS OF NEW ENGLAND (1606-1640)

THE PURITAN MOVEMENT IN ENGLAND

The Puritans.--While the planting of colonies on the sh.o.r.es of Chesapeake Bay and on the Caribbean islands was in progress, other settlements were being formed in New England by English Separatists and Puritans. By the beginning of the reign of Elizabeth the Anglican church was firmly established, but it was not long before groups within the church began to show dissatisfaction. At first protests were made against some of the ceremonies and formulas of the service. After 1570 the Puritans, as they were derisively called, began to object to the episcopal form of government and to advocate the Presbyterian or Calvinistic system, which was based upon the idea of a representative form of church government. During the later years of the reign the Puritans laid more and more stress on morals. They believed that life should be sternly ascetic, that the Sabbath should be kept strictly, and that pleasures and extravagance should be suppressed.

The Independents.--Most of the Puritans had no wish to withdraw from the church, but desired to reform it. A more radical group, however, who became known as Independents, looked upon the national church as an unholy inst.i.tution contrary to scripture. They wished to reestablish the church as it was believed to be in the days of the Apostles. There were several groups of Independents or Separatists, the various groups being named after their leaders, the followers of Robert Brown being known as Brownists, those of Henry Barrow as Barrowists. They met in small groups which were called conventicles. The English church, through the Court of High Commission, proceeded with considerable severity against the Puritans, whom they attempted to make conform, but against the Separatists they showed no mercy, breaking up the conventicles, imprisoning many, and hanging some of the leaders.

James I and the Non-Conformists.--Soon after James I became king, the Puritans presented a pet.i.tion asking for changes in the church. The king called the Hampton Court Conference that he might hear the views of the various parties. James soon found that many of the Puritans believed in presbyteries, a form of government with which he had had unpleasant experiences in Scotland, and he angrily ended the conference. Shortly afterward, because of the so-called "Gunpowder Plot," the king became convinced that he was personally in danger. From this time on he supported the Anglican church. Severe laws were pa.s.sed against the Catholics, and the laws against Non-Conformists were enforced with greater vigor.

PLYMOUTH COLONY

Failures of the Plymouth Company.--The Plymouth Company, which received its charter in 1606, took immediate measures to occupy its territories.

In that year two unsuccessful attempts were made to found colonies. The information brought back, however, so interested the company that another expedition was fitted out the following year. Colonists were landed at the mouth of the Kennebec River; but great hardships were experienced during the winter, and in the spring the discouraged settlers abandoned the enterprise.

Activity on the New England Coast, 1607-1619.--No successful settlement in New England was made until 1620, but in the meantime the coast was frequently visited. In 1613 Captain Argall attacked the French settlements at Mount Desert, Port Royal, and St. Croix. The following year John Smith explored and mapped the New England coast. In 1615 he was made Admiral of New England by the Plymouth Company and he attempted to found a colony, but it proved a failure. Several fishing and trading voyages were also made under the direction of Sir Ferdinando Gorges, an influential member of the Plymouth Company.

The Council for New England.--The failure of the company to plant a colony led Gorges and others who were still interested to pet.i.tion for a new charter; on November 13, 1620, the doc.u.ment pa.s.sed the seals incorporating the Council for New England, which was given jurisdiction over the territory from 40 to 48 north lat.i.tude.

Origin of the Pilgrims.--The first permanent settlement in New England was not the work of the Council, but of a group of Independents.

Separatist congregations were located at Scrooby, Gainsborough, and Austerfield, villages in Nottinghamshire, Lincolnshire, and Yorkshire.

In the Scrooby congregation were three men of unusual ability, Pastor John Robinson, Elder William Brewster, and William Bradford. To avoid persecution many Separatists had migrated to Amsterdam, and there in 1608 Robinson and his followers gathered, removing later to Leyden. From time to time a few others joined them, among the late comers being John Carver and Miles Standish. Most of the congregation found the making of a livelihood among the Dutch extremely difficult. In spite of this, some of them enrolled in the University of Leyden and Brewster set up a printing press from which appeared several theological works.

Reasons for removal from Holland.--By 1617 the leaders determined to seek new lands. Bradford in his _History of Plymouth Plantation_ gives the following reasons for removal: (1) Daily life was so hard in Holland that few cared to emigrate there and in consequence the congregation did not grow; (2) many were growing old, and there was fear that the congregation would soon break up; (3) life was too hard for the children, and in addition many were slipping away, some becoming soldiers and sailors; it was also found that the morals of the young were endangered in the gay city of Leyden; (4) it was hoped to spread the gospel in remote lands. In addition, intermarriage with the Dutch had begun and it was evident that the little community would soon lose its English ident.i.ty.

Removal to America.--Guiana, New Netherlands, and Virginia were discussed as possible places for settlement, the last named being the final choice. A patent was obtained from the Virginia Company, and John Carver was made governor. Seven thousand pounds were raised by Thomas Weston and other merchant adventurers to back the enterprise. A portion of the Leyden congregation sailed for England, and at Southampton met with others from London, who had determined to join them. The company, including Carver, Brewster, Bradford, and Standish, left England in the _Mayflower_ and the _Speedwell_, but the latter proving unseaworthy, about twenty abandoned the enterprise. The _Mayflower_ arrived at Cape Cod in November, 1620.

The Mayflower Compact.--As the region was outside of the jurisdiction of the Virginia Company, the colonists on their own initiative drew up what is known as the Mayflower Compact, by which they combined into a civil body politic, and agreed to enact such just and equitable laws as were for the general welfare of the colony. After the signing of the compact, Governor Carver was confirmed in his office. The Mayflower Compact marks the origin of the English colony based upon a social compact the basis of which was the will of the colonists rather than that of the sovereign. Of a similar nature were Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Haven, and New Hampshire in their inception, and in the latter half of the eighteenth century, when the frontiersman had crossed the mountains and freed himself from the restraints of the tidewater governments, the social compact became the basis of western state making.

Settlement at Plymouth.--Exploring parties were sent along the sh.o.r.es of Ma.s.sachusetts Bay, and Plymouth was selected as the site for the colony, but the cla.s.sic story of the landing on Plymouth Rock is now known to be only a romance. From the first, settlers suffered exceedingly. Bradford describes the situation as follows: "But that which was most sadd and lamentable was, that in 2. or 3. moneths time halfe of their company dyed, espetialy in Jan: and February, being the depth of winter, and wanting houses and other comforts; being infected with the scurvie and other diseases...; so as ther dyed some times 2. or 3. of a day, in the foresaid time; that of 100 and odd persons, scarce 50. remained. And of these in the time of most distres, ther was but 6. or 7. sound persons."

Indians, fur trade and maize.--The region which the Pilgrims had selected for their first settlement was almost deserted by the Indians, many of them having been swept away by a plague. At some distance to the southward lived the Wampanoags, whose chief was Ma.s.sasoit. Shortly after the arrival of the Pilgrims an Indian named Squanto, who previously had been carried to Europe by one of Smith's captains, appeared in the settlement. Squanto prevailed upon Ma.s.sasoit to come to Plymouth, where a treaty of peace was made which lasted for fifty years. This led to the opening of a fur trade, which became the chief source of wealth for the colony. Squanto proved to be of great service, teaching the settlers the planting of maize and instructing them in hunting and fishing. Carver died in the spring of 1621, and William Bradford was elected governor, a position which he held almost continually until 1657. In the fall the _Fortune_, poorly provisioned, arrived with thirty-five settlers, an influx which led to another winter of hardship. The boat also brought a patent from the Council for New England.

"Weston's rude fellows."--In May, 1622, sixty-seven persons arrived, having been sent out by Thomas Weston, who had obtained a grant from the Council for New England. Later they moved to Wessagusset, where they lived a turbulent life. In 1623 the Indians to the northward planned to exterminate the Wessagusset settlers, who appealed to Plymouth for aid.

Captain Miles Standish led a force against the Indians, who were so severely punished that peace was established.

Expansion of Plymouth.--At first the wealth of the colony was held in a common stock. Bradford determined to a.s.sign a tract of land to each family, an experiment which greatly stimulated industry. From this time the colonists were never in danger of starvation, and in a few years they were able to pay off their debts to the English merchants. To increase the fur trade, posts were established on Buzzard's Bay, on the Kennebec River, at Pen.o.bscot, and at Machias Bay, the two latter posts, however, being soon broken up by the French. A group of traders who established themselves at Merry Mount under Thomas Morton shocked the austere people of Plymouth, who in 1628 broke up Morton's establishment.

A trade was opened with the Dutch, and in 1636 a fur trading post was established on the Connecticut River. In 1624 there were one hundred and eighty settlers in the Plymouth colony, and in 1630 only three hundred; but after that the number increased rapidly, by 1642 the population being three thousand.

Government of the colony.--The first governor exercised executive and judicial powers, and the same powers were vested in Bradford and an a.s.sistant. The number of a.s.sistants was increased in 1624 to five and in 1633 to seven. The freemen composed the legislative body, which was called the General Court, one of its sessions being devoted annually to the election of officers. In 1638 a representative system was introduced, Plymouth being allowed four delegates and other towns two each. Legally every freeman could vote, but in practice the suffrage was restricted to church members. Pastors and elders were elected by the adult males of each congregation, and attendance at church meetings was vigorously enforced.

COLONIZING ACTIVITIES ON THE NEW ENGLAND COAST

Land grants and settlements.--While Plymouth was developing, the Council for New England was attempting to settle the New England coast. The region from the Bay of Fundy to Narragansett Bay was divided among twenty patentees. Captain John Mason and Sir Ferdinando Gorges procured a patent to lands between the Kennebec and Merrimac rivers; Mason received lands between Salem and the Merrimac; Sir Robert Gorges ten miles of coast lands along "the north east side of Boston Bay," and Lord Sheffield and Lord Edward Gorges extensive tracts to the south of Sir Robert Gorges's lands. Lord Warwick also received lands on Ma.s.sachusetts Bay. The grantees obtained the a.s.sistance of English merchants, who, in 1623 established small settlements at Portsmouth and Dover, within the present state of New Hampshire, and at Saco Bay, Monhegan Island, and Cas...o...b..y, within the modern state of Maine. Sir Robert Gorges made an unsuccessful attempt to plant a settlement at Weymouth, and a group of Dorchester merchants planted a settlement on Cape Ann.

Lyford, Oldham, and Morton.--In 1624 a group of colonists, including a minister named John Lyford, arrived at Plymouth. There he joined with John Oldham to get control of the government. They were banished from the colony and went to Weymouth, where they joined with Roger Conant and others, and moved to Nantasket. The following year, on the invitation of the Dorchester men, Lyford, Conant, and Oldham moved to Cape Ann. This angered the Plymouth people, who had obtained a tract on Cape Ann from Lord Sheffield. Difficulties over fishing rights soon developed, and Miles Standish was sent to the cape with a troop of soldiers. A compromise was effected, but the Plymouth men soon abandoned the enterprise. The Dorchester men found little profit in the business and in 1626 most of them departed. Oldham returned to Plymouth. Conant and three others remained, but shortly afterward removed to Naumkeag, the modern Salem. In 1625 a settlement was established a little north of Weymouth, where Thomas Morton became the leader. He established the Episcopalian service, set up a May-pole which became the scene of gaiety, and engaged in the fur trade, but Plymouth men soon broke up the settlement.

The Canada and Laconia companies.--When war broke out between England and France in 1628, Sir Ferdinando Gorges and Captain John Mason organized the Canada Company to conquer the French fur-trading colonies of Acadia and Canada, and in 1629 a fleet under Captain Kirke captured the French colonies, but in 1632 they were restored to France. The Maine proprietors also attempted to tap the fur trade of the Lake Champlain region and accordingly, in 1629, obtained a grant embracing the lake country and a thousand acres of sea coast land, the territory being known as Laconia. A governor was appointed and attempts made to penetrate the fur country in the interior, but the efforts proved abortive.

THE Ma.s.sACHUSETTS BAY COLONY

Rev. John White's a.s.sociation.--The Reverend John White of Dorchester interested people in Lincolnshire and London, and formed an a.s.sociation, which, through the a.s.sistance of Warwick, in 1628 procured a patent for lands between the parallel which pa.s.sed three miles north of the source of the Merrimac to that which pa.s.sed three miles south of the head of the Charles River, and from the Atlantic to the Pacific. In September, 1628, John Endicott with about fifty followers arrived at Salem.

The Ma.s.sachusetts Bay Company.--Trouble for the new a.s.sociation was brewing in England. Members of the Gorges family attempted to interfere with the new settlement, and Morton and Oldham joined with them. The new a.s.sociation, however, succeeded in defeating the former patentees, and in March, 1629, a royal charter was obtained which confirmed the grant made to Endicott and his partners. The new corporation was called the "Governor and Company of Ma.s.sachusetts Bay in New England." The administration was placed in the hands of a governor, deputy governor, and eighteen a.s.sistants, who were to be elected annually by the freemen or members of the corporation. Four times a year the officers and freemen were to meet in a general court at which new freemen might be admitted to membership, subordinate officers might be appointed, and laws and ordinances enacted. On June 27, 1629, five ships with about four hundred settlers arrived at Salem.

The Cambridge agreement.--At this time Laud had begun his persecution of the Puritans and the king had started on his career of personal government. Under these circ.u.mstances the Puritan leaders looked to the New World for an asylum. John Winthrop, a wealthy gentleman of Groton in Suffolk, who had been a follower of Warwick in parliament, now became interested in the Ma.s.sachusetts enterprise. Winthrop and several prominent men of Cambridge met and agreed to emigrate to New England provided the charter and government might be legally transferred to America. The company decided to transfer the government. Winthrop was made governor, and Thomas Dudley deputy governor.

The "Great Migration."--In June, 1630, eleven ships anch.o.r.ed at Salem and before the winter six more arrived, bringing in all over a thousand people. They found Endicott's followers in a deplorable condition. About one-fourth had died during the previous winter; many of the survivors were sick and there was a shortage of provisions. The new arrivals had brought only a limited supply and for the first year famine stalked in the land. The dreary prospect caused about a hundred of the newcomers to return immediately to England. Winthrop and most of his followers removed to Charlestown. By December two hundred had died. Believing that the inadequate water supply at Charlestown was the main cause of sickness, the settlers began to scatter, and before the new year settlements had been started at Dorchester, Boston, Watertown, Roxbury, Mystic, and Lynn.

The hardships endured by the followers of Endicott and Winthrop prevented many from coming during 1631 and 1632, but in 1633 a new wave of migration set in. Laud became arch-bishop in that year and began a rigorous enforcement of the laws against nonconformists. Many ministers with their congregations in consequence migrated. By the end of 1634 there were nearly four thousand settlers in Ma.s.sachusetts. The migration continued until the outbreak of war in 1642, by which time the population had increased to about sixteen thousand.

The form of government.--The charter vested the government in the governor, deputy governor, a.s.sistants, and freemen of the company but not more than twelve of the colonists were legally eligible to membership in the general court. Before disembarking this little group decided that each of the a.s.sistants should exercise the same powers as an English justice of the peace. The colony was to be governed by the common law of England, which was to be supplemented by biblical law. At the first general court, held at Boston, October 19, 1630, one hundred and nine men applied for admission as freemen of the corporation. This Winthrop and his a.s.sociates hesitated to grant, but finally they agreed to admit them, allowing them to elect a.s.sistants, but not to hold office. It was also provided that in future no person should be admitted as a freeman unless a member of some church within the colony. Though Winthrop and his followers at first claimed to be members of the Church of England, the necessities of the frontier soon a.s.serted themselves, and each community became a political, economic, and a religious unit.

The New England towns.--The New England towns were based upon the idea of group settlement and wherever New Englanders migrated the local organization was reproduced. As Professor Osgood says, "The settlement of a town normally began with the laying out of a village plot and the a.s.signment of home lots. This to an extent determined the location of highways, of the village common, and of some of the outlying fields. On or near the common the church was built, and in not a few cases the site that was chosen for this building went far toward determining the entire lay-out of the town. The idea of a home lot was a plot of ground for a dwelling-house and outbuildings, for a dooryard and garden, and usually also an enclosure for feeding cattle and raising corn."