Pilgrims to Plimouth
Pilgrims of Scrooby Manor congregation followed pastor John Robinson and William Bradford to Leiden 1609
Pilgrim Museum in Leiden
1620 July - joint stock co. formed with London merchants of Thos. Weston (Weston dropped out 1622 & got own grant from Council for Wessagusset in Boston harbor)
1620 Sept. 16 - Mayflower set sail from Leiden, 180 tons, with 102 passengers (of which only 35 were separatists, and some non-British Pilgrims from France and Poland), without leaky ship Speedwell, 66 day voyage, wanted Virginia Co. jurisdiction but blown off course
1620 Nov. 21- arrived off Cape Cod, waded ashore 1/2 mile, 41 signed Mayflower Compact Nov. 22 (old date was Nov. 11; new date added 11 days when Gregarian calendar replaced Julian calendar in 1752)
explored in small shallop - 4 died, including wife of Wm Bradford
Plymouth Rock myth
1620 Dec. 15 - landed at Plymouth after 35-day search, in a clearing near harbor, hill to fortify, no Indians
Plymouth Rock monument by McKim Mead White built in 1921, canopy added 1867, allowed tide in, date "1620" carved in 1880 when upper rock attached to lower rock (had broken 1774, 1834)
wharf built over rock 1741, Elder Faunce 95, said his father (was child in 1623) told him story
state park includes Mayflower II reconstruction
Longfellow's Courtship of Miles Standish 1858 romanticized John Alden & Priscilla
Mayflower Compact myth
Mayflower Compact not democracy - rather, oligarchy, as in Va
all who signed became "freeman" but illegal - had to own property under Brit law
self-government exercised but illegal - was only a plantation of Plymouth Co. with HQ in London
freemen voted for a governor - John Carver 1620-1, Wm. Bradford 1621-56
but no real govt until 1636 Fundamental Laws, modeled on Mass. Bay
religious freedom myth
that this country settled by people fleeing religious persecution and yearning for opportunity to worship openly and freely
developed into central belief in national virtue, chosen people, unique destiny
but by 1740, 63% in all British in N. America were members of the Congregational or Anglican established churches
Puritans persecuted non-Puritans
Mass. did not disestablish church until 1833
Quakers
first arrived in Boston July 1656 on ship Swallow - Anne Austin & Mary Fisher - stripped, searched for familiars, strange marks between toes or in hair, jailed - 8 weeks later, magistrates forced shipmaster to take them away at own cost
40 Quakers came 1656-61
Puritans seen as sadists or righteous protectors; Quakers as lunatics or martyrs
Puritan concern for order - fear of anarchy
early Quaker movement radical, extreme, unorganized, enthusiastic, millenial, lacked leadership or any theology or even any name - not until George Fox would Society of Friends emerge
these early Quakers from lower levels of society until Restoration
interrupted Puritan meetings (held twice Sunday, plus mid-week lecture)
women in sackcloth & ashes, or even naked = "going naked for a sign" - to symbolize spiritual nakedness of nonbelievers
wore long hair - symbol of pride to Puritans
denied sinfulness of man & predestination - instead, inner light & equality of all
claimed unique & intimate knowledge of God - no need for Bible or ministers
Cassandra Southwick claimed she was "greater than Moses, for Moses had seen God but twice and on his back side only, and she had seen him 3 times and face to face"
even Roger Williams attacked Quakers because they denied Bible, ministers, education - also threat to family - age, sex, status didn't matter
believed children were innocent, even godly - elevated women & child to level of men
Quakers tended to quake when received message from God - seemed possessed
Puritans compared them to Anabaptists of Munster - 1530s - led by John of Leyden - free love, no property, death to unbelievers
used "thee" and "thou" (intimate) rather than more formal "you" (to address superior or stranger)
refused to take off hats to superiors (head of house only one permitted indoors)
refused to remain banished - kept coming back
1st law 1656 - shipmasters fined, Quakers jailed or whipped
2nd law 1657 - ear cut off or tongue bored with hot iron
3rd law 1658 - banishment
4th law 1659 - hanging (Mary Dyer 1660 - friend of Anne Hutchinson)
1661 - royal edict ended persecution - Quakers allowed to live in Mass
largest group was at Salem - many were women - rebellion ag. patriarchal society
Thanksgiving myth
1621 Oct. - good corn crop - 50 Pilgrims and 90 Wampanoag had feast
most food was gathered, not grown - clams, grapes, pheasant, quail, cod, mackerel, turkey, 5 deer
Pilgrims sent out fowling expedition, killed birds
feast was not a religious observance but traditional "harvest home" festival with beer, games, laughter, feasting
was not called "thanksgiving" which actually meant a religious day of prayer and fasting
Puritans opposed secular holidays such as Christmas
Bradford's account silent; Edward Winslow described a harvest celebration of 3 days with Massasoit
designated "Thanksgiving" in 1789 by George Washington; on last Thursday of Nov. since 1863
1939 - FDR made it one week earlier - Nov. 23 (4th Thurs.) instead of Nov. 30 - more shopping days
1941 - Congress changed it back to 4th Thursday
Indian myth
that Pilgrims befriended Indian, shared food, lived in harmony with nature
but feared wilderness - a physical & spiritual threat - expansion prohibited
Indians were "red Satans" - savages with pagan rites & dances
Squanto (Tisquantum) from Patuxet was kidnapped by Thomas Hunt, officer with John Smith expedition 1614, 20 taken for slaves, went to England, returned to New England with Dermer fishing expedition 1619, his village empty due to plague, much dispair among survivor groups
Narragansetts escaped epidemic, growing in power, controlled trade, threat to weakened Pokanokets
Massasoit was sachem of Pokanokets, now tributary to Narragansetts
Squanto took advantage of despair
1621 March - Squanto brokered Pilgrim treaty with Massasoit
Pilgrims saw treaty as submission but Massasoit saw treaty as alliance, ritual exchange of gifts and speeches, promise of trade & defense
caused resentment of Narragansetts as British asserting control over larger number of tribes
1622 Jan. - sent snakeskin filled with arrows, Plymouth sent one back with powder & shot
Squanto began to act independently - make himself sachem - restore his honor & status & band - Squanto led July 1622 expedition against Narragansetts, but fell sick and died, made deathbed conversion to Bradford
Puritans destroyed Indians who did not submit
Pequot name meant "destroyer" - were Mahicans from 1500s who had moved into territory of Niantics at same time British settling Connecticut
1634 - Mass. sent John Endecott with 100 soldiers to destroy Pequots
Pequot War was brutal - British killed, plundered, robbed
John Mason 1637 attack on Mystic River fort of Pequots in Conn. - aided by Narragansetts, Roger Williams, Plimouth - 500 burned to death, only 7 survived
1637 slaughter of Pequots in swamp near New Haven, survivors sold into slavery to Bermuda
1647 Confederation of United Colonies of New England to stop possible attack by Narragansett chief Miantonomo who was forced to pay tribute
Nature myth
timber shortage in England - few could use axe - men killed by falling trees
unfamiliar animals & insects - wolf, black bear, locust, wasps, mosquitos
95% land heavy forest - swamps - 1 foot humus layer - 200 ft. white pine - 4 ft. diameter - white cedar, black walnut, chestnut, scarlet oak (good fuel) - man should have dominion over nature
Genesis 1:28 = increase & multiply and replenish the earth and "subdue it" - mandate to exploit forest, not conserve it
few carpenters, joiners, sawyers, rivers (wood splitter)
poor construction of houses, chimneys
windows shuttered at night, belief that it was bad to breath night air
Puritans to Massachusetts Bay
John Winthrop, "city upon a hill", conformity
more like Cromwell than the Scrooby Manor Pilgrims
not Laud's Anglicans, or Fox's Quakers
Mass Bay Company formed out of failed1628 New England Company of John Endicott who had received grant between Merrimack and Charles Rivers neart 1623 Cape Ann fishing station that later moved to Salem (where John Endicott arrived with 40 in June 1628 to prepare way for 5 ships that arrived with 300 in June 1629)
Charles I wanted to keep colonists going to America, but then abolished Parliament 1629, and Puritans decided to act on their own initiative
1629 Aug. 29 - Cambridge Agreement signed by 26 shareholders - John Winthrop became leader who moved company HQ to America
1630 June - WinthropÕs fleet, led by the Arbella, 11 ships with 700 to Boston that became the Puritan "hive" for the "errand into the wilderness"
1630-42 - the "Great Migration" - 200 ships & 20,000 to Mass. Bay
Expansion
New Hampshire f. 1639 by John Wheelwright & Exeter families - to Portsmouth on Piscataqua
small community already at Strawberry Bank at mouth of the river
Maine since 1622 grant to F. Gorges & John Mason (who split for N. Hamp.)
Marblehead - fishermen - north of Boston on Cape Ann peninsula - from Cornwall & Channel Is - not a single church member 1644
Salem, Gloucester, Rockport - Cape Ann fish
Covenant Theology
federal theology - covenant with God, fellow man - visible & invisble church
John Calvin at Geneva 1541 to death 1564 - was head of state of Geneva - 1560 Geneva Bible until 1611 King James translation
doctrine of predestination - grace, fear of damnation
arminian heresy - 16th cent Dutch Jacobus Arminius - emph. good works - Bishop Laud
antinomian heresy - "ag. law" - emph grace - Anne Hutchinson 1634 - 37
John Cotton, Rev. John Wheelwright also banished 1637
Winthrop emph community - to "knit together" into godly comm. with "brotherly affection" - "rejoice together, mourne together, labor & suffer together" = N. Eng. Way - orthodoxy
covenant of grace - mutual obligation - God offered grace & man accepted grace
God elects whom he pleases but He is pleased to elect those who are most prepared
preparation was the key - visible church is necessary - "practice of piety"
makes God understandable - reduces fear - less awesome or mysterious
Puritan Ethic - trying for grace - beg. of the moral life - discipline, effort, obedience, work - "here I am, poised on the brink of womanhood, & you start worrying about your Puritan ethic"
congregationalism - form of the visible church - requires conformity - proof that you "own the covenant" - public examination process
1) confess depravity 2) show true repentance 3) justification by Holy Spirit 4) sanctification
John Cotton started "prophesying" in church - narratives of conversion experience - 1634 revival - was brilliant young theologian arrÕd 1633 - good preacher - 1st evangelical - drove out rivals - Thomas Hooker to Hartford 1636, John Davenport to New Haven 1637
impt of the minister - but not a theocracy - ministers were not magistrates - but "Imperium"
Struggle for Orthodoxy
Roger Williams - arrÕd 1631 age 27 - but a separatist & ultra-Puritan - went to Salem - protege of Sir Edward Coke - arrÕd educ. at Cambridge - rejected covenant theology - emph millenium - AntiChrist had destroyed church - new apostles would restore church - Williams was a witness chosen by God to prepare way - 2nd Coming of Christ imminant - will destroy evil and begin 1000 yrs of peace - 3rd Coming follows 1000 yrs - all taken to heaven - oppÕd titles "goodman" - only saints were good - no praying in presence of unregenerate - tore down flag b/c cross of St. George a popish symbol - separation of church & state - only church to punish 1st 4 commandments - banished 1635 - new law 1636 that only church members can be freemen
Anne Hutchinson - arrÕd 1634 - joined church of Cotton and Gov. Henry Vane - antinomian controversy- had powerful supporters - Dep. Gov. Thos. Dudley - challenged political authority of Winthrop (lost gov. 1636) & authority of Bible - direct revelation, not Bible - spoke in public at meetings in her home, not church - banished 1638 to RI, then Long Is (d. 1643) - also bro-in-law John Wheelwright to N. Hamp
Rhode Island
"where people think otherwise" - "cesspool of heresy" - "RogueÕs Island" - f. 1636 by Roger Williams - Providence up Blackstone R. - got charter 1644 - not first settler - William Blackstone in Boston before Puritans, providence before Williams - was eccentric Anglican clergyman - own library - sought escape - Newport harbor in Narragansett Bay - Wampanoags on east under Massasoit, Narragansetts on west - 5000 (4 times Wamp.) dense pop - Miantonomi & Canonicus leaders of Narr. - accepted Brit as buffer zone - used greeting "What cheer, netop?" sounded like Indian greeting "watcheamo" - ff antinomian controv. 80 men & families arrÕd - formed compact March 7, 1638 - towns 1647 joined in a frame of govt - 6 reps from each formed a General Court - majority rule - most democratic of any colony - Quaker meetings began 1660 - George Fox visit 1672 emphÕd organization - code of conduct, recognition of ministers, records kept - Baptists - many schisms - oaths, foot-washing, psalm-singing, laying on of hands (Hebrews 6:2)- Seventh Day Baptists - doctrine of Stephen Mumford arrÕd 1664 - Sabbath is the 7th day of the week, not the first day - Sephardic Jews in Newport - New Haven f. 1637 by John Davenport & St. Stephens congregation from London - wealthy - emphÕd trade
Connecticut
f. 1636 by Thos. Hooker - marched 120 mi. from Boston in May - to Hartford - but Pilgrim fur traders had post at Windsor nearby since 1633 - also Dutch at Fort Hope - John Winthrop, Jr. f. Saybrook 1635 - economic motive - rich land & fur trade
Mass Gen. Court denied petitions for more land in 1634 & 1635 - many moved out
1636 - Wm. Pynchon f. Springfield - son John - became wealthy - controlled town
1637 - Pequot War
1638 sermon of Hooker - political authority from people (but must be godly)
1639 - Fundamental Orders - more powers to freemen, less to gov. - 4 deputies from each town - met separately from magistrates - "river towns" of Conn Valley
other expansion for non-religious reasons:
- Newbury - cattle - at mouth of Merrimack R.
- Concord, Chelmsford, Lancaster - fur trade
Government
1630 - 1st General Court in Oct - 116 - virtually all adult males - elected 18 assistants - freemen were members of the Mass Co. - assistants chose Gov - made laws
1632 - Gen Ct. elected Gov - each town allowed to appt, 2 men to consult taxes
1634 - Deputies to participate in all Gen. Ct. meetings, make laws, taxes, land grants
annual spring meeting of all freemen only to vote for Gov and assistants
Towns
Mass had evolved quickly from Company to Commonwealth - also, Civl War widened gap bet. Eng. & Am.
1635 - law required church attendance
1636 - all houses must be built within 1/2 mile of meetinghouse
each new town was chartered by the Court of Assistants - Concord 1635 and Dedham 1636
Fairbanks house 1636 in Dedham - oldest in Mass.
town meetings dominated by selectmen
1643 - created county system - but towns most impt - 33 in 1647 - Suffolk, Middlesex, Essex, Norfolk - each county had court for civil & criminal cases
Schools
1647 - school required in each town
- if 50 families - a reading school
- if 100 families - a grammar school - for 7 years to prepare for university (e.g., Boston Latin School)
Dorchester had own school since 1642 - 3 wardens selected teacher, books
law of 1642 required head of families to educate children
John CottonÕs 1646 Milk for Babes
N ew England Primer in 1690s - "In Adams fall, We sinned all"
90% literacy rate for men & 50% for women (Va = 60% & 25%)
Cotton MatherÕs library of 2000 books almost size of HarvardÕs f. 1636
50% estates contained books in addition to the Bible
1648 - Book of General Lawes and Liberties - 1st legal code in America - gave many specific powers to magistrates
1648 - Cambridge Platform - written by Richard Mather - gave ministers power over church - consociations
Merchants
John Cogan - Boston's first shopkeeper
Robert Keayne - built first townhouse 1657 - 2 stories - upstairs for counting room, library, Artillery Company - downstairs open for public and trade
merchants engaged in fishing, whaling, fur trade
codfish became symbol of Massachusetts
triangular trade - rum to Africa, slaves to Caribbean, sugar and rice to England, manufactured goods from England
shipbuilders in New England built 1/3 total ships for British empire
merchants became Assistants, farmers became Deputies
1679 law prohibited excessive pride in clothing, such as lace
Family
towns, churches, homes composed of families, not individuals
conformity imposed by "tribalism"
town gave land to families in a church congregation
church membership of parents passed on to children
large families due to Biblical command "be fruitful and multiply"
high birth rate (11 births) and low death rate (if survived infance) and 6.7 children per family
- short childhood, no adolescence, need to work, join community
- infancy to age 1 for survival
- weaning to age 2 - discipline began, tighter clothing
- breaking at age 6 - repression, no privacy, integrated into family life
- youth to age 7 - apprenticeship, "put out" to other families
much displacement of guilt and aggression
public shame as punishment - stocks, pillory, town scold
Nathaniel Hawthorne Scarlett Letter 1850 novel of Hester Prynne, condemned to wear letter A on her breast due to birth of illegitimate child pealr by the young minister Arthur Dimmesdale
adultry, sodomy made capital crimes in 1641 Body of Liberties code