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Freeman

“The adult men in the first settlement of Plymouth all held the status of ‘stockholders’ in the joint-stock company that financed the Colony or ‘plantation.’”

“They thus shared in the ownership of the plantation’s assets, its speculative economic venture, and its liabilities.  They participated in the economic venture and its colonial government.”

“The colonists also began use of the separate term ‘freemen’ early in the settlement, which indicated a citizen of the Colony, who possessed the right to vote for the Governor and Assistants and the right to hold office (thus, all stockholders were freemen, but not all freemen would be stockholders). Women and servants were not eligible for freeman status.” (Fennell)

A “freeman” (this designation has nothing to do with slavery, or former slavery) refers to a person’s position in his church and community. This position as a “freeman” had to be earned by those who settled among the New England colonists. (Dehler)

A “freeman” should not be confused with a “freeholder” or “free planter.” These latter terms refer to individuals who possessed land. This land was usually either granted to the person by the colony, purchased by him from the colony, or inherited. Freemen, of course, could be, and were, free planters – that is, land owners.

A man who committed a crime or infraction against the government or church could lose his status of freeman and also lose his land. (Dehler)

When he first entered the colony, a settler was not considered “free.” He was a commoner. His actions and activities were closely monitored by the hierarchy to make sure they fit with the church’s ideal.

If the man proved himself to fit with this ideal – if he joined the church, paid his debts, was owing to no man, and was under no judicial restraints – he would be accepted by the hierarchy and would be allowed to take the freemen’s oath.

This process of acceptance took some time because the man had to prove himself worthy and become a member in good standing of the congregation. (Dehler)

“The status of ‘freeman’ conferred the right to take part in the government of the Colony as a whole … The ultimate unit of political participation and power was the individual ‘freeman.’  This was a formal status of which all adult male householders might directly apply.”

“Approval was based on general consideration of character and competence; … Plymouth set no specific requirements in terms of church membership.”

“Initially, the ‘freemen’ themselves composed the General Court, which enacted all necessary ‘laws and ordinances,’ voted ‘rates’ (taxes), and (after 1640) supervised the distribution of lands.” (Demos)

“Freemen were required to take an oath of allegiance to the Colony and to England. There were several instances of charges brought to the Court over the years of freemen failing or refusing to take such an oath.”

“In 1659, for example, twelve men were convicted for refusing to take the oath, and were fined 5 pounds sterling each, although not banished or imprisoned.” (Fennell)

“Sometime in the period from 1636 to 1671, the Plymouth colonists formulated a declaration called The General Fundamentals, which further emphasized their desire for self-governance as ‘freemen’ or ‘associates’:

This has often been viewed by historians as one of the earliest forms of a demand for “representative” government and individual rights in the American colonies.

“Restrictions focusing on Quakers were added as well. No Quaker could be a freemen, and a freemen who became a Quaker would lose his status, as would any freemen who aided Quakers.”

“The duties of being a freeman may have been more than some persons cared to possess. Towns often were forced to threaten fines for freemen failing to attend town meetings. An even heavier fine was levied against freemen who failed to attend the General Court or to serve on the Grand Enquest when selected.”

“As a result, by 1638 the freemen had prompted legislation which permitted them to elect representatives, called ‘deputies,’ who would then attend the sessions of the General Court for each town. Those persons elected deputies tended to be re-elected year after year.”

“While only freemen could be elected to be deputies, nonfreemen who paid taxes and swore fidelity to the Colony were permitted to vote for candidates for deputy.”

“By 1652, the General Court instituted a process for freemen to vote by proxy at the General Court sessions, to prevent them from having to travel to Plymouth Town where the Court was convened.”

“The declaration of ‘The Generall Fundamentals’ set forth in the 1672 Book of Laws listed an array of rights and privileges possessed by freemen.”

“No freeman was to be punished ‘but by virtue or equity of some express Law of the General Court of this Colony, the known law of God, or the good and equitable laws of our Nation.’”  (Fennell)

Click the following link to a general summary about Freeman:

https://imagesofoldhawaii.com/wp-content/uploads/Freeman.pdf

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American Postal Service

Benjamin Franklin and others in his era get lots of credit for the development of the American Postal Service; but, the early colonists should also be credited for the initial framework and early infrastructure for the system.

Early on, American colonists did not view an intercolonial mail system as a pressing need. The sparsely populated settlements along the Atlantic Coast corresponded more with England than with each other, and the few overland trails that existed did not encourage travel between the colonies. (Schurr)

That changed when England’s King Charles II wished his “American subjects to enter into a close correspondency with each other.” (Schurr)

A letter written in 1652, by Samuel Symonds of Ipswich, to John Winthrop, Jr., at Pequot, says: “I cannot say but its besides my intentions that I write not more frequently unto you; I can onely plead this for my excuse (soe farr as it will goe) … and the uncertainty when and how to convey letters.” (Woolley)

Until 1639 there is no trace of a postal system, but under the Massachusetts General Court Records, of that year (Nov. 5th), is the following entry:

“For preventing the miscarriage of letters, … It is ordered that notice bee given, that Richard Fairbanks, his house in Boston, is the place appointed for all letters, which are brought from beyond the Seas, or are to be sent thither;”

“ … are to be brought unto him and he is to take care, that they bee delivered, or sent according to their directions and hee is alowed for every such letter 1d. and must answer all miscarriages through his owne neglect in this kind; provided that no man shall bee compelled to bring his letters thither except hee please.” (Woolley)

The Routing of the Boston Post Road – “Ouer land to Connectecott”

In the earliest days of the New England colonies, towns were surrounded by wilderness. The only roads emanated from the meetinghouse. To the extent the towns were connected, they were connected by Indian trails – a foot-and-a-half wide in some places, across surging rivers in others. (New England Historical Society)

It became apparent that a road was desperately needed between New York and Boston.

Francis Lovelace, is credited with developing what would later be called the Boston Post Road – that led to the first formal postal service. Francis was appointed Royal Governor of New York by the Duke of York. (Chris Stevenson)

Each November Native Americans would “pave” the paths by a process the Dutch termed “bush-burning.” Setting fire to bramble, twigs, and underbrush ensured the paths would not be unpassable.

In choosing his route, he relied on Indian trails: the so-called Connecticut Path running west from Boston and the Bay Path heading into Springfield.

The Colony also grew along these lines: Watertown residents followed the Connecticut Path to establish Sudbury (now Wayland), and Worcester emerged from a request for a town “in the roade way to Springfeild.”

Three decades after his trip, when Winthrop Jr. was governor of Connecticut, he was asked to chart the Colonial mail route between Boston and Manhattan. He used those Indian paths as his blueprint for what would become the Post Road. (The King’s Best Highway, Eric Jaffe)

There are actually three Boston Post Roads, all of which merge in New Haven.

The Upper Road, or the Old Boston Post Road, runs from Boston through Worcester, Springfield and Hartford.

The Lower Road heads south from Boston through Dedham and Providence, then runs along the coast of the Long Island Sound.

The Middle Road, less used than the others, leaves Boston through Dedham, Medway, Uxbridge, Douglas, Pomfret and Coventry to Hartford, then to New Haven through Wethersfield, Berlin, Meriden, Wallingford and North Haven.

Much of the Post Road is now U.S. Route 1, U.S. Route 5, and U.S. Route 20. (New England Historical Society)

First Formal Mail Delivery System

Then, Winthrop’s son, John Winthrop the Younger (then Governor of Connecticut), and Francis Lovelace, Governor of New York formalized the first intercolonial postal system.

In December of 1672, they initiated a monthly post between New York and Boston, which Lovelace describes in a December 27, 1672 letter to Winthrop Jr,

“I herewith present you with 2 rarities, a pacquett of the latest intelligence I could meet withal, and a post … by the latter you will meet with a monthly fresh supply;”

“so that if it receive but the same ardent inclinations as first it hath from myself, by our monthly advisers all publique occurences may be transmitted between us, together with severall other great conveniencys of publique importance, consonant to the commands laid upon us by his sacred majestie, who strictly enjoins all his American subjects to enter into a close correspondency with each other …”

“this person that has undertaken the employment I conceaved most proper, being voted active, stout and indefatigable…. I have affixt an annuall sallery on him, which, together with the advantage of his letters and other small portable packes, may afford him a handsome livelyhood….”

“The maile has divers baggs, according to the towns the letters are designed to, which are all sealed up ’till their arrivement, with the seal of the secretarie’s office, whose care it is on Saturday night to seale them up.”

“Only by-letters are in an open bag, to dispense by the wayes….”

“I shall only beg of you your furtherance to so universall a good work; that is, to afford him directions where, and to whom to make his application to upon his arrival at Boston; as likewise to afford him what letters you can to establish him in that employment there.”

“It would be much advantageous to our designe, if in the intervall you discoursed with some of the most able woodmen, to make out the best and most facile way for a post, which in processe of tyme would be the king’s best highway; as likewise passages and accommodation at rivers, fords, or other necessary places.” (Woolley)

The First Mail Deliveries

The first postal run took approximately two to three weeks, as the rider – traveling 250 miles altogether along mostly desolate trails in the wilderness – made mail deliveries in such communities as New Haven, Hartford, Brookfield, Worcester, and Cambridge before finally reaching Boston. He and subsequent postal riders used axes to mark-up trees enroute to help guide others likewise delivering mail

The Boston Post Road was pivotal in more closely linking what had generally been isolated settlements in the northeastern region of the British colonies and paving the way for similar routes elsewhere along the eastern seaboard.

In the longer term, the segments that constituted the Boston Post Road evolved into several of the first major highways in the United States. (TransportationHistory-org)

Governor Lovelace found his “stout fellow, active and indefatigable” in Mathias Nicolls, whose departure from New York City on January 22, 1673 marked the first official post ride. Nicolls departed from the southern tip of Manhattan with explicit orders to stop at the home of John Winthrop Jr in Hartford en route to Boston for further instruction and to switch horses. (Jaffee and HistoryBandits)

Along the way, the post rider would mark trees to aid others using the path for their own travels. He would also scout good locations for inns and taverns along the way. Nicolls stored letters marked “post-paid” in separate saddlebags organized by destination.

At each stop, he would find the ideal place to deliver the mail while also informing locals of his estimated time of return. Nicolls arrived in Boston on February 11, 1673 before returning south to complete the second half of his journey. (HistoryBandits)

On the first Monday of every month, the postrider was to leave New York and return from Boston within the month.

The first mail was to leave New York on January 1, 1673. Lovelace waited, though, to send Winthrop the latest rumors about a convoy of Dutch warships. The postrider left on January 22, 1673. (New England Historical Society)

Boston Postal Road Mileage Markers

The New England Historical Society clarified that it is a myth that Benjamin Franklin either set out or ordered the Boston Post Road milestones.

Franklin is said to have measured the road himself with an odometer strapped onto his carriage wheel. One of Franklin’s granite milestones still survives on East Main Street – 33 miles from Boston.

The Historical Society says, “It never happened.”

In 1971, Leonard Labaree, editor of the Benjamin Franklin papers at Yale, set the record straight. Labaree wrote that after detailed study of the Franklin papers,

“Not one document in this very substantial mass of contemporary documents has been found to contain so much as a single reference to roadside milestones, erected by Franklin or by any other persons.”

Further, he wrote, Post Office officials had neither responsibility nor budget for building and maintaining roads, bridges, ferries and milestones. The editors of the Franklin papers concluded,

“Milestones were of no particular use to the postal service, for the postriders were thoroughly familiar with the roads they traveled.”

“The convenience of other travelers, on the other hand, was not the Post Office’s responsibility or concern. There seems to have been no good reason why Franklin should have spent time, energy, or Post Office money in erecting milestones, and…there is no documentary evidence that he ever did.”

It is not clear who put them there and when they did it. But many of them along the route continue to incorrectly reference Franklin.

Postal Service “Motto”

Oh, one more thing … the reputed Postal Service ‘Motto’ …

“Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds.”

Again, it is not so. The U.S. Postal Service has no official motto. (USPS)

Those words are engraved on the front of the James A. Farley Post Office in NYC, set in stone by the architectural firm that built it.

William Mitchell Kendall was one of the architects. Kendall, who frequently read classic Greek literature for pleasure. He selected a passage (translated by Professor George Herbert Palmer of Harvard University) from book 8, paragraph 98, of The Persian Wars by the ancient Greek historian Herodotus (c 484–c 425 BCE). The Post Office Department agreed that Kendall’s slight modification of the original translation was suitable for the building, and approved it.

During the wars between the Greeks and Persians (500-449 B.C.), the Persians operated a system of mounted postal couriers who served with great fidelity. Herodotus wrote (of the Persians),

“While Xerxes did thus, he sent a messenger to Persia with news of his present misfortune.”

“Now there is nothing mortal that accomplishes a course more swiftly than do these messengers, by the Persians’ skillful contrivance. It is said that as many days as there are in the whole journey, so many are the men and horses that stand along the road, each horse and man at the interval of a day’s journey.”

“These are stopped neither by snow nor rain nor heat nor darkness from accomplishing their appointed course with all speed. “

“The first rider delivers his charge to the second, the second to the third, and thence it passes on from hand to hand, even as in the Greek torch-bearers’ race in honor of Hephaestus. This riding-post is called in Persia, angareion.” (Herodotus)

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Pilgrims Were English and Loyal to the King

In the 1500s England broke away from the Roman Catholic Church and created a new church called the Church of England (sometimes referred to as the Anglican Church).

Although the new church had been founded by Henry VIII of England (r. 1509-1547 CE) during the Protestant Reformation in opposition to the Catholic Church, it still retained many aspects of Catholicism which some Protestants, derisively known by Anglicans as “Puritans” because they wished to purify the Church, objected to.  (Joshua Mark, 2021)

King James I, the same who commissioned the famous King James Translation of the Bible, was the head of the Anglican Church, interpreted this criticism as treason, and authorized officials to fine, arrest, imprison and even execute dissenters. (Joshua Mark, 2021)  Everyone in England had to belong to the Anglican Church. There was a group of people called Separatists that wanted to separate from that church.

Pilgrims Wanted to Remain English, Even Though They Were Persecuted and Arrested

In 1607 CE, the Anglican Church became aware of the Scrooby congregation and arrested some, placing others under surveillance, and fining those they could. The congregation, under the leadership of John Robinson (l. 1576-1628 CE) sold their belongings and relocated to Leiden, the Netherlands, where the government practiced a policy of religious tolerance.

Between 1607-1618 CE, the congregation lived freely in Leiden.  Bradford and Edward Winslow both wrote glowingly of their experience. In Leiden, God had allowed them, in Bradford’s estimation, “to come as near the primitive pattern of the first churches as any other church of these later times.” God had blessed them with “much peace and liberty,” Winslow echoed. (Joshua Mark, 2021)

However, after several years of living the Netherlands they cherished the freedom of conscience they enjoyed in Leiden, but the Pilgrims had two major complaints:

  • they found it a hard place to maintain their English identity (their children wanted to speak Dutch instead of English and they missed other things about English life) and
  • it was an even harder place to make a living.

In America, they hoped to live by themselves, enjoy the same degree of religious liberty and earn a “better and easier” living. (Robert Tracy McKenzie)

Their leaders, William Bradford, Reverend John Robinson and several others worked out a plan to move the entire Pilgrim church group to America. That way they could still be English. (NPS, Cape Cod National Seashore)

The Leiden congregation were looking into some means of creating their own colony in Virginia when, in 1618 CE, one of their leading members, William Brewster (l. 1568-1644 CE), published a tract criticizing the Anglican Church and orders were given by the English officials for his arrest.

Brewster was hidden by his friends, but the congregation stepped up their efforts to relocate and contracted with Thomas Weston (l. 1584 – c. 1647 CE), who was a merchant adventurer who matched potential colonists with investors.

After deciding to leave, they settled on the New World as their destination due to its remoteness. Bradford went to the Virginia Company and asked them for permission to establish a new colony in Virginia.

Seeking the right to worship as they wished, the Pilgrims had signed a contract with the Virginia Company to settle on land near the Hudson River, which was then part of northern Virginia. The Virginia Company was a trading company chartered by King James I with the goal of colonizing parts of the eastern coast of the New World. London stockholders financed the Pilgrim’s voyage with the understanding they would be repaid in profits from the new settlement.

The Colonists were British Until the Declaration of Independence and Subsequent Revolutionary War

While the Mayflower Compact  (signed in 1620) established a government for the Plymouth Colony, they still considered themselves loyal subjects of King James I and made that very clear in the text.

The first words of the Mayflower Compact confirm the Pilgrims’ loyalty to the king:  “In the name of God, Amen. We, whose names are underwritten, the Loyal Subjects of our dread Sovereign Lord King James, by the Grace of God, of Great Britain, France, and Ireland, King, defender of the Faith, etc.”

They concluded the Mayflower Compact with: “In witness whereof we have hereunto subscribed our names at Cape Cod the 11th of November, in the year of the reign of our Sovereign Lord King James, of England, France, and Ireland, the eighteenth, and of Scotland the fifty-fourth, 1620.”

The Mayflower Compact stated principles of a self-governed body not completely separate from England.  The colonists had no intention of declaring (and did not declare) their independence from England when they signed the Mayflower Compact. 

As noted in the opening line of the Compact, both Pilgrims and “Strangers” refer to themselves as “loyal subjects” of King James, regardless his actions to persecute and exile the Pilgrims.  They also identify him as their king not by virtue of their consent, but “by the grace of God.” This puts the Mayflower Compact closer to an affirmation of the divine right of kings than the right of self-rule.

The rest of the Mayflower Compact bound the signers into a “Civil Body Politic” for the purpose of passing “just and equal Laws … for the general good of the Colony.”

In the 1600s and 1700s, Europeans came to North America looking for religious freedom, economic opportunities, and political liberty.

They created 13 colonies on the East Coast of the continent.  Each colony had its own government, but the British king controlled these governments.

They believed that Great Britain did not treat the colonists as equal citizens. (US Citizenship and Immigration Services)

Over 150-years Later, There Was a Push for New Governance and Citizenship

Over one-hundred and fifty years after the Pilgrims landed and signed the Mayflower Compact in the New World, the subsequent colonists stated in 1776,

“When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another …”

“… and to assume among the powers of the earth the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.”

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

“That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed,”

“That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.”

“Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed.”

“But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.”

“Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government.”

“The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States.”

 They concluded their Declaration stating,

“We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States”

“that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do.”

“And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.”

The Declaration of Independence (1776) was designed for multiple audiences: the King, the colonists, and the world. It was also designed to multitask. Its goals were to rally the troops, win foreign allies and to announce the creation of a new country.

The introductory sentence states the Declaration’s main purpose, to explain the colonists’ right to revolution. In other words, “to declare the causes which impel them to the separation.” Congress had to prove the legitimacy of its cause. It had just defied the most powerful nation on Earth. It needed to motivate foreign allies to join the fight.

The most important and dramatic statement comes near the end: “That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States.” It declares a complete break with Britain and its King and claims the powers of an independent country. (National Archives)

By issuing the Declaration of Independence, adopted by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, the 13 American colonies severed their political connections to Great Britain. The Declaration summarized the colonists’ motivations for seeking independence.

By declaring themselves an independent nation, the American colonists were able to confirm an official alliance with the Government of France and obtain French assistance in the war against Great Britain.  (National Archives)

However, King George III did not want to lose this valuable land, and so the colonies took to arms to defend their new country and rights in what is now known as the Revolutionary War.

Unfortunately, it took five long years of war before the British surrendered in October 19, 1781, and the United States of America could begin the business of becoming a nation.  Later, when the colonists won independence, these colonies became the 13 original states.

Click the following link to a general summary about Pilgrims Were English and Loyal to the King:

https://imagesofoldhawaii.com/wp-content/uploads/Pilgrims-Were-Loyal-to-the-King.pdf

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Allerton Negotiates a New Agreement with the Merchant Adventurers

[With the death of Governor John Carver in April 1621, “Shortly after William Bradford was chosen Gover in his stead, and being not yet recoverd of his ilnes, in which he had been near ye point of death; Isaak Allerton was chosen to be an Asistante unto him, who, by renewed election every year, continued sundry years together”.]

[The Pilgrims were not, in the beginning, experienced businessmen. In 1625, at the death of their “right hand” man in England, Robert Cushman, they found they needed Allerton’s negotiating abilities and sent him post-haste as their agent to England.]

[This mission (the first of several) was particularly significant. It produced a change in the financial arrangements between the merchant Adventurers and the Pilgrims whereby the former sold their entire interest to the latter, know as Purchasers, for 1,800 English ponds. Allerton negotiated the agreement in 1626.  (Society of Mayflower Descendants in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania)]

Bradford tells what happened,  “This year [1626] they sent Mr. Allerton into England, and gave him order to make a composition with ye adventurers, upon as good termes as he could (unto which some way had ben made ye year before by Captaine Standish);”

“but yet injoyned him not to conclud absolutly till they knew ye termes, and had well considered of them; but to drive it to as good an issew as he could, and referr ye conclusion to them.”

“Also they gave him a commission under their hands & seals to take up some money, provided it exeeded not such a sume specified, for which they engaged them selves, and gave him order how to layout ye same for ye use of ye plantation.”

“And finding they rane a great hazard to goe so long viages in a smale open boat, espetialy ye winter season, they begane to thinke how they might gett a small pinass; as for ye reason afforesaid, so also because others had raised ye prise with ye lndeans above ye halfe of what they had formerly given, so as in such a boat they could not carry a quantity sufficient to answer their ends.”

“And thus passed ye affairs of this year.”

“At ye usuall season of ye coming of ships [1627] Mr. Allerton returned, and brought some usfull goods with him, according to ye order given him. For upon his commission he tooke up 200li. which he now gott at 30. per cent.”

“The which goods they gott safly home, and well conditioned, which was much to the comfort & contente of ye plantation.”

“He declared unto them, allso, how, with much adoe and no small trouble, he had made a composition with ye adventurers, by the help of sundrie of their faithfull freinds ther, who had allso tooke much pains ther about.”

The 1626 Allerton Agreement

“The agreement or bargen he had brought a draught of, with a list of ther names ther too annexed, drawne by the best counsel of law they could get, to make it firme. The heads wherof I shall here inserte.”

“To all Christian people, greeting, &c. Wheras at a meeting ye 26. of October last past, diverse & sundrie persons, whose names to ye one part of these presents are subscribed in a schedule hereunto annexed, Adventurers to New-Plimoth in New-England in America, were contented and agreed,”

“in consideration of the sume of one thousand and eight hundred pounds sterling to be paid, (in maner and forme folling,) to sell, and make sale of all & every ye stocks, shares, lands, marchandise, and chatles, what soever, to ye said adventurers, and other ther fellow adventurers to New Plimoth aforesaid, any way accruing, or belonging to ye generalitie of ye said adventurers aforesaid;”

“as well by reason of any sume or sumes of money, or marchandise, at any time heretofore adventured or disbursed by them, or other wise howsoever; for ye better expression and setting forth of which said agreemente,”

“the parties to these presents subscribing, doe for them selves severally, and as much as in them is, grant, bargan, alien, sell, and transfere all & every ye said shares, goods, lands, marchandice, and chatles to them belonging as aforesaid, unto Isaack Alerton, one of ye planters resident at Plimoth afforesaid, assigned, and sent over as agente for ye rest of ye planters ther,”

“and to such other planters at Plimoth aforesaid as ye said Isack, his heirs, or assignes, at his or ther arrivall, shall by writing or otherwise thinke fitte to joyne or partake in ye premisses, their heirs, & assignes, in as large, ample, and beneficiall maner and forme, to all intents and purposes, as ye said subscribing adventurers here could or may doe, or performe.”

“All which stocks, shares, lands, &c. to the said adven: in severallitie alloted, apportioned, or any way belonging, the said adven: doe warrant & defend unto the said Isaack Allerton, his heirs and assignes, against them, their heirs and assignes, by these presents.”

“And therfore ye said Isaack Allerton doth, for him, his heirs & assigns, covenant, promise, & grant too & with ye adven: whose names are here unto subscribed, ther heirs, &c. well & truly to pay, or cause to be payed, unto ye said adven: or 5. of them which were, at yt meeting afforsaid, nominated & deputed,”

“viz. John Pocock, John Beachamp, Robart Keane, Edward Base, and James Sherley, marchants, their heirs, &c. too and for ye use of ye generallitie of them, the sume of 1800li. of lawfull money of England, at ye place appoynted for ye receipts of money on the west side of ye Royall Exchaing in London, by 200li. yearly, and every year, on ye feast of St. Migchell, the first paiment to be made Ano: 1628. &c.”

“Allso ye said Isaack is to indeavor to procure & obtaine from ye planters of N. P. aforesaid, securitie, by severall obligations, or writings obligatory, to make paiment of ye said sume of 1800li. in forme afforsaid, according to ye true meaning of these presents.”

“In testimonie wherof to this part of these presents remaining with ye said Isaack Allerton, ye said subscribing adven: have sett to their names,* &c. And to ye other part remaining with ye said adven: the said Isaack Allerton hath subscribed his name, ye 15. Novbr. Ano: 1626. in ye 2. year of his Majesties raigne.”

[“This agreemente was very well liked of, & approved by all ye plantation, and consented unto; though they knew not well how to raise ye payment, and discharge their other ingagements, and supply the yearly wants of ye plantation, seeing they were forced for their necessities to take up money or goods at so high intrests.”]

[The original company of adventurers or “venture capitalists” was wound up in 1627, leaving a debt of £1,800 that was assumed by the Undertakers.  In return a monopoly was granted to Bradford, Allerton, and Standish in their position as original Undertakers.]

[The Plymouth “Undertakers” included 8 Pilgrims (Bradford, Standish, Allerton, Winslow, Howland, Alden, Brewster, and Prence) and four London partners (Sherley, Beauchamp, Andrews and Hatherly.)]

[This agreement led to the first “dividend” of privately owned land (at 20 acres a person) to each resident family or single man – together with shares in valuable milk goats and cattle – that began the expansion of the settlement beyond the bounds of downtown Plymouth. (Massachusetts Society of Mayflower Descendants)]

Distribution of Lands (1627)

[After two harvests the colony itself had decided that the task of raising food for the settlers would prosper only if it was separated from that of earning profits for London. In 1623 a parcel of land was allotted to each man to till for his family and to maintain those who were exempt from agricultural employment because of other duties.  Each family was given one acre per family member.]

[In abandoning the “common course and condition” everyone worked harder and more willingly. The food problem was ended, and after the first abundant harvest under individual cultivation, the Pilgrims did not have to endure the meager rations of the first years. The plots assigned them permanently in 1624 became privately owned in 1627.]

[Three heifers and a bull sent over by the adventurers in response to Bradford’s request throve and multiplied, so there was cattle to be divided among the households when the general stock was terminated.  (McIntyre)]

“Then they agreed that every person or share should have 20. acres of land devided unto them, besids ye single acres they had allready; and they appoynted were to begin first on ye one side of ye towne, & how farr to goe; and then on ye other side in like maner; and so to devid it by lotte;”

“and appointed sundrie by name to doe it, and tyed them to certaine ruls to proceed by; as that they should only layout settable or tillable land, at least such of it as should butt on ye water side, (as ye most they were to layout did,) and pass by ye rest as refuse and comune; and what they judged fitte should be so taken.”

“Allso every share or 20. acers was to be laid out 5. acres in breadth by ye water side, and 4. acres in lenght, excepting nooks & corners, which were to be measured as yey would bear to best advantage. But no meadows were to be laid out at all, nor were not of many years after, because they were but streight of meadow grounds;”

“and if they had bene now given out, it would have hindred all addition to them afterwards; but, every season all were appoynted. wher they should mowe, according to ye proportion of catle they had.”

“This distribution gave generally good contente, and settled mens minds. Also they gave ye Gover & 4. or 5. of ye spetiall men amongst them, ye houses they lived in; ye rest were valued & equalised at an indiferent rate, and so every man kept his owne, and he that had a better alowed some thing to him that had a worse, as ye valuation wente.”

Click the following link to a general summary about Allerton Negotiates a New Agreement with the Merchant Adventurers:

https://imagesofoldhawaii.com/wp-content/uploads/Allerton-Negotiates-a-New-Agreement-with-the-Merchant-Adventurers-1626.pdf

© 2022 Hoʻokuleana LLC

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Morton and the Maypole at Merrymount

The Pilgrims arrived in 1620 in hopes of making a better life for themselves and their children while being able to worship freely and in peace.

Their perseverance laid the cornerstone of a new Nation.

The Pilgrims were Separatists.

They believed that membership in the Church of England violated the biblical precepts for true Christians, and they had to break away and form independent congregations that adhered more strictly to divine requirements.

At a time when Church and State were one, such an act was treasonous and the Separatists had to flee their mother country.  They all shared a fervent and pervasive Protestant faith that touched all areas of their lives.

The Separatists’ faith experience was part of the larger English Reformation of the 16th century. This movement sought to “purify” the Church of England of its corrupt human doctrine and practices; the people in the movement were known as “Puritans.”

Separatists were those who no longer accepted the Church of England as a true church, refused to work within the structure to affect changes, and “separated” themselves to form a true church based solely on Biblical precedent.

They rejected Christmas, Easter and the various Saint’s Days because they had no scriptural justification, and in their worship services, they rejected hymns, the recitations of the Lord’s Prayer and creeds for the same reason.

The Separatists believed that the worship of God must progress from the individual directly to God, and that “set” forms, like the Church of England’s Book of Common Prayer, interfered with that progression by directing one’s thoughts down to the book and inward to one’s self.

The only exceptions were the Psalms and the Lord’s Supper, both of which had scriptural basis, and possibly the covenant by which individuals joined the congregation.

As Pastor Robinson expressed it, even two or three “gathered in the name of Christ by a covenant [and] made to walk in all the ways of God known unto them is a church.”

Sabbath services were held twice on Sunday; in addition, sermons were often given on Thursdays, and as occasion demanded, Days of Thanksgiving or Days of Fasting and Humiliation were proclaimed.

These latter were movable weekday holidays called in response to God’s Providence.  Both were observed in a manner similar to the weekly Sabbath, with morning and afternoon services.

Then, Thomas Morton Arrived

Thomas Morton, a trader and lawyer, emigrated from England to the Plymouth Colony in the company of a Captain Wollaston in 1624.

Unable to get along with the Pilgrim authorities, Wollaston, Morton and other settlers established their own small colony of Mount Wollaston at the present-day site of Quincy, Massachusetts.

Then most of that community departed with the captain in 1626 in hopes of finding more hospitable surroundings in Virginia. Morton remained behind and renamed the village Mare Mount (Merrymount)

It is in this context of the religious focus of the Pilgrims that conflict arose when Thomas Morton came to New England.

Morton first explains what happens (in New English Canaan) …

“The Inhabitants of Pasonagessit (having translated the name of their habitation from that ancient Salvage name to Ma-re Mount; and being resolved to have the new name confirmed for a memorial to after ages) did devise amongst themselves to have it performed in a solemne manner with Revels, & merriment after the old English custome …”

“… prepared to sett up a Maypole upon the festivall day of Philip and Jacob; & therefore brewed a barrell of excellent beare, & provided a case of bottles to be spent, with other good cheare, for all commers of that day.”

 “And because they would have it in a compleat forme, they had prepared a song fitting to the time and present occasion.”

“And upon May-day they brought the Maypole to the place appointed, with drumes, gunnes, pistols, and other fitting instruments, for that purpose; and there erected it with the help of Salvages, that came thether of purpose to see the manner of our Revels.”

“The setting up of this Maypole was a lamentable spectacle to the precise seperatists: that lived at new Plimmouth.”

“They termed it an Idoll; yea they called it the Calfe of Horeb: and stood at defiance with the place, naming it Mount Dagon; threatning to make it a woefull mount and not a merry mount. …” (Morton)

Bradford, on the other hand, explains …

“… Morton, who, it should seeme, had some small adventure (of his owne or other mens) amongst them; but had litle respecte amongst them, and was slighted by ye meanest servants.”

“But this Morton abovesaid, haveing more craft then honestie, (who had been a kind of petiefogger, of Furnefells Inne, in ye other absence watches an oppertunitie, (commons being but hard amongst them,) and gott some strong drinck & other junkats, & made them a feast; and after they were merie, he begane to tell them, he would give them good counsell.”

“[T]hey fell to great licenciousnes, and led a dissolute life, powering out them selves into all profanenes.”

“And Morton became lord of misrule, and maintained (as it were) a schoole of Athisme. And after they had gott some good into their hands, and gott much by trading with ye Indeans, they spent it as vainly, in quaffing & drinking both wine & strong waters in great exsess, and, as some reported, 10li. worth in a morning.”

“They allso set up a May-pole, drinking and dancing aboute it many days togeather, inviting the Indean women, for their consorts, dancing and frisking togither, (like so many fairies, or furies rather,) and worse practises.”

“As if they had anew revived & celebrated the feasts of ye Roman Goddes Flora, or ye beasly practieses of ye madd Bacchinalians.”

“Morton likwise (to shew his poetrie) compose sundry rimes & verses, tending to lasciviousness, and others to ye detraction & scandall of some persons, which he affixed to this idle or idoll May-polle.”

“They chainged allso the name of their place, and in stead of calling it Mounte Wollaston, they call it Meriemounte, as if this joylity would have lasted ever.”

“But this continued not long … So they mutually resolved to proceed, and obtained of ye Govr of Plimoth to send Captaine Standish, & some other aide with him, to take Morton by force.”

“The which accordingly was done; but they found him to stand stifly in his defence, having made fast his dors, armed his consorts, set diverse dishes of powder & bullets ready on ye table; and if they had not been over armed with drinke, more hurt might have been done.”

“They somaned him to yeeld, but he kept his house, and they could get nothing but scofes & scorns from him; but at length, fearing they would doe some violence to ye house, he and some of his crue came out, but not to yeeld, but to shoot …”

“… but they were so steeld with drinke as their peeces were to heavie for them; him selfe with a carbine (over charged & allmost halfe fild with powder & shote, as was after found) had thought to have shot Captaine Standish; but he stept to him, & put by his peece, & tooke him.”

“Neither was ther any hurte done to any of either side, save yt one was so drunke yt he rane his owne nose upon ye pointe of a sword yt one held before him as he entred ye house; but he lost but a litle of his hott blood.”

“Morton they brought away to Plimoth, wher he was kepte, till a ship went from ye Ile of Shols for England, with which he was sent to ye Counsell of New England; and letters written to give them information of his course & cariage; and also one was sent at their comone charge to informe their Hors more perticulerly, & to prosecute against him.”

“But he foold of ye messenger, after he was gone from hence, and though he wente for England, yet nothing was done to him, not so much as rebukte for ought was heard; but returned ye nexte year.”

“Some of ye worst of ye company were disperst, and some of ye more modest kepte ye house till he should be heard from. But I have been too long about so unworthy a person, and bad a cause.”

This event is also recounted in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s ‘The Maypole of Merrymount.’  It was first published in The Token and Atlantic Souvenir in 1836.

Click the following link to a general summary about Morton and the Maypole at Merrymount:

https://imagesofoldhawaii.com/wp-content/uploads/Morton-and-the-Maypole-at-Merrymount.pdf

© 2021 Hoʻokuleana LLC