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Plymouth Colony (sometimes New Plymouth or The Old Colony) was an English colonial venture in North America from 1620 until 1691. This is a list of the various territories that have been under the political control of the United Kingdom and/or its predecessor states The Province of Massachusetts Bay was a crown colony chartered October 7, 1691 in North America by William and Mary, the joint Throughout the world there are many cities that were once national Capitals but no longer have that status because the country ceased to exist the capital was moved or the capital English is a West Germanic language originating in England and is the First language for most people in the United Kingdom, the United States A state religion (also called an official religion, established church or state church) is a religious body or Creed officially A Puritan of 16th and 17th century England was an associate of any number of religious groups advocating for more "purity" of Worship and Doctrine, Separatism refers to the advocacy of a state of cultural ethnic tribal religious racial or gender separation from the larger group often with demands for greater political autonomy For the government of parliamentary systems see Executive (government. A monarchy is a Form of government in which supreme power is actually or nominally lodged in an individual who is the Head of state, often for life or A legislature is a type of representative Deliberative assembly with the power to create amend and change Laws The law created by a legislature is called Legislation Thanksgiving, or Thanksgiving Day, is a traditional North American Holiday, which is a form of harvest festival. The Pequot War was an armed conflict in 1636-1637 between an alliance of Massachusetts Bay and Plymouth colonies with Native American allies (the King Philip's War, sometimes called Metacom 's War or Metacom's Rebellion was an armed conflict between Native American inhabitants of The Dominion of New England in America (1686-1689 was a short-lived administrative union of English colonies in the New England region of North America England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland The first settlement was at New Plymouth, a location previously surveyed and named by Captain John Smith. Captain Sir John Smith (c January 1580– June 21 1631) Admiral of New England was an English Soldier, Sailor The settlement, which served as the capital of the colony, is today the modern town of Plymouth, Massachusetts. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts ( is a state located in the New England region of the northeastern United States. At its height, Plymouth Colony occupied most of the southeastern portion of the modern state of Massachusetts. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts ( is a state located in the New England region of the northeastern United States.
Founded by a group of separatists who later came to be known as the Pilgrims, Plymouth Colony was, along with Jamestown, Virginia, one of the earliest colonies to be founded by the English in North America and the first sizable permanent English settlement in the New England region. Separatism refers to the advocacy of a state of cultural ethnic tribal religious racial or gender separation from the larger group often with demands for greater political autonomy Pilgrims, or Pilgrim Fathers (or Pilgrim Mothers) is a name commonly applied to the early settlers of the Plymouth Colony in present-day Plymouth Jamestown, located on Jamestown Island in the Virginia Colony, was founded on May 14 1607 The Commonwealth of Virginia ( is an American state History See also History of New England New England's earliest inhabitants were Algonquian -speaking Native Americans including the Aided by Squanto, a Native American, the colony was able to establish a treaty with Chief Massasoit which helped to ensure the colony's success. Tisquantum, more commonly known today as Squanto or 'Big Bean' (c Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples from the regions of North America now encompassed by the continental United States Massasoit Sachem or Ousamequin (c 1581 - 1661)was the Sachem, or leader of the Pokanoket, and "Massasoit" of the Wampanoag The colony played a central role in King Philip's War, one of the earliest and bloodiest of the Indian Wars. King Philip's War, sometimes called Metacom 's War or Metacom's Rebellion was an armed conflict between Native American inhabitants of Ultimately, the colony was annexed by the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1691. The Massachusetts Bay Colony (sometimes called the Massachusetts Bay Company, for the institution that founded it was an English settlement on the east coast of North America
Plymouth holds a special role in American history. Rather than being entrepreneurs like many of the settlers of Jamestown, the citizens of Plymouth were fleeing religious persecution and searching for a place to worship God as they saw fit. The social and legal systems of the colony were thus closely tied to their religious beliefs. Many of the people and events surrounding Plymouth Colony have become part of American mythology, including the North American tradition known as Thanksgiving and the monument known as Plymouth Rock. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the The word mythology (from the Greek grc μυθολογία mythología, meaning "a story-telling a legendary lore" Thanksgiving, or Thanksgiving Day, is a traditional North American Holiday, which is a form of harvest festival. Plymouth Rock is the traditional site of disembarkation of William Bradford and the Mayflower Pilgrims who founded Plymouth Colony Despite the colony's relatively short history, it has become an important symbol of what is now labeled "American", owing largely to its treatment in American public schools.
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History
Origins
- See also: Pilgrims
Plymouth Colony was founded by a group of people who later came to be known as the "Pilgrims". Pilgrims, or Pilgrim Fathers (or Pilgrim Mothers) is a name commonly applied to the early settlers of the Plymouth Colony in present-day Plymouth The core group—roughly 40% of the adults and 56% of the family groupings[1]—was part of a congregation of religious separatists led by pastor John Robinson, church elder William Brewster, and William Bradford. John Robinson (1575-1625 was the Pastor of the " Pilgrim Fathers " before they left on the Mayflower. William Brewster may refer to William Brewster (Pilgrim (1567-1644 Pilgrim and Mayflower passenger William Brewster (ornithologist William Bradford ( March 19, 1590 – May 9, 1657) was a leader of the separatist settlers of the Plymouth Colony in Massachusetts While still in the town of Scrooby in Nottinghamshire, England, the congregation began to feel the pressures of religious persecution. Scrooby is a small Village, on the River Ryton and near Bawtry, in the northern part of the English county of Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (abbreviated Notts) is an English county in the East Midlands, which borders South Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, Leicestershire During the Hampton Court Conference, King James I had declared the Puritans and Protestant Separatists to be undesirable and, in 1607 the Bishop of York raided homes and imprisoned several members of the congregation. hampton court facts The Hampton Court Conference was a meeting in January 1604, convened at Hampton Court Palace between King James I of England James VI and I (19 June 1566 – 27 March 1625 was King of Scotland as James VI, and King of England and King of Ireland as James A Puritan of 16th and 17th century England was an associate of any number of religious groups advocating for more "purity" of Worship and Doctrine, The Archbishop of York is a high-ranking cleric in the Church of England, second only to the Archbishop of Canterbury. [2][3] The congregation thus left England and emigrated to the Netherlands, first to Amsterdam and then to Leiden, in 1609. The Netherlands ( Dutch:, ˈnedərlɑnt is the European part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, which consists of the Netherlands the Netherlands Amsterdam (pronounced) is the capital and largest city of the Netherlands, located in the province of North Holland in the west "Leyden" redirects here For other uses see Leyden (disambiguation. [4]
In Leiden, the congregation found the freedom to worship as it chose, but Dutch society was unfamiliar to these immigrants. Scrooby had been an agricultural community, whereas Leiden was a thriving industrial center, and the pace of life was hard on the Pilgrims. Furthermore, though the community remained close-knit, their children began adopting the Dutch customs and language. The Pilgrims were also still not free from the persecutions of the English Crown; after William Brewster in 1618 published comments highly critical of the King of England and the Anglican Church, English authorities came to Leiden to arrest him. See also Anglicanism The Anglican Communion is an international association of national Anglican churches Though Brewster escaped arrest, the events spurred the congregation to move even further from England. [5]
In June 1619, after declining the opportunity to settle in New Netherland due to their desire to avoid the Dutch influence[6], the Pilgrims obtained a land patent from the London Virginia Company, allowing them to settle at the mouth of the Hudson River. New Netherland (Dutch Nieuw-Nederland, Latin Novum Belgium or Nova Belgica) 1614–1674 is the name of the former Dutch territory on the eastern coast The London Company (also called the Charter of the Virginia Company of London) was an English Joint stock company established by royal charter by The Hudson River, called Muh-he-kun-ne-tuk, the Great Mohegan by the Iroquois, or as the Lenape Native Americans called it in Unami They then sought financing through the Merchant Adventurers, a group of Puritan businessmen who viewed colonization as a means of both spreading their religion and making a profit. Upon arriving in America, the Pilgrims began working to repay their debts. [7]
Using the financing secured from the Merchant Adventurers, the Pilgrims bought provisions and obtained passage on two ships, the Mayflower and the Speedwell. The Mayflower was the famous Ship that transported the English Separatists better known as the Pilgrims, from Southampton, England The Speedwell was a 60-ton Ship, the smaller of the two ships (along with Mayflower) intended to carry the Pilgrim Fathers to Though they had intended to leave early in 1620, difficulties in dealing with the Merchant Adventurers, including several changes in plans for the voyage and in financing, resulted in a delay of several months. The Pilgrims finally boarded the Speedwell in July 1620 from the Dutch port of Delfshaven. Delfshaven is a Borough of Rotterdam on the right bank of River Nieuwe Maas, in South Holland the Netherlands [8]
Mayflower voyage
- See also: List of passengers on the Mayflower
The Mayflower arrived in Southampton, England, to rendezvous with the Speedwell and to pick up supplies and additional passengers. This is a list of the 104 passengers onboard the Mayflower during its trans-Atlantic voyage of September 6 - November 9, 1620 Southampton ( IPA /ˌsaʊθˈhæmptən/ is the largest city in the county of Hampshire, on the south coast of England Among the passengers to join the group in Southampton were several Pilgrims including William Brewster, who had been in hiding for the better part of a year, and a group of passengers known to the Pilgrims as "The Strangers". This group was largely made up of passengers recruited by the Merchant Adventurers to provide governance for the colony as well as additional hands to work for the colony's ventures. Among the Strangers were Myles Standish, who would be the colony's military leader, Christopher Martin, who had been designated by the Merchant Adventurers to act as Governor for the duration of the trans-Atlantic trip, and Stephen Hopkins, a veteran of a failed colonial venture that may have been the inspiration for Shakespeare's The Tempest. Captain Myles Standish (c 1584 &ndash October 3, 1656) (sometimes spelled Miles Standish was an English born military officer hired Christopher Martin was born sometime before 1582 He was married to Mary Prower Martin in Great Burstead Essex England in February1606 or 1607 Stephen Hopkins (born about 1582 &ndash 1644 was a tanner and Merchant who was one of the passengers on the Mayflower in 1620 settling William Shakespeare ( baptised The Tempest is a comedy written by William Shakespeare. It is generally dated to 1610-11 and accepted as the last play written solely by him although [9]
The departure of the Mayflower and Speedwell for America was beset by delays. Further disagreements with the Merchant Adventurers held the departure up in Southampton. A total of 120 passengers, 90 on the Mayflower and 30 on the Speedwell, finally departed on August 15. Events 778 - The Battle of Roncevaux Pass, at which Roland is killed [10] Leaving Southampton, the Speedwell experienced significant leakage, which required the ships to immediately put in at Dartmouth. Dartmouth is a town in Devon in the south-west of England. It is a Tourist destination set on the banks of the estuary of the River Dart After repairs were completed and a further delay ensued awaiting favorable winds, the two ships made it only two hundred miles beyond Land's End before another major leak in the Speedwell forced the expedition to return again to England, this time to the port of Plymouth. Land's End ( Cornish name Penn an Wlas) is a headland on the Penwith Peninsula, located near Penzance in Cornwall Plymouth ( is a city and unitary authority area on the coast of Devon, England about south west of London. The Speedwell was determined to be unseaworthy; some passengers abandoned their attempt to emigrate, while others joined the Mayflower, crowding the already heavily burdened ship. Later, it was speculated that the master of the Speedwell had intentionally sabotaged his ship to avoid having to make the treacherous trans-Atlantic voyage. [11]
The Mayflower, carrying 102 settlers, left Plymouth on September 6, 1620, without her sister ship the Speedwell, and sailed for the New World with a land patent allowing them to settle specifically at the mouth of the Hudson River. Events 3114 BC - According to the Proleptic Julian calendar the current era in the Maya Long Count Calendar started The voyage took almost two months as it was drawn out by strong westerly winds and by the Gulf Stream. The Gulf Stream, together with its northern extension towards Europe the North Atlantic Drift, is a powerful warm and swift Atlantic Ocean current that Land was sighted on November 9 off the coast of Cape Cod. Events 694 - Egica, a king of the Visigoths of Hispania, accuses Jews of aiding Muslims sentencing all Cape Cod (or simply the Cape to most New Englanders is a Peninsula nearly coextensive with Barnstable County Massachusetts and forming the easternmost The Mayflower made an attempt to sail south to the designated landing site at the mouth of the Hudson but ran into trouble in the region of Pollack Rip, a shallow area of shoals between Cape Cod and Nantucket Island. With winter approaching and provisions running dangerously low, the passengers decided to return north and abandon their original landing plans. [12]
The location in Cape Cod Bay settled by the Plymouth Colony was outside the territory of the London Company, which had granted its patent. The northern coastal territory had been granted to the Plymouth Company, but this patent fell into disuse after the failure of the Popham Colony. The Plymouth Company (the Plymouth Adventurers, also called the Virginia Company of Plymouth or simply Virginia Bay Company) was an English The Popham Colony (also known as the Sagadahoc Colony) was a short-lived English colonial settlement in North America that was founded in 1607 and It was reorganized under a sea-to-sea charter under the Plymouth Council for New England. The Plymouth Council for New England was the name of a 17th century English Joint stock company that was granted a royal charter to found colonial settlements The actual Plymouth Colony would obtain land patents from the Plymouth Council in 1621 and in 1630, but it was governed independently from the Council under the Mayflower Compact. The Mayflower Compact was the first governing document of Plymouth Colony.
Prior exploration and settlements
The Pilgrims were not the first people in the area. Besides the Native American tribes native to the area, there had been nearly a century of exploration, fishing, and settlement by Europeans. John Cabot's discovery of Newfoundland in 1497 had laid the foundation for the extensive English claims over the east coast of North America. Giovanni Caboto ( c 1450 - c 1498 known in English as John Cabot, was an Italian Navigator and explorer commonly credited as the Newfoundland — ˈn(jufənˌlænd (Terre-Neuve Talamh an Éisc — is a large island 15 km off the east coast of [13] One of the earliest maps of New England, produced c. 1540 by cartographer Giacomo Gastaldi, erroneously identified Cape Breton with the Narragansett Bay; the resulting map completely omits most of the New England coast. Giacomo Gastaldi ( Villafranca Piemonte c. 1500 - Venice, October 1566 was an Italian Cartographer of the 16th century Narragansett Bay is a Bay and Estuary on the north side of Rhode Island Sound. [14] European fishermen had been plying the waters off the New England coast for much of the 16th and 17th centuries.
Frenchman Samuel de Champlain had explored the area extensively in 1605. Samuel de Champlain (c 1575 - 25 December 1635) "The Father of New France " was a French navigator geographer cartographer He had specifically explored Plymouth Harbor, which he called "Port St. Plymouth Harbor is the name of a Harbor located in Plymouth Massachusetts, a town in the South Shore region of the state Louis", and made an extensive and detailed map of it and the surrounding lands. Patuxet, the native village upon which the town of Plymouth would soon be built, was shown by Champlain as a thriving settlement. However, in the 15 years before the arrival of the Mayflower, smallpox and other diseases brought by English fishermen to the area had completely wiped out the population. Smallpox is an Infectious disease unique to humans caused by either of two virus variants named Variola major and Variola minor. An infectious disease is a clinically evident Disease resulting from the presence of Pathogenic microbial agents including Pathogenic viruses Pathogenic [15]
Popham Colony, also known as Fort St. The Popham Colony (also known as the Sagadahoc Colony) was a short-lived English colonial settlement in North America that was founded in 1607 and George, was organized by the Plymouth Company (unrelated to Plymouth Colony) and founded in 1607. The Plymouth Company (the Plymouth Adventurers, also called the Virginia Company of Plymouth or simply Virginia Bay Company) was an English It was settled on the coast of Maine and was beset by internal political struggles as well as sickness and weather problems. The State of Maine ( is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America, bordering the Atlantic Ocean It was abandoned in 1608. [16]
Captain John Smith of Jamestown fame had explored the area in 1614 and is credited with naming the region of New England. He named many locations using approximations of Native American words. The future site of the Pilgrim's first settlement was originally named "Accomack" by Smith. In consultation with Prince Charles, son of King James, Smith changed "Accomack" to New Plymouth. Charles I, (19 November 1600 &ndash 30 January 1649 was King of England, Scotland and Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution. A map published in his 1616 work A Description of New England clearly shows the site of the future Pilgrim settlement as named "New Plimouth". [17]
In the Mayflower settlers' first explorations of Cape Cod, they came across evidence that Europeans had previously spent extensive time there. They discovered remains of a European fort and uncovered a grave that contained the remains of both an adult European male and a Native American child. [18]
Landings at Provincetown and Plymouth
The Mayflower anchored at Provincetown Harbor on November 11, 1620. Provincetown Harbor is a large Natural harbor located off of the town of Provincetown, Massachusetts. Events 308 - The Congress of Carnuntum: Attempting to keep peace within the Roman Empire, the leaders of the Tetrarchy declare The Pilgrims did not have a patent to settle this area, thus some passengers began to question their right to land; they complained that there was no legal authority to establish a colony. In response to this, a group of colonists, still aboard the ship as it lay off-shore, drafted and ratified the first governing document of the colony, the Mayflower Compact, the intent of which was to establish a means of governing the colony. The Mayflower Compact was the first governing document of Plymouth Colony. Though it did little more than confirm that the colony would be governed like any English town, it did serve the purpose of relieving the concerns of many of the settlers. [19]
The group remained onboard the ship through the next day, a Sunday, for prayer and worship. Sunday is the day of the week between Saturday and Monday. In the Jewish law it is the first day of the Hebrew calendar week The immigrants finally set foot on land at what would become Provincetown on November 13. Provincetown is a town located at the extreme tip of Cape Cod in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States. Events 1002 - English king Ethelred orders the killing of all Danes in England, known today as the St The first task was to rebuild a shallop, a shallow draft boat that had been built in England and disassembled for transport aboard the Mayflower. A pleasure barge is a flat bottomed slow moving Boat used for Leisure. It would remain with the Pilgrims while the Mayflower returned to England. On November 15, Captain Myles Standish led a party of sixteen men on an exploratory mission, during which they robbed Native American graves and located a buried cache of Indian corn. Events 655 - Battle of Winwaed: Penda of Mercia is defeated by Oswiu of Northumbria. The shallop was finished on November 27, and using it, a second expedition was undertaken, under the direction of Mayflower master Christopher Jones. Events 1095 - Pope Urban II declares the First Crusade at the Council of Clermont Christopher Jones (c1570 - March 1622 was master of the Mayflower between at least 1609 and 1622 and captained it on the transatlantic voyage that established the Thirty-four men went, but the expedition was beset by bad weather; the only positive result, from their perspective, was that they found the previously discovered cache of corn and raided it to provide for the colony. A third expedition along Cape Cod left on December 6; it resulted in a skirmish with local Native Americans known as the "First Encounter" near modern-day Eastham, Massachusetts. Events 1060 - Béla I of Hungary is crowned king of Hungary 1240 - Mongol invasion of Rus: Kiev Eastham is a town in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States, Barnstable County being coextensive with Cape Cod. Having failed to secure a proper site for their settlement, and fearing that they had angered the local Native Americans by robbing their corn stores and firing upon them, the Mayflower left Provincetown Harbor and set sail for Plymouth Harbor. [20]
The colonists dropped anchor in Plymouth Harbor on December 17 and spent three days surveying for a settlement site. Events 546 - Gothic War (535–554: The Ostrogoths of King Totila They rejected several sites, including one on Clark's Island and another at the mouth of the Jones River, in favor of the site of a recently abandoned Native American settlement named Patuxet. Clark's Island is the name of a small island located in Plymouth Bay in the U The Jones River is a small river running through Kingston Massachusetts. The location was chosen largely for its defensive position; the settlement would be centered on two hills: Cole's Hill, where the village would be built, and Fort Hill, where a defensive cannon would be stationed. Also important in choosing the site, the prior Indian villagers had cleared much of the land, making agriculture relatively easy. Although there are no contemporary accounts to verify the legend, Plymouth Rock is often hailed as the point where the colonists first set foot on their new homeland. Plymouth Rock is the traditional site of disembarkation of William Bradford and the Mayflower Pilgrims who founded Plymouth Colony [21][22]
First winter
On December 21, 1620, the first landing party arrived at the site of what would become the settlement of Plymouth. Events 69 - The end of the Year of the four emperors: Following Galba, Otho and Vitellius, Vespasian Plans to immediately begin building houses, however, were delayed by inclement weather until December 23. Events 962 - Byzantine-Arab Wars: Under the future Emperor Nicephorus Phocas, Byzantine troops stormed the city As the building progressed, twenty men always remained ashore for security purposes, while the rest of the work crews returned each night to the Mayflower. Women, children, and the infirm remained on board the Mayflower; many had not left the ship for six months. The first structure, a "common house" of wattle and daub, took two weeks to complete in the harsh New England winter. Wattle and daub (or wattle-and-daub) is a Building material used for making walls in which a woven lattice of wooden strips called wattle is daubed In the following weeks, the rest of the settlement slowly took shape. The living and working structures were built on the relatively flat top of Cole's Hill, and a wooden platform was constructed to support the cannon that would defend the settlement from nearby Fort Hill. Many of the able-bodied men were too infirm to work, and some died of their illnesses. Thus, only seven residences (of a planned nineteen) and four common houses were constructed during the first winter. [23]
By the end of January, enough of the settlement had been built to begin unloading provisions from the Mayflower. In mid-February, after several tense encounters with local Native Americans, the male residents of the settlement organized themselves into military orders; Myles Standish was designated as the commanding officer. By the end of the month, five cannon had been defensively positioned on Fort Hill. [24] John Carver was elected governor to replace Governor Martin. John Carver (1576&ndash1621 Pilgrim leader and the first governor of Plymouth Colony, born probably in Nottinghamshire, England
On March 16, 1621, the first formal contact with the Native Americans occurred. Events 597 BC - Babylonians capture Jerusalem, replace Jehoiachin with Zedekiah as king A Native American named Samoset, originally from Pemaquid Point in modern Maine, walked boldly into the midst of the settlement and proclaimed, "Welcome, Englishmen!" He had learned some English from fishermen who worked off the coast of Maine and gave them a brief introduction to the region's history and geography. Samoset (ca 1590 – 1653) was the first Native American to make contact with the Pilgrims. Bristol is a town in Lincoln County, Maine, United States. The population was 2644 at the 2000 census The State of Maine ( is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America, bordering the Atlantic Ocean It was during this meeting that the Pilgrims found out that the previous residents of the Native American village, Patuxet, had probably died of smallpox. Smallpox is an Infectious disease unique to humans caused by either of two virus variants named Variola major and Variola minor. They also discovered that the supreme leader of the region was a Wampanoag Native American sachem (chief) by the name of Massasoit;[25] and they learned of the existence of Squanto—also known by his full Massachusett name of Tisquantum—a Native American originally from Patuxet. A sachem is a title of leadership historically given to the head of some Native American tribes Massasoit Sachem or Ousamequin (c 1581 - 1661)was the Sachem, or leader of the Pokanoket, and "Massasoit" of the Wampanoag Tisquantum, more commonly known today as Squanto or 'Big Bean' (c Squanto had spent time in Europe and spoke English quite well. Samoset spent the night in Plymouth and agreed to arrange a meeting with some of Massasoit's men. [26]
Massasoit and Squanto were apprehensive about the Pilgrims. In Massasoit's first contact with the English, several men of his tribe had been killed in an unprovoked attack by English sailors. He also knew of the Pilgrims' theft of the corn stores and grave robbing. [27] Squanto had been abducted in 1614 by the English explorer Thomas Hunt and had spent five years in Europe, first as a slave for a group of Spanish monks, then in England. Thomas Hunt may refer to Aubrey Thomas Hunt de Vere, an Irish-born poet critic and essayist Thomas Hunt (footballer formerly with Norwich He had returned to New England in 1619, acting as a guide to the explorer Ferdinando Gorges. Sir Ferdinando Gorges (1565–1647 was an early English colonial entrepreneur in North America and founder of the Province of Maine in 1622 Massasoit and his men had massacred the crew of the ship and had taken in Squanto. [28][29]
Samoset returned to Plymouth on March 22 with a delegation from Massasoit that included Squanto; Massasoit joined them shortly thereafter. Events 238 - Gordian I and his son Gordian II are proclaimed Roman emperor. After an exchange of gifts, Massasoit and Governor Martin established a formal treaty of peace. This treaty ensured that each people would not bring harm to the other, that Massasoit would send his allies to make peaceful negotiations with Plymouth, and that they would come to each other's aid in a time of war. [30]
On April 5, 1621, after being anchored for almost four months in Plymouth Harbor, the Mayflower set sail for England. Events 456 - St Patrick returns to Ireland as a missionary bishop Plymouth Harbor is the name of a Harbor located in Plymouth Massachusetts, a town in the South Shore region of the state [31] Nearly half of the original 102 passengers died during the first winter. [32] As William Bradford wrote, "of these one hundred persons who came over in this first ship together, the greatest half died in the general mortality, and most of them in two or three months' time". [33] Several of the graves on Cole's Hill were uncovered in 1855; their bodies were disinterred and moved to a site near Plymouth Rock. [34]
"First Thanksgiving"
The autumn celebration in late 1621 that has become known as "The First Thanksgiving" was not known as such to the Pilgrims. Thanksgiving, or Thanksgiving Day, is a traditional North American Holiday, which is a form of harvest festival. The Pilgrims did recognize a celebration known as a "Thanksgiving", which was a solemn ceremony of praise and thanks to God for a congregation's good fortune. The first such Thanksgiving as the Pilgrims would have called it did not occur until 1623, in response to the good news of the arrival of additional colonists and supplies. That event probably occurred in July and consisted of a full day of prayer and worship and probably very little revelry. [35]
The event now commemorated by the United States at the end of November each year is more properly termed a "harvest festival". The United States of America —commonly referred to as the A harvest festival is an annual celebration which occurs around the time of the main harvest of a given region The festival was probably held in early October 1621 and was celebrated by the 51 surviving Pilgrims, along with Massasoit and 90 of his men. Two contemporary accounts of the event survive: Of Plimoth Plantation by William Bradford as well as Mourt's Relation by Edward Winslow. The book Mourt's Relation (or full title "Mourt's Relation A Journal of the Pilgrims in Plymouth") was written primarily by Edward Winslow The celebration lasted three days and featured a feast that included numerous types of waterfowl, wild turkeys and fish procured by the colonists, as well as five deer brought by the Native Americans. [36]
Early relations with the Native Americans
After the departure of Massasoit and his men, Squanto remained in Plymouth to teach the Pilgrims how to survive in New England, for example using dead fish to fertilize the soil. Shortly after the departure of the Mayflower, Governor Carver suddenly died. William Bradford was elected to replace him and went on to lead the colony through much of its formative years. [37]
As promised by Massasoit, numerous Native Americans arrived at Plymouth throughout the middle of 1621 with pledges of peace. On July 2, a party of Pilgrims, led by Edward Winslow (who later became the chief diplomat of the colony), set out to continue negotiations with the chief. Events 310 - Pope Miltiades is elected 626 - In fear of assassination Li Shimin ambushes and kills his rival The delegation also included Squanto, who acted as a translator. After traveling for several days, they arrived at Massasoit's capital, the village of Sowams near Narragansett Bay. Narragansett Bay is a Bay and Estuary on the north side of Rhode Island Sound. After meals and an exchange of gifts, Massasoit agreed to an exclusive trading pact with the English—and thus the French, who were also frequent traders in the area—were no longer welcome. Squanto remained behind and traveled the area to establish trading relations with several tribes in the area. [38]
In late July, a boy by the name of John Billington became lost for some time in the woods around the colony. It was reported he was found by the Nauset, the same group of Native Americans on Cape Cod from whom the Pilgrims had stolen corn seed the prior year upon their first explorations. The Nauset tribe sometimes referred to as the Cape Cod Indians lived in what is present-day Cape Cod Massachusetts living east of Bass River and lands occupied by their closely The English organized a party to return Billington to Plymouth. The Pilgrims agreed to reimburse the Nauset for the stolen goods in return for the Billington boy. This negotiation did much to secure further peace with the Native Americans in the area. [39]
During their dealings with the Nausets over the release of John Billington, the Pilgrims learned of troubles that Massasoit was experiencing. Massasoit, Squanto, and several other Wampanoags had been captured by Corbitant, sachem of the Narragansett tribe. Corbitant: An Wampanoag Indian sachem or sagamore under Massasoit. A sachem is a title of leadership historically given to the head of some Native American tribes A party of ten men, under the leadership of Myles Standish, set out to find and execute Corbitant. While hunting for Corbitant, they learned that Squanto had escaped and Massasoit was back in power. Several Native Americans had been injured by Standish and his men and were offered medical attention in Plymouth. Though they had failed to capture Corbitant, the show of force by Standish had garnered respect for the Pilgrims, and as a result nine of the most powerful sachems in the area, including Massasoit and Corbitant, signed a treaty in September that pledged their loyalty to King James. [40]
In May 1622, a vessel named the Sparrow arrived carrying seven men from the Merchant Adventurers whose purpose was to seek out a site for a new settlement in the area. Two ships followed shortly thereafter carrying sixty settlers, all men. They spent July and August in Plymouth before moving north to settle in modern Weymouth, Massachusetts at a settlement they named Wessagussett. Weymouth is a city in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. [41] Though short-lived, the settlement of Wessagussett provided the spark for an event that would dramatically change the political landscape between the local Native American tribes and the English settlers. Responding to reports of a military threat to Wessagussett, Myles Standish organized a militia to defend Wessagussett. However, he found that there had been no attack. He therefore decided on a pre-emptive strike. In an event called "Standish's raid" by historian Nathaniel Philbrick, he lured two prominent Massachusett military leaders into a house at Wessagussett under the pretense of sharing a meal and making negotiations. Standish and his men then stabbed and killed the two unsuspecting Native Americans. The local sachem, named Obtakiest, was pursued by Standish and his men but escaped with three English prisoners from Wessagussett, who he then executed. [42] Within a short time, Wessagussett was disbanded, and the survivors were integrated into the town of Plymouth. [41]
Word quickly spread among the Native American tribes of Standish's attack; many Native Americans abandoned their villages and fled the area. As noted by Philbrick: "Standish's raid had irreparably damaged the human ecology of the region. . . It was some time before a new equilibrium came to the region. "[43] Edward Winslow, in his 1624 memoirs Good News from New England, reports that "they forsook their houses, running to and fro like men distracted, living in swamps and other desert places, and so brought manifold diseases amongst themselves, whereof very many are dead". [44] Lacking the trade in furs provided by the local tribes, the Pilgrims lost their main source of income for paying off their debts to the Merchant Adventurers. Rather than strengthening their position, Standish's raid had disastrous consequences for the colony, as attested William Bradford, who in a letter to the Merchant Adventurers noted "[W]e had much damaged our trade, for there where we had [the] most skins the Indians are run away from their habitations. . . "[43] The only positive effect of Standish's raid seemed to be the increased power of the Massasoit-led Wampanoag, the Pilgrims' closest ally in the region. [43]
Growth of Plymouth
| Historical populations[41] | ||
|---|---|---|
| Date | Population | |
| December, 1620 |
99 | |
| April, 1621 |
50 | |
| November, 1621 |
85 | |
| July, 1623 |
180 | |
| May, 1627 |
156 | |
| January, 1630 |
almost 300 | |
| 1643 | approx. 2000 | |
| 1691 | approx. 7000 | |
In November 1621, one year after the Pilgrims first set foot in New England, a second ship sent by the Merchant Adventurers arrived. Named the Fortune, it arrived with 37 new settlers for Plymouth. However, as the ship had arrived unexpectedly, and also without many supplies, the additional settlers put a strain on the resources of the colony. Among the passengers of the Fortune were several additional members of the original Leiden congregation, including William Brewster's son Jonathan, Edward Winslow's brother John, and Philip de la Noye (the family name was later changed to "Delano") whose descendants include President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. The President of the United States is the Head of state and Head of government of the United States and is the highest political official in United States by The Fortune also carried a letter from the Merchant Adventurers chastising the colony for failure to return goods with the Mayflower that had been promised in return for their support. The Fortune began its return to England laden with ₤500 worth of goods, more than enough to keep the colonists on schedule for repayment of their debt, however the Fortune was captured by the French before she could deliver her cargo to England, creating an even larger deficit for the colony. The pound, a unit of currency originated in England as the value of a pound mass of Silver. [45]
In July 1623, two more ships arrived, carrying 90 new settlers, among them Leideners, including William Bradford's future wife, Alice. Some of the settlers were unprepared for frontier life and returned to England the next year. In September 1623, another ship carrying settlers destined to refound the failed colony at Weymouth arrived and temporarily stayed at Plymouth. In March 1624, a ship bearing a few additional settlers and the first cattle arrived. A 1627 division of cattle lists 156 colonists divided into twelve lots of thirteen colonists each. [46] Another ship also named the Mayflower arrived in August 1629 with 35 additional members of the Leiden congregation. Ships arrived throughout the period between 1629 and 1630 carrying new settlers; though the exact number is unknown, contemporary documents claimed that by January 1630 the colony had almost 300 people. In 1643 the colony had an estimated 600 males fit for military service, implying a total population of about 2,000. By 1690, on the eve of the dissolution of the colony, the estimated total population of Plymouth County, the most populous, was 3,055 people. [41] It is estimated that the entire population of the colony at the point of its dissolution was around 7,000. [47] For comparison it is estimated that between 1630 and 1640, a period known as the Great Migration, over 20,000 settlers had arrived in Massachusetts Bay Colony alone, and by 1678 the English population of all of New England was estimated to be in the range of 60,000. The Great Migration may refer to the Winthrop Fleet of 1630, wherein eleven ships delivered 1000 passengers migrating from England to the Massachusetts Despite the fact that Plymouth was the first colony in the region, by the time of its annexation it was much smaller than Massachusetts Bay Colony. [48]
Military history
Pequot War
The first full scale war in New England was the Pequot War of 1637. The Pequot War was an armed conflict in 1636-1637 between an alliance of Massachusetts Bay and Plymouth colonies with Native American allies (the The war's roots go back to 1632, when a dispute over control of the Connecticut River Valley near modern Hartford, Connecticut arose between Dutch fur traders and Plymouth officials. The Connecticut River Valley stretches from the New Hampshire and Quebec border to Long Island Sound on the Connecticut coast Representatives from the Dutch East India Company and Plymouth Colony both had deeds that claimed they had rightfully purchased the land from the Pequot. The Dutch East India Company ( Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie or VOC in old-spelling Dutch, literally "United East Indian See Main articles Mashantucket Pequot Eastern Pequot Tribal Nation. A sort of land rush occurred as settlers from Massachusetts Bay and Plymouth colonies tried to beat the Dutch in settling the area; the influx of English settlers also threatened the Pequot. Other confederations in the area, including the Narragansett and Mohegan, were the natural enemies of the Pequot and sided with the English. The Mohegan tribe is an Algonquian-speaking tribe that lives in eastern upper Thames valley Connecticut The event that sparked the start of formal hostilities was the capture of a boat and the murder of its captain, John Oldham, in 1636, an event blamed on allies of the Pequots. In April 1637, a raid on a Pequot village by John Endicott led to a retaliatory raid by Pequot warriors on the town of Wethersfield, Connecticut where some 30 English settlers were killed. John Endecott (c 1588 March 15, 1665) was a colonial magistrate soldier and governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Another Wethersfield is in Wyoming County, New York. Wethersfield is a town in Hartford County, This led to a further retaliation, where a raid led by Captain John Underhill and Captain John Mason burned a Pequot village to the ground near modern Mystic, Connecticut, killing 300 Pequots. John Underhill is the name of Captain John Underhill (1609-1672 English colonist and soldier John Q Mystic is a Census-designated place (CDP in New London County, Connecticut, in the United States. Plymouth Colony had little to do with the actual fighting in the war. [49]
When it appeared the war would resume, four of the New England colonies (Massachusetts Bay, Connecticut, New Haven, and Plymouth) formed a defensive compact known as the United Colonies of New England. The Colony of Connecticut was an English colony that became the U The New Haven Colony was an English colonial venture in present-day Connecticut in North America from 1637 to 1662. The United Colonies of New England, commonly known as the New England Confederation, was a political and military alliance of the British Edward Winslow, already known for his diplomatic skills, was the chief architect of the United Colonies. His experience in the United Provinces of the Netherlands during the Leiden years was key to organizing the confederation. "United Netherlands" redirects here For the "Kingdom of the United Netherlands" see United Kingdom of the Netherlands. John Adams later considered the United Colonies to be the prototype for the Articles of Confederation, which was the first attempt at a national government. John Adams (October 30 1735 July 4 1826 was one of the most influential Founding Fathers of the United States. The Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union, also the Articles of Confederation was the governing Constitution of the alliance of thirteen independent and [50]
King Philip's War
Also known as Metacomet and other variations on that name, King Philip was the younger son of Massasoit, and the heir of Massasoit's position as sachem of the Pokanoket and supreme leader of the Wampanoag. King Philip's War, sometimes called Metacom 's War or Metacom's Rebellion was an armed conflict between Native American inhabitants of Paul Revere (bap December 22, 1734 ( OS) / January 1 1735 (NS &ndash May 10, 1818) was an American Silversmith Metacomet (c 1639 - August 12, 1676) also known as King Philip or Metacom, was a war chief or Sachem of the Wampanoag He became sachem upon the sudden death of his older brother Wamsutta, also known as Alexander, in 1662. Wamsutta (b c 1634 - d 1662 also Alexander Pokanoket as he was called by New England colonists was a leader ( Sachem) of the Wampanoag [51]
The cause of the war stems from the increasing numbers of English colonists and their demand for land. As more land was purchased from the Native Americans, they were restricted to smaller territories for themselves. Native American leaders such as King Philip resented the loss of land and looked for a means to slow or reverse it. [52] Of specific concern was the founding of the town of Swansea, which was located only a few miles from the Wampanoag capital at Mount Hope. Swansea is a town in Bristol County in southeastern Massachusetts. Mount Hope (originally Montaup in Pokanoket) is a hill in Bristol Rhode Island overlooking the part of Narragansett Bay known as Mount The General Court of Plymouth began using military force to coerce the sale of Wampanoag land to the settlers of the town. [53]
The proximate cause of the conflict was the death of a Praying Indian named John Sassamon in 1675. Praying Indian is a 17th century term referring to Native Americans of New England who converted to Christianity. Early Biography John Sassamon was a Massachuseuk Indian born around Boston Massachusetts during the earlier part of the 17th century Sassamon had been an advisor and friend to King Philip; however Sassamon's conversion to Christianity had driven the two apart. [53] Accused in the murder of Sassamon were some of Philip's most senior lieutenants. A jury of twelve Englishmen and six Praying Indians found the Native Americans guilty of murder and sentenced them to death. [54] To this day, some debate exists whether King Philip's men actually committed the murder. [53]
Philip had already begun war preparations at his home base near Mount Hope where he started raiding English farms and pillaging their property. Mount Hope (originally Montaup in Pokanoket) is a hill in Bristol Rhode Island overlooking the part of Narragansett Bay known as Mount In response, Governor Josiah Winslow called out the militia, and they organized and began to move on Philip's position. Josiah Winslow (1628 – December 18, 1680) was an American Pilgrim leader [55] King Philip systematically attacked unarmed women and children. One such attack resulted in the capture of Mary Rowlandson and the murder of her small children. Mary White Rowlandson (c 1637 – January 1711 was a colonial American woman who wrote a vivid description of the eleven weeks and five days she spent living with Native The memoirs of her capture provided historians with much information on Native American culture during this time period. [56]
The war continued through the rest of 1675 and into the next year. The English were constantly frustrated by the Native American's refusal to meet them in pitched battle. They employed a form of guerilla warfare that confounded the English. Guerrilla warfare is the unconventional warfare and combat with which a small group of combatants use mobile tactics (ambushes raids etc Captain Benjamin Church continuously campaigned to enlist the help of friendly Native Americans to help learn how to fight on an even footing with Philip's troops, but he was constantly rebuffed by the Plymouth leadership who mistrusted all Native Americans, thinking them potential enemies. Dr Benjamin Church ( August 24, 1734 – 1776 was effectively the first Surgeon General of the U Eventually, Governor Winslow and Plymouth military commander Major William Bradford (son of the late Governor William Bradford) relented and gave Church permission to organize a combined force of English and Native Americans. Major William Bradford ( June 16, 1624 - February 20, 1703) was the son of Governor William Bradford, second governor of Plymouth After securing the alliance of the Sakonnet, he led his combined force in pursuit of Philip, who had thus far avoided any major battles in the war that bears his name. Throughout July 1676, Church's band would capture hundreds of Native American troops, often without much of a fight, though Philip eluded him. After Church was given permission to grant amnesty to any captured Native Americans who would agree to join the English side, his force grew immensely. [57] Philip was killed by a Pocasset Indian; the war soon ended as an overwhelming English victory. Pocasset (derived from Wampanoag for at the small cove) may refer to Pocasset Massachusetts Pocasset Oklahoma [58]
Eight percent of the English adult male population is estimated to have died during the war, a rather large percentage by most standards. The impact on the Native Americans was far higher, however. So many were killed, fled, or shipped off as slaves that the entire Native American population of New England fell by sixty to eighty percent. [59]
Final years
In 1686, the entire region was reorganized under a single government known as the Dominion of New England; this included the colonies of Plymouth, Rhode Island, Massachusetts Bay, Connecticut, and New Hampshire. The Dominion of New England in America (1686-1689 was a short-lived administrative union of English colonies in the New England region of North America The Province of New Hampshire was a crown colony organized on October 7, 1691 during the period of British colonization of the Americas. New York, West Jersey, and East Jersey were added in 1688. The Province of New York (1664-1776 (Provincie New York resulted from the capture of the Dutch Republic colony of Provincie Nieuw-Nederland by the New Jersey was governed as two distinct provinces East Jersey and West Jersey, for the 28 years between 1674 and 1702. East Jersey, together with West Jersey, was a distinct separately governed Province of New Jersey that existed for 28 years between 1674 and 1702 The President of the Dominion, Edmund Andros, was highly unpopular, and the union did not last. Sir Edmund Andros ( December 6 1637 - February 24 1714) was an early colonial Governor in North America, and head of Plymouth Colony revolted and withdrew from the Dominion in April 1688; the entire union was dissolved during the Glorious Revolution of 1688. The Glorious Revolution, also called the Revolution of 1688, was the overthrow of King James II of England (VII of Scotland in 1688 by a union [60][61]
The return of self-rule for Plymouth Colony was short-lived, however. A delegation of New Englanders, led by Increase Mather, went to England to negotiate for a return of the colonial charters that had been nullified during the Dominion years. Increase Mather ( June 21 1639 &ndash August 23 1723) was a major figure in the early history of the Massachusetts Bay Colony The situation was particularly problematic for Plymouth Colony, as it had existed without a formal charter since its founding. Plymouth did not get their wish for a formal charter; instead a new charter was issued, annexing Plymouth Colony to Massachusetts Bay Colony. The official date of the proclamation ending the existence of Plymouth Colony was October 17, 1691, though it was not put into force until the arrival of the new charter on May 14, 1692, carried by William Phips. Events 539 BC - King Cyrus The Great of Persia marches into the city of Babylon, releasing the Jews from almost Events 1264 - Battle of Lewes: Henry III of England is captured in France making Simon de Montfort the Sir William Phips (or Phipps) ( February 2, 1651 February 18, 1695) was a colonial governor of Massachusetts. The last official meeting of the Plymouth General Court occurred on June 8, 1692. Events 68 - The Roman Senate accepts emperor Galba. 536 - St Silverius becomes Pope (probable [60][62][63]
Social life
Religion
The most important religious figure in the colony was John Robinson, the original pastor of the Scrooby congregation and religious leader of the separatists throughout the Leiden years. John Robinson (1575-1625 was the Pastor of the " Pilgrim Fathers " before they left on the Mayflower. Though he never actually set foot in New England, many of his theological pronouncements shaped the nature and character of the Plymouth church. [64]For example, Robinson stated that women and men have different social roles according to the law of nature, though neither was lesser in the eyes of God. However, Robinson frequently assigned inferior characteristics to the feminine roles. He referred to them as the "weaker vessel". [65]In matters of religious understanding, he proclaimed that it was the man's role to educate and "guide and go before" women. [65]He also noted that women should be "subject" to their husbands. [65]Robinson also dictated the proper methods of child rearing—he prescribed a strict upbringing with a strong emphasis on corporal punishment. Corporal punishment is the deliberate infliction of pain intended to Punish a person or change his/her behavior He believed that a child's natural inclination towards independence was a manifestation of original sin and should thus be repressed. Original sin is according to a doctrine in Catholic theology, humanity's state of Sin resulting from the Fall of Man. [66]
The Pilgrims themselves were a subset of an English religious movement known as Puritanism, which sought to "purify" the Anglican Church of its secular trappings. A Puritan of 16th and 17th century England was an associate of any number of religious groups advocating for more "purity" of Worship and Doctrine, See also Anglicanism The Anglican Communion is an international association of national Anglican churches The movement sought to return the church to a more primitive state and to practice Christianity as was done by the earliest Church Fathers. Puritans believed that the Bible was the only true source of religious teaching and that any additions made to Christianity, especially with regard to church traditions, had no place in Christian practice. The Pilgrims distinguished themselves from the Puritans in that they sought to "separate" themselves from the Anglican Church, rather than reform it from within. It was this desire to worship from outside of the Anglican Communion that led them first to the Netherlands and ultimately to New England. [67]
Each town in Plymouth colony was considered a single church congregation; in later years some of the larger towns split into two or three congregations. While church attendance was mandatory for all residents of the colony, church membership was restricted to those who received God's grace through personal conversion. In Plymouth Colony, it seems that a simple profession of faith was all that was required for acceptance. For Profession of faith (public avowal of faith according to a traditional formula see Creed. This was a more liberal doctrine than some other Puritan congregations, such as those of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, where it was common to subject those seeking formal membership to strict and detailed cross-examinations. There was no central governing body for the churches. Each individual congregation was left to determine its own standards of membership, hire its own ministers, and conduct its own business. [68]
The church was undoubtedly the most important social institution in the colony. Not only was the Bible the primary religious document of the society, but it also served as the primary legal document as well. [69] Church attendance was not only mandatory, but membership was socially vital. Education was carried out for almost purely religious purposes. The laws of the colony specifically asked parents to provide for the education of their children, to "at least to be able duly to read the Scriptures" and to understand "the main Grounds and Principles of Christian Religion. "[70] It was expected that the male head of the household be responsible for the religious well-being of all its members, children and servants alike. [70]
Most churches utilized two acts to sanction its members: censure and excommunication. Not to be confused with Censor, Censer or Sensor. Censure (ˈsɛnʃəɹ is a process by which a formal Reprimand Excommunication is a religious Censure used to deprive or suspend membership in a religious community Censure was a formal reprimand for behavior that did not conform with accepted religious and social norms, while excommunication involved full removal from church membership. Many perceived social evils, from fornication to public drunkenness, were dealt with through church discipline rather than through civil punishment. Church sanctions seldom held official recognition outside church membership and seldom resulted in civil or criminal proceedings. Nevertheless, such sanctions were a powerful tool of social control. [71]
The Pilgrims practiced infant baptism. Infant baptism is the Christian religious practice of baptizing infants or young children The public baptism ceremony was usually performed within six months of birth. [72]
Marriage was considered a civil, rather than religious ceremony. Such an arrangement may have been a habit that had developed during the Leiden years, as civil marriage was common in the Netherlands. However, the Pilgrims saw this arrangement as Biblical, there being no evidence from Scripture that a minister should preside over a wedding. [73]
Besides the Puritan theology espoused by their religious leaders, the people of Plymouth Colony had a strong belief in the supernatural. Richard Greenham, a Puritan theologian whose works were known to the Plymouth residents, counseled extensively against turning to magic or wizardry to solve problems. The Pilgrims saw Satan's work in nearly every calamity that befell them; the dark magical arts were very real and present for them. They believed in the presence of malevolent spirits who brought misfortune to people. For example, in 1660, a court inquest into the drowning death of Jeremiah Burroughs determined that a possessed canoe was to blame. [74] While Massachusetts Bay Colony experienced an outbreak of witchcraft scares in the 17th century, there is little evidence that Plymouth was engulfed in anything similar. The Salem witch trials were a series of hearings before local magistrates followed by county court Trials to prosecute people accused of Witchcraft in Essex While witchcraft was listed as a capital crime in the 1636 codification of the laws by the Plymouth General Court, there were no actual convictions of witches in Plymouth Colony. Witchcraft, in various historical anthropological religious and mythological contexts is the use of certain kinds of Supernatural or magical powers The court records only show two formal accusations of witchcraft. The first, of Goodwife Holmes in 1661, never went to trial. The second, of Mary Ingram in 1677, resulted in trial and acquittal. [75]
Marriage and family life
Edward Winslow and Susanna White, each of who lost their spouses during the harsh winter of 1620–1621, became the first couple to be married in Plymouth. Edward Winslow (1595 &ndash 1655 was an American Pilgrim leader on the Mayflower. Governor Bradford presided over the civil ceremony. [73]
Marriage was considered the normal state for all adult residents of the colony. Most men first married in their mid-twenties and women around age 20. [76] Second marriages were not uncommon, and widows and widowers faced social and economic pressures to remarry. On average, most widows and widowers remarried within six months to a year. As most adults who reached marriageable age often lived into their sixties, two-thirds of a person's life was spent married. [77]
Within the confines of marriage, women and men were not considered equal from either a legal or social standpoint. However, it should be noted that, compared to 17th century European norms, women in Plymouth Colony had more extensive legal and social rights. From the perspective of the Church, women were considered equal to men before God. The entire family worshiped together and God's grace was available equally to all professed Christians. Women were, however, expected to take traditionally feminine roles, such as child-rearing and maintaining the household, in Puritan families. [78]
Unlike in Europe, where women had few rights, Plymouth women enjoyed extensive property and legal rights. Widows in Plymouth could not be legally "written out" of her husband's will and were guaranteed a full third of the family's property upon his death. Women were parties to contracts in Plymouth; most notably prenuptial agreements. A prenuptial agreement, antenuptial agreement, or premarital agreement, commonly abbreviated to prenup or prenupt, is a Contract entered It was common for brides-to-be (and not, notably, their fathers) to enter into contractual agreements on the consolidation of property upon marriage. In some cases, especially in second marriages, women were given exclusive right to retain control of their property separately from their husbands. [79][78] Women were also known to occasionally sit on juries in Plymouth, a remarkable circumstance in seventeenth century legal practice. Historians James and Patricia Scott Deetz cite a 1678 inquest into the death of Anne Batson's child, where the jury was composed of five women and seven men. [80]
Family size in the colony was large by modern American standards,[81] though childbirth was often spaced out, with an average of two years between children. Most families averaged five to six children living under the same roof, though it would not be uncommon for one family to have grown children moving out before the mother had finished giving birth. Mortality rates were high for both mother and child; one birth in thirty resulted in the death of the mother, resulting in one in five women dying in childbirth. [82] Infant mortality rates were high, with 12% of children dying before their first birthday. By comparison, the infant mortality rate for the United States in 1995 was 0. 76%. [83]
The nuclear family was the most common familial structure in the colony, and while close relatives may have lived nearby, it was expected that upon reaching the age of maturity, older children would move out and establish their own households. The term nuclear family developed in the Western world to distinguish the Family group consisting of parents most commonly a Father and Mother In addition to parents and birth children living in the same household, many families took in children from other families or hired indentured servants. An indentured servant is a form of Debt bondage worker The Laborer is under Contract of an Employer for some period of time usually three to Some of the more wealthy families owned slaves. As a social-economic system slavery is a legal institution under which a Person (called "a slave" is compelled to work for another [84]
Childhood, adolescence, and education
Children generally remained in the direct care of their mothers until the age of about eight years old, after which time it was not uncommon for the child to be placed in the foster care of another family. [85] There were any number of reasons for a child to be "put-out" in this manner. Some children were placed into households to learn a trade, others to be taught to read and write. It seems that there was, as with almost every decision in the colony, a theological reason for fostering children. It was assumed that a child's own parents would love them too much and would not properly discipline them. By placing a child in the care of another family, there was little danger of a child being spoiled. [86]
Adolescence was not a recognized phase of life in Plymouth colony, and there was not a single rite of passage that marked transition from youth to adulthood. Several important transitions occurred at various ages, but none marked a single "coming of age" event. As early as eight years old, children were expected to begin learning their adult roles in life, by taking on some of the family work or by being placed in foster homes to learn a trade. [85] Most children experienced religious conversion around the age of eight as well, thus becoming church members. Religious conversion is the adoption of a new religious identity or a change from one religious identity to another [87] Orphaned children were given the right to choose their own guardians at age 14. At 16, males became eligible for military duty and were also considered adults for legal purposes, such as standing trial for crimes. Age 21 was the youngest at which a male could become a freeman, though for practical purposes this occurred sometime in a man's mid-twenties. Though 21 was the assumed age of inheritance as well, the law respected the rights of the deceased to name an earlier age in his will. [88]
Actual schools were rare in Plymouth colony. The first true school was not founded until 40 years after the foundation of the colony. The General Court first authorized colony-wide funding for formal public schooling in 1673, but only one town, Plymouth, made use of these funds at that time. By 1683, though, five additional towns had received this funding. [89]
Education of the young was never considered to be the primary domain of schools, even after they had become more common. Most education was carried out by a child's parents or foster parents. While formal apprenticeships were not the norm in Plymouth, it was expected that a foster family would teach the children whatever trades they themselves practiced. The church also played a central role in a child's education. [90] As noted above, the primary purpose of teaching a child to read was so that they could read the Bible for themselves. [91]
Government and laws
Organization
Plymouth Colony did not have a royal charter authorizing it to form a government. Samuel Green may refer to Samuel Green (printer (1615&ndash1702 American printer Samuel Green (organ builder (1740&ndash1796 English Still, some means of governance was needed; the Mayflower Compact, signed by the 41 able-bodied men aboard the Mayflower upon their arrival in Provincetown Harbor on November 21, 1620, was the colony's first governing document. Events 164 BC - Judas Maccabaeus, son of Mattathias of the Hasmonean family restores the Temple in Jerusalem. Formal laws were not codified until 1636. The colony's laws were based on a hybrid of English common law and religious law as laid out in the Bible. Common law refers to law and the corresponding legal system developed through decisions of courts and similar tribunals rather than through legislative statutes or executive Etymology According to the Online Etymology Dictionary, the word bible is from Latin biblia, traced from the same word through Medieval Latin and Late Latin [69]
The colony offered nearly all adult males potential citizenship in the colony. Full citizens, or "freemen," were accorded full rights and privileges in areas such as voting and holding office. To be considered a freeman, adult males had to be sponsored by an existing freeman and accepted by the General Court. Later restrictions established a one-year waiting period between nominating and granting of freeman status and also placed religious restrictions on the colony's citizens, specifically preventing Quakers from becoming freemen. [69] Freeman status was also restricted by age; while the official minimum age was 21, in practice most men were elevated to freeman status between the ages of 25 and 40, averaging somewhere in their early thirties. [92]
| Governors of Plymouth Colony[93] | ||
|---|---|---|
| Dates | Governor | |
| 1620 | John Carver | |
| 1621–1632 | William Bradford | |
| 1633 | Edward Winslow | |
| 1634 | Thomas Prence | |
| 1635 | William Bradford | |
| 1636 | Edward Winslow | |
| 1637 | William Bradford | |
| 1638 | Thomas Prence | |
| 1639–1643 | William Bradford | |
| 1644 | Edward Winslow | |
| 1645–1656 | William Bradford | |
| 1657–1672 | Thomas Prence | |
| 1673–1679 | Josiah Winslow | |
| 1680–1692 | Thomas Hinckley | |
The colony's most powerful executive was its Governor, who was originally elected by the freemen, but was later appointed by the General Court in an annual election. John Carver (1576&ndash1621 Pilgrim leader and the first governor of Plymouth Colony, born probably in Nottinghamshire, England William Bradford ( March 19, 1590 – May 9, 1657) was a leader of the separatist settlers of the Plymouth Colony in Massachusetts Edward Winslow (1595 &ndash 1655 was an American Pilgrim leader on the Mayflower. Thomas Prence ( 1599 - March 29, 1673) was a co-founder of Eastham Massachusetts, a political leader in both the Plymouth and Massachusetts Josiah Winslow (1628 – December 18, 1680) was an American Pilgrim leader Thomas Hinckley ( 1618 - April 25, 1706) was the Governor of the Plymouth Colony and held several other governmental positions The General Court also elected seven "Assistants" to form a cabinet to assist the governor. A cabinet is a body of high-ranking members of Government, typically representing the executive branch. The Governor and Assistants then appointed "Constables" who served as the chief administrators for the towns and "Messengers" who were the main civil servants of the colony. They were responsible for publishing announcements, performing land surveys, carrying out executions, and a host of other duties. [69]
The General Court was both the chief legislative and judicial body of the colony. It was elected by the freemen from among their own number and met regularly in Plymouth, the capital town of the colony. As part of its judicial duties, it would periodically call a "Grand Enquest", which was a grand jury of sorts, elected from the freemen, who would hear complaints and swear out indictments for credible accusations. In the Common law, a grand jury is a type of Jury which determines whether there is enough evidence for a trial. The General Court, and later lesser town and county courts, would preside over trials of accused criminals and over civil matters, but the ultimate decisions were made by a jury of freemen. [69]
Laws
As a legislative body, the General Court could make proclamations of law as needed. In the early years of the colony, these laws were not formally compiled anywhere. In 1636 these laws were first organized and published in the 1636 Book of Laws. The book was reissued in 1658, 1672, and 1685. [69] Among these laws included the levying of "rates", or taxes, and the distribution of colony lands. [94] The General Court established townships as a means of providing local government over settlements, but reserved for itself the right to control specific distribution of land to individuals within those towns. When new land was granted to a freeman, it was directed that only the person to whom the land was granted was allowed to settle it. [95] It was forbidden for individual settlers to purchase land from Native Americans without formal permission from the General Court. [96] The government recognized the precarious peace that existed with the Wampanoag, and wished to avoid antagonizing them by buying up all of their land. [97]
The laws also set out crimes and their associated punishments. There were several crimes that mandated the death penalty: treason, murder, witchcraft, arson, sodomy, rape, bestiality, adultery, and cursing or smiting one's parents. Capital punishment, the death penalty or execution, is the Killing of a person by judicial process as Punishment. In Law, treason is the Crime that covers some of the more serious acts of disloyalty to one's sovereign or Nation. Murder is the unlawful killing of another human person with Malice aforethought, as defined in Common Law countries Witchcraft, in various historical anthropological religious and mythological contexts is the use of certain kinds of Supernatural or magical powers Sodomy (ˈsɒdəmi is a term used today predominantly in Law (derived from traditional Christian usage to describe the act of Anal intercourse, Oral intercourse Rape, also referred to as Sexual assault, is an Assault by a person involving Sexual intercourse with or Sexual penetration of another person Zoophilia, from the Greek ζῷον ( zṓion, "animal" and φιλία ( philia, "friendship" or "love" is a Paraphilia Adultery is the voluntary Sexual intercourse between a married person and another person who is not his or her Spouse, though in many places it is [98] The actual exercise of the death penalty was fairly rare; only one sex-related crime, a 1642 incidence of bestiality by Thomas Granger, resulted in execution. [99] One person, Edward Bumpus, was sentenced to death for "striking and abusing his parents" in 1679, but his sentence was commuted to a severe whipping by reason of insanity. [100] Perhaps the most notable use of the death penalty was in the execution of the Native Americans convicted of the murder of John Sassamon; this helped lead to King Philip's War. [101] Though nominally a capital crime, adultery was usually dealt with by public humiliation only. Convicted adulterers were often forced to wear the letters "A. D. " sewn into their garments, much in the manner of Hester Prynne in Nathaniel Hawthorne's novel The Scarlet Letter. The Scarlet Letter is the Magnum opus of Nathaniel Hawthorne. Nathaniel Hawthorne (born Nathaniel Hathorne; July 4 1804 – May 19 1864 was an American novelist and Short story writer The Scarlet Letter is the Magnum opus of Nathaniel Hawthorne. [102][103][104]
Several laws dealt with indentured servitude, a legal status whereby a person would work off debts or be given training in exchange for a period of unrecompensed service. An indentured servant is a form of Debt bondage worker The Laborer is under Contract of an Employer for some period of time usually three to The law required that all indentured servants had to be registered by the Governor or one of the Assistants, and that no period of indenture could be less than six months. Further laws forbade a master from shortening the length of time of service required for his servant, and also confirmed that any indentured servants whose period of service began in England would still be required to complete their service while in Plymouth. [105]
Official Seal
Still used by the town of Plymouth, the seal of the Plymouth Colony was designed in 1629. It depicts four figures within a shield bearing St George's Cross, apparently in Native-American style clothing, each carrying the burning heart symbol of John Calvin. The St George's Cross (or the Cross of St George is a centred red cross on a white background John Calvin (or Jean Calvin) (10 July 1509 – 27 May 1564 was a French Protestant theologian during the Protestant Reformation and The seal was also used by the County of Plymouth until 1931. [106]
Geography
Boundaries
Without a clear land patent for the area, the settlers settled without a charter to form a government, and as a result, it was often unclear in the early years what land was under the colony's jurisdiction. In 1644, "The Old Colony Line"—which had been surveyed in 1639—was formally accepted as the boundary between Massachusetts Bay and Plymouth. [107]
The situation was more complicated along the border with Rhode Island. Roger Williams in 1636 settled in the area of Rehoboth, near modern Pawtucket. Roger Williams may refer to Roger Williams (soldier (1539/1540–1595 Welsh soldier of fortune Roger Williams (theologian (1603–1683 Pawtucket (pronounced Pa-TUCK-et is a city in Providence County, Rhode Island, United States. He was forcibly evicted in order to maintain Plymouth's claim to the area. Williams would move to the west side of the Pawtucket River to found the settlement of Providence, the nucleus for the colony of Rhode Island, which was formally established with the "Providence Plantations Patent" of 1644. As various settlers from both Rhode Island and Plymouth began to settle along the area, the exact nature of the western boundary of Plymouth became more unclear. The issue was not fully resolved until the 1740s, long after the dissolution of Plymouth Colony itself. Rhode Island had received a patent for the area in 1693, which had been disputed by Massachusetts Bay Colony. Rhode Island successfully defended the patent, and in 1746, a royal decree transferred the land along the eastern shore of the Narragansett Bay to Rhode Island, including the mainland portion of Newport County and all of modern Bristol County, Rhode Island. Newport County is one of five counties located in the US state of Rhode Island. Bristol County is a County located in the US state of Rhode Island. Rhode Island ( officially named the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, is a state in the New England region of the United States [108][109]
Counties and towns
Plymouth Colony was not formally divided into counties until June 2, 1685, during the reorganization that would lead to the formation of the Dominion of New England. Events 455 - The Vandals enter Rome, and plunder the city for two weeks Three counties were formed, composed of the following towns:[110]
Barnstable County on Cape Cod:[111]
-
- Barnstable, the shire town (county seat) of the county, first settled in 1639 and incorporated 1650. Barnstable County is a County located in the US state of Massachusetts, consisting of Cape Cod and associated islands Barnstable is a city referred to as the Town of Barnstable, in the U A county seat is a term for an Administrative center for a County, primarily used in the United States. [112]
- Eastham, site of the "First Encounter", first settled 1644 and incorporated as the town of Nauset in 1646, name changed to Eastham in 1651. Eastham is a town in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States, Barnstable County being coextensive with Cape Cod. [113]
- Falmouth, first settled in 1661, and incorporated as Succonesset in 1686. Falmouth is a town in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States; Barnstable County is coextensive with Cape Cod. [114]
- Sandwich, first settled in 1637 and incorporated in 1639. Sandwich is a town in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States. [115]
- Yarmouth, incorporated 1639. There are other places named Yarmouth. Yarmouth is a town in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, [116]
Bristol County along the shores of Buzzards Bay and Narragansett Bay, part of this county would later be ceded to Rhode Island:[117]
-
- Taunton, the shire town of the county, incorporated 1639. Bristol County is a County located in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, adjacent to the state of Rhode Island. Buzzards Bay is a bay of the Atlantic Ocean adjacent to the state of Massachusetts. Narragansett Bay is a Bay and Estuary on the north side of Rhode Island Sound. Taunton is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States. [118]
- Bristol, incorporated 1680 and included the former locations of Sowams and Montaup (Mount Hope), which were Massasoit's and King Philip's capitals, respectively. Bristol is a town in and the historic County seat of Bristol County, Rhode Island, United States. Ceded to Rhode Island in 1746 and is now part of Bristol County, Rhode Island. [109]
- Dartmouth, incorporated 1664. Dartmouth is a town in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States established in 1664 Dartmouth was the site of a significant massacre by the Indian forces during King Philip's War. It was also the location of a surrender of a group of some 160 of Philip's forces who were later sold into slavery. [119]
- Freetown, incorporated 1683, originally known as "Freemen's Land" by its first settlers. Freetown is a town in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States. [120]
- Little Compton, incorporated as Sakonnet in 1682, ceded to Rhode Island in 1746 and is now part of Newport County, Rhode Island. Little Compton is a town in Newport County, Rhode Island, United States. [121]
- Rehoboth, first settled 1644 and incorporated 1645. Rehoboth is a town in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States. Nearby to, but distinct from the Rehoboth settlement of Roger Williams, which is now the town of Pawtucket, Rhode Island. [122]
- Rochester, settled 1638, incorporated 1686. Rochester is a town in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States. [123]
- Swansea, founded as the township of Wannamoiset in 1667, incorporated as town of Swansea in 1668. Swansea is a town in Bristol County in southeastern Massachusetts. It was here that the first English casualty of King Philip's War occurred. [124]
Plymouth County, located along the western shores of Cape Cod Bay:[125]
-
- Plymouth, the shire town of the county and capital of the colony. Plymouth County is a County located in the US state of Massachusetts. Cape Cod Bay is a large bay of the Atlantic Ocean adjacent to the U This was the original 1620 settlement of the Mayflower Pilgrims, and continued as the largest and most significant settlement in the colony until its dissolution in 1691. [126]
- Bridgewater, purchased from Massasoit by Myles Standish, and originally named Duxburrow New Plantation, it was incorporated as Bridgewater in 1656. For geographic and demographic information on the Census-designated place Bridgewater please see the article Bridgewater (CDP, Massachusetts. [127]
- Duxbury, founded by Myles Standish, it was incorporated in 1637. For the place in England see Duxbury Woods Duxbury is a coastal town in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States Other notable residents of Duxbury included John Alden, William Brewster, and Governor Thomas Prence. John Alden may refer to John Alden (Pilgrim, pilgrim who arrived at Plymouth in 1620 on the Mayflower John Alden (Capt [128]
- Marshfield, incorporated 1640. Marshfield is a town in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States, on Massachusetts's South Shore. Home to Josiah Winslow, governor of the colony during King Philip's War. [129]
- Middleborough, incorporated 1669 as Middleberry. Middleborough is a town in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States. Named for its location as the halfway point on the journe from Plymouth to Mount Hope, the Wampanoag capital. [130]
- Scituate, settled 1628 and incorporated 1636. Scituate is a small seacoast town in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States, on Cape Cod Bay midway between Boston and The town was the site of a major attack by King Philip's forces in 1676. [131]
Demographics
English
The English in Plymouth Colony fit broadly into three categories: Pilgrims, Strangers, and Particulars. The Pilgrims, like the Puritans that would later found Massachusetts Bay Colony to the north, were a Protestant group that closely followed the teachings of John Calvin. A Puritan of 16th and 17th century England was an associate of any number of religious groups advocating for more "purity" of Worship and Doctrine, John Calvin (or Jean Calvin) (10 July 1509 – 27 May 1564 was a French Protestant theologian during the Protestant Reformation and However, unlike the Puritans, who wished to reform the Anglican church from within, the Pilgrims saw it as a morally defunct organization, and sought to remove themselves from it. See also Anglicanism The Anglican Communion is an international association of national Anglican churches [67] The name "Pilgrims" was actually not used by the separatists themselves. Though William Bradford used the term "pilgrims" to describe the group, he was using the term generically, to define the group as travelers on a religious mission. The term used by those we now call the Pilgrims was the "Saints". They used the term to indicate their special place among God's elect, as they subscribed to the Calvinist belief in predestination. Calvinism (sometimes called the Reformed tradition, the Reformed faith, or Reformed theology) is a theological system and an approach to the Predestination (also linked with Foreknowledge) is a religious concept which involves the relationship between God and His creation [132]
Besides the Pilgrims, or "Saints", the rest of the Mayflower settlers were known as the "Strangers". This group included the non-Pilgrim settlers placed on the Mayflower by the Merchant Adventurers, as well as later settlers who would come for other reasons throughout the history of the colony and who did not necessarily adhere to the Pilgrim religious ideals. [133][134] A third group, known as the "Particulars", consisted of a group of later settlers that paid their own "particular" way to America, and thus were not obliged to pay the colony's debts. [135]
The presence of the Strangers and the Particulars was a considerable annoyance to the Pilgrims. As early as 1623, a conflict between the two groups broke out over the celebration of Christmas, a day of no particular significance to the Pilgrims. Furthermore, when a group of Strangers founded the nearby settlement of Wessagussett, the Pilgrims were highly strained, both emotionally and in terms of resources, by their lack of discipline. They looked at the eventual failure of the Wessagussett settlement as Divine Providence against a sinful people. [136]
The residents of Plymouth used terms to distinguish between the earliest settlers of the colony and those that came later. The first generation of settlers, generally thought to be those that arrived before 1627, called themselves the "Old Comers" or "Planters". Later generations of Plymouth residents would refer to this group as the "Forefathers". [137]
Native Americans
The Native Americans in New England were organized into loose tribal confederations, sometimes called "nations". Among these confederations were the Nipmucks, the Massachusett, the Narragansett, the Niantics, the Mohegan, and the Wampanoag. The Nipmuc (also spelled Nipmuck) are a group of Algonquian Indians native to Worcester County Massachusetts. This article is about the Native American tribe For the US state see Massachusetts. The Mohegan tribe is an Algonquian-speaking tribe that lives in eastern upper Thames valley Connecticut [49] Several significant events would dramatically alter the demographics of the Native American population in the region. The first was "Standish's raid" on Wessagussett, which frightened Native American leaders to the extent that many abandoned their settlements, resulting in many deaths through starvation and disease. [43] The second, the Pequot War, resulted in the dissolution of its namesake tribe and a major shift in the local power structure. The Pequot War was an armed conflict in 1636-1637 between an alliance of Massachusetts Bay and Plymouth colonies with Native American allies (the [49] The third, King Philip's War, had the most dramatic effect on local populations, resulting in the death or displacement of as much as 80% of the total number of Native Americans of southern New England and the enslavement and removal of thousands of Native Americans to the Caribbean and other locales. King Philip's War, sometimes called Metacom 's War or Metacom's Rebellion was an armed conflict between Native American inhabitants of [59]
Black slaves
Some of the wealthier families in Plymouth Colony owned black slaves, which unlike the white indentured servants, were considered the property of their owners and passed on to heirs like any other property. Slavery is a social-economic system under which certain persons — known as slaves — are deprived of personal freedom and compelled to perform labour or services An indentured servant is a form of Debt bondage worker The Laborer is under Contract of an Employer for some period of time usually three to Slave ownership was not widespread and very few families possessed the wealth necessary to own slaves. In 1674, the inventory of Capt. Thomas Willet of Marshfield includes "8 Negroes" at a value of ₤200. Other inventories of the time valued slaves at ₤24–25 each, well out of the financial ability of most families. A 1689 census of the town of Bristol shows that of the 70 families that lived there, only one had a black slave. [138] So few were black slaves in the colony that the General Court never saw fit to pass any laws dealing with them. [105]
Family size
A fairly comprehensive demographic study was done by historian John Demos for his seminal 1970 work on the Pilgrims, A Little Commonwealth. He reports that the colony's average household grew from 7. 8 children per family for first-generation families, to 8. 6 children for second-generation families, and to 9. 3 for third-generation families. Child mortality also decreased over this time, with 7. 2 children born to first-generation families living until their 21st birthday. That number increased to 7. 9 children by the third generation. [139] Life expectancy was higher for men than for women. Of the men who survived until the age of 21, the average life expectancy was 69. 2 years. Over 55 percent of these men lived past 70, less than 15 percent died before the age of 50. For women, the numbers are much lower, owing to the difficulties inherent in childbearing. The average life expectancy of women at the age of 21 was only 62. 4 years. Of these women, less than 45 percent lived past 70, and about 30 percent died before the age of 50. [139]
Economy
The largest source of wealth for Plymouth Colony was the fur trade. The disruption of this trade caused by Myles Standish's raid at Wessagussett created great hardship for the colonists for many years to come, and was directly cited by William Bradford as a contributing factor to the colonists economic difficulties in their early years. [43] The colonists attempted to supplement their income by fishing; the waters in Cape Cod bay were known to be excellent fisheries. However, they lacked any skill in this area, and it did little to relieve their economic hardship. [140] The colony traded throughout the region, establishing trading posts as far away as Penobscot, Maine. Penobscot is a town in Hancock County, Maine, United States. The Bagaduce River runs through the town The State of Maine ( is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America, bordering the Atlantic Ocean They were also frequent trading partners with the Dutch at New Amsterdam. New Amsterdam (Nieuw Amsterdam was a 17th-century Dutch colonial settlement that later became New York City. [141]
The economic situation improved with the arrival of cattle in the colony. It is unknown when the first cattle arrived, but the division of land for the grazing of cattle in 1627 represented one of the first moves towards private land ownership in the colony. [142] Cattle became an important source of wealth in the colony; the average cow could sell for ₤28 in 1638. However, the flood of immigrants during the Great Migration drove the price of cattle down. The same cows sold at ₤28 in 1638 were valued in 1640 at only ₤5. [143] Besides cattle, there were also pigs, sheep, and goats raised in the colony[144]
Agriculture also made up an important part of the Plymouth economy. The colonists adopted Native American agricultural practices and crops. They planted maize, squash, pumpkins, beans, and potatoes. Maize (ˈmeɪz ( Zea mays L. ssp mays) known as corn in some countries is a cereal grain domesticated in Mesoamerica Squashes generally refer to four species of the genus Cucurbita native to the Mexico and Central America, also called marrows depending Pumpkin is a Gourd -like squash of the genus Cucurbita and the family Cucurbitaceae (which also includes gourds Bean is a common name for large plant Seeds of several genera of the family Fabaceae (formerly Leguminosae used for human food or animal The potato is a Starchy Tuberous crop Vegetable from the perennial Solanum tuberosum of the Solanaceae Besides the crops themselves, the Pilgrims learned productive farming techniques from the Native Americans, such as proper crop rotation and the use of dead fish to fertilize the soil. In addition to these native crops, the colonists also successfully planted Old World crops such as turnips, carrots, peas, wheat, barley, and oats. For similar vegetables also called "turnip" see Turnip (disambiguation. The carrot ( Daucus carota subsp sativus, Etymology: Middle French carotte, from Late Latin carōta, from Greek karōton A pea (inaccurately called a '''sweet pea''' by food distubutors is most commonly the small spherical Seed or the seed-pod of the Legume Pisum Wheat ( Triticum spp is a worldwide cultivated grass from the Levant area of the Middle East. Barley ( Hordeum vulgare) is an annual Cereal Grain, which serves as a major animal Feed crop, with smaller amounts used for Oats redirects here It may mean either the common cereal oat discussed here or any cultivated or wild species of the Genus Avena. [145]
Overall, there was very little cash in Plymouth Colony, so most wealth was accumulated in the form of possessions. Since trade goods such as furs, fish, and livestock were subject to fluctuations in price, they were unreliable repositories of wealth. Goods such as clothes and furnishings represented an important source of economic stability for the residents. [146]
Legacy
Despite its short history, fewer than 72 years, the events surrounding the founding and history of Plymouth Colony have had a lasting effect on the art, traditions, and mythology of the United States of America.
Art, literature and film
The earliest artistic depiction of the Pilgrims was actually done before their arrival in America—Dutch painter Adam Willaerts painted a portrait of their departure from Delfshaven in 1620. [147] The same scene was repainted by Robert Walter Weir in 1844, and hangs in the Rotunda of the United States Capitol building. Robert Walter Weir ( June 18, 1803 - May 1, 1889) was an American Artist, best known as an educator and as an historical Numerous other paintings have been created memorializing various scenes from the life of Plymouth Colony, including their landing and the "First Thanksgiving", many of which have been collected by Pilgrim Hall, a museum and historical society founded in 1824 to preserve the history of the Colony. The Pilgrim Hall Museum in Plymouth Massachusetts is the oldest public Museum in the United States in continuous operation having opened in 1824 [148]
Several contemporary accounts of life in Plymouth Colony have become both vital primary historical documents and literary classics. Of Plimoth Plantation by William Bradford and Mourt's Relation by Bradford, Edward Winslow, and others are both accounts written by Mayflower passengers, accounts that provide much of the information we have today regarding the trans-Atlantic voyage and early years of the settlement. Written over a period of years by the leader of the Plymouth Colony in Massachusetts, William Bradford, Of Plymouth Plantation is the single The book Mourt's Relation (or full title "Mourt's Relation A Journal of the Pilgrims in Plymouth") was written primarily by Edward Winslow Benjamin Church wrote several accounts of King Philip's War, including Entertaining Passages Relating to Philip's War, which remained popular throughout the eighteenth century. An edition of the work was illustrated by Paul Revere in 1772. Paul Revere (bap December 22, 1734 ( OS) / January 1 1735 (NS &ndash May 10, 1818) was an American Silversmith Another work, The Sovereignty and Goodness of God, provides an account of King Philip's War from the perspective of Mary Rowlandson, an Englishwoman who was captured and spent some time in the company of Native Americans during the war. Mary White Rowlandson (c 1637 – January 1711 was a colonial American woman who wrote a vivid description of the eleven weeks and five days she spent living with Native [149] Later works, such as "The Courtship of Miles Standish" by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, have provided a romantic and partially fictionalized account of life in Plymouth Colony. The Courtship of Miles Standish is an 1858 narrative poem by American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow about the early days of Plymouth Colony Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (February 27 1807 &ndash March 24 1882 was an American educator and Poet whose works include " Paul Revere's Ride " [150]
There are also numerous films about the Pilgrims, including the several versions of "The Courtship of Miles Standish",[151] the 1952 film Plymouth Adventure starring Spencer Tracy,[152] and the 2006 TV documentary, produced by the History Channel, "Desperate Crossings:The True Story of the Mayflower". Plymouth Adventure is a 1952 motion picture drama made by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Spencer Tracy ( April 5, 1900 – June 10, 1967) was a two-time Academy Award -winning Actor of stage and History, formerly known as The History Channel, is a Satellite and Cable TV channel, with shows on historical events and persons&mdashoften [153]
Thanksgiving
Each year the United States celebrates a holiday known as Thanksgiving on the fourth Thursday of November. In the United States, Thanksgiving or Thanksgiving Day is an annual one-day legal holiday to express Gratitude for the things one has It is a recognized federal holiday,[154] and frequently involves family gathering with a large feast, traditionally featuring a turkey. In the United States, a federal holiday is a Holiday recognized by the United States Government. A turkey is either of two extant Species of large Birds in the Genus Meleagris native to North America. Civic recognition of the holiday typically include parades and football games. American football, known in the United States and Canada simply as football, is a competitive Team sport known for mixing strategy with The holiday is meant to honor the "First Thanksgiving", which was a harvest feast held in Plymouth in 1621.
The annual Thanksgiving holiday is a fairly recent creation. Throughout the early nineteenth century, the U. S. government had declared a particular day as a national day of Thanksgiving, but these were one-time declarations meant to celebrate a significant event, such as victory in a battle. The modern Thanksgiving holiday is largely the work of a single woman, Sarah Josepha Hale, editor of Boston's Ladies' Magazine. Sarah Josepha Buell Hale (October 24 1788 - April 30 1879 was an American Writer. Beginning in 1827, she wrote editorials calling for a national, annual day of thanksgiving to commemorate the Pilgrim's first harvest feast. After nearly 40 years, in 1863, Abraham Lincoln declared the first modern Thanksgiving to fall on the last Thursday in November. Abraham Lincoln (February 12 1809 &ndash April 15 1865 the sixteenth President of the United States, successfully led his country through its greatest internal Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Congress ultimately moved it to the fourth Thursday in November. The United States Congress is the bicameral Legislature of the federal government of the United States of America, consisting of two houses In 1941, the holiday was recognized by Congress as an official federal holiday. [155][156]
Among the modern traditions to develop alongside of the Thanksgiving holiday include the National Football League's Thanksgiving Classic games and the annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City. The National Football League ( NFL) is the largest professional American football league. The Canadian Football League also holds a Thanksgiving Day Classic on Canadian Thanksgiving. The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is an annual Parade presented by Macy's Department store. The City of New York
Plymouth Rock
One of the enduring symbols of the landing of the Pilgrims is Plymouth Rock, a large granite outcropping of rock that was near their landing site at Plymouth. Plymouth Rock is the traditional site of disembarkation of William Bradford and the Mayflower Pilgrims who founded Plymouth Colony However, none of the contemporary accounts of the actual landing makes any mention that the Rock was the specific place of landing. The Pilgrims chose the site for their landing not for the rock, but for a small brook nearby that was a source of fresh water and fish. [157]
The first identification of Plymouth Rock as the actual landing site was in 1741 by 90-year-old Thomas Faunce, whose father had arrived in Plymouth in 1623, several years after the supposed event. The rock was later covered by a solid-fill pier. In 1774, an attempt was made to excavate the Rock, but it broke in two. The severed piece was placed in the Town Square at the center of Plymouth. In 1880, the intact half of the rock was excavated from the pier, and the broken piece was reattached to it. Over the years, souvenir hunters have removed chunks from the rock, but the remains are now protected as part of the complex of living museums. Living history is an activity that incorporates historical tools activities and dress into an interactive presentation that seeks to give observers and participants a sense of These include the Mayflower II, a recreation of the original ship, Plimoth Plantation, an historical recreation of the original 1620 settlement, and the Wampanoag Homesite, which recreates a 17th century Indian village. The Mayflower II is a replica of the 17th century ship Mayflower, celebrated for transporting the Pilgrims to the New World. Plimoth Plantation is a Living museum in Plymouth, Massachusetts that reconstructs the original settlement of the Plymouth Colony established [158]
The Mayflower Society
The General Society of Mayflower Descendants, or The Mayflower Society, is a genealogical organization comprised of individuals who have documented their descent from one or more of the 102 passengers who arrived on the Mayflower in 1620. The Society of Mayflower Descendants is a hereditary organization of individuals who have documented their descent from one or more of the 102 passengers who arrived on the This is a partial list of hereditary and lineage organizations. The Society was founded at Plymouth in 1897. The group claims that tens of millions of Americans can claim descent from these passengers. They offer research services to people seeking to establish family connections to the Mayflower passengers. [159]
See also
- European colonization of the Americas
- British colonization of the Americas
- British Empire
- Colonial America
- Plantation (settlement or colony)
- List of colonial governors of Massachusetts (includes Plymouth)
References
- Addison, Albert Christopher (1911). The start of the European colonization of the Americas is typically dated to 1492 although there was at least one earlier colonization effort British colonization of the Americas (including colonization under the Kingdom of England and Kingdom of Scotland before the 1707 Acts of Union created The British Empire was the largest empire in history and for over a century was the foremost global power. The term colonial history of the United States refers to the history of the land that would become the United States from the start of European settlement to the time of independence Plantation was an early method of colonization in which settlers were 'planted' abroad in order to establish a permanent or semi-permanent colonial base This is a list of the colonial governors of Massachusetts up to 1776 including governors of the Plymouth Colony, governors of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, presidents The Romantic Story of the Mayflower Pilgrims. The Plymouth Colony Archive Project. Retrieved on 2007-04-30. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 313 - Roman emperor Licinius unifies the entire Eastern Roman Empire under his rule
- Deetz, James; Patricia Scott Deetz (2000). The Times of Their Lives: Life, Love, and Death in Plymouth Colony. New York: W. H. Freeman and Company. ISBN 0-7167-3830-9.
- Demos, John (1970). A Little Commonwealth: Family Life in Plymouth Colony. New York: Oxford University Press.
- Johnson, Paul (1997). A History of the American People. New York: HarperCollins. ISBN 0-06-016836-6.
- Philbrick, Nathaniel (2006). Mayflower: A Story of Courage, Community, and War. New York: Penguin Group. ISBN 0-670-03760-5.
- Weinstein, Allen; David Rubel (2002). The Story of America: Freedom and Crisis from Settlement to Superpower. New York: DK Publishing. ISBN 0-7894-8903-1.
Notes
- ^ Patricia Scott Deetz; James F. Deetz (2000). Passengers on the Mayflower: Ages & Occupations, Origins & Connections. The Plymouth Colony Archive Project. Retrieved on 2006-05-19. Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Events 1535 - French explorer Jacques Cartier sets sail on his second voyage to North America with three ships 110 men and
- ^ Philbrick (2006) pp 7–13
- ^ Addison (1911), foreword "From a Pilgrim Cell", pp xiii–xiv
- ^ Addison (1911), p 51
- ^ Philbrick (2006), pp 16–18
- ^ Rothbard, Murray Rothbard (1975). ""The Founding of Plymouth Colony"", Conceived in Liberty 1. Arlington House Publishers.
- ^ Because of hardships experienced during the early years of the settlement, as well as corruption and mismanagement by their representatives, the debt was not actually paid off until 1648. Philbrick (2006), pp 19–20, 169
- ^ Philbrick (2006), pp 20–23
- ^ Philbrick (2006) pp 24–25
- ^ Addison (1911), p 63
- ^ Philbrick (2006) pp 27–28
- ^ Philbrick (2006), pp 35–36
- ^ Croxton, Derek (1991). The Cabot Dilemma: John Cabot's 1497 Voyage & the Limits of Historiography. Essays in History. Corcoran Department of History at the University of Virginia. Retrieved on 2007-05-03. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 1491 - Kongo monarch Nkuwu Nzinga is baptised by Portuguese missionaries adopting the baptismal name of João
- ^ Edney, Matthew H. . The Cartographic Creation of New England. Osher Map Library and Smith Center for Cartographic Education, University of Southern Maine. Retrieved on 2007-05-03. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 1491 - Kongo monarch Nkuwu Nzinga is baptised by Portuguese missionaries adopting the baptismal name of João
- ^ Deetz and Deetz (2000), pp 55–56
- ^ Popham Colony: The First English Colony in New England. www. pophamcolony. org. Retrieved on 2007-05-03. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 1491 - Kongo monarch Nkuwu Nzinga is baptised by Portuguese missionaries adopting the baptismal name of João
- ^ Deetz and Deetz (2000), pp 69–71
- ^ Deetz and Deetz (2000), pp 46–48
- ^ Philbrick (2006) p 41
- ^ Philbrick (2006), pp 55–77
- ^ Philbrick (2006), pp 78–80
- ^ Johnson (1997), p 37
- ^ Philbrick (2006), pp 80–84
- ^ Philbrick (2006), pp 88–91
- ^ Massasoit was specifically the sachem of a single tribe of Wampanoag Indians known as the Pokanoket, though he was recognized as the founder and leader of the entire confederation. Philbrick (2006), pp 93, 155
- ^ Philbrick (2006), pp 93–94
- ^ Philbrick (2006), pp 94–96
- ^ Philbrick (2006), pp 52–53
- ^ West, Elliot. Squanto in Weinstein and Rubel (2002), pp 50–51
- ^ Philbrick (2006) pp 97–99
- ^ Philbrick (2006) pp 100–101
- ^ Addison (1911), pp 83–85
- ^ Patricia Scott Deetz; James F. Deetz (2000). Mayflower Passenger Deaths, 1620–1621. The Plymouth Colony Archive Project. Retrieved on 2007-04-19. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 1012 - Martyrdom of Alphege in Greenwich London. 1529 - At the Second Diet of Speyer
- ^ Addison (1911), p 83
- ^ Travers, Carolyn Freeman. Fast and Thanksgiving Days of Plymouth Colony. Plimoth Plantation: Living, Breathing History. Plimoth Plantation. Retrieved on 2007-05-02. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 1194 - King Richard I of England gives Portsmouth its first Royal Charter.
- ^ Primary Sources for "The First Thanksgiving" at Plymouth. Pilgrim Hall Museum (1998). Retrieved on 2007-03-30. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 240 BC - 1st recorded Perihelion passage of Halley's Comet. Note: this reference contains partial transcriptions of two documents, Winslow's Mourt's Relations and Bradford's Of Plimoth Plantation, which describe the events of the First Thanksgiving
- ^ Philbrick (2006), pp 102–103
- ^ Philbrick (2006), pp 104–109
- ^ Philbrick (2006) pp 110–113
- ^ Philbrick (2006) pp 113–116
- ^ a b c d Deetz, Patricia Scott (2000). Population of Plymouth Town, County, and Colony, 1620–1690. Department of Anthropology, University of Virginia. Retrieved on 2007-03-31. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 307 - After divorcing his wife Minervina, Constantine marries Fausta, the daughter of the retired Roman Emperor
- ^ Philbrick (2006) pp 151–154
- ^ a b c d e Philbrick (2006) pp 154–155
- ^ Winslow, Edward (1624). Chapter 5. Good Newes From New England. The Plymouth Colony Archive Project. Retrieved on 2007-05-17. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 1521 - Edward Stafford 3rd Duke of Buckingham, is executed for Treason.
- ^ Philbrick (2006) pp 123–126, 134
- ^ Residents of Plymouth according to the 1627 Division of Cattle. Plimoth Plantation: Living, Breathing History. Plimoth Plantation. Retrieved on 2007-05-02. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 1194 - King Richard I of England gives Portsmouth its first Royal Charter.
- ^ Leach, Douglas Edward (Sep. , 1951). "The Military System of Plymouth Colony". The New England Quarterly 24 (3): 342. doi:. A digital object identifier ( DOI) is a permanent identifier given to an Electronic document. note: login required for access
- ^ Taylor, Norris (1998). The Massachusetts Bay Colony. Retrieved on 2007-03-30. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 240 BC - 1st recorded Perihelion passage of Halley's Comet.
- ^ a b c Perspectives: The Pequot War. The Descendants of Henry Doude. Retrieved on 2007-04-02. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 68 - Galba, Governor of Hispania, names himself legatus senatus populique Romani, breaking the line of
- ^ Philbrick (2006) pp 180–181
- ^ Philbrick (2006) p 205
- ^ Philbrick (2006) pp 207–208
- ^ a b c Aultman, Jennifer L. (2001). From Thanksgiving to War: Native Americans in Criminal Cases of Plymouth Colony, 1630–1675. The Plymouth Colony Archive Project. Retrieved on 2007-05-17. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 1521 - Edward Stafford 3rd Duke of Buckingham, is executed for Treason.
- ^ Philbrick (2006) pp 221–223
- ^ Philbrick (2006) pp 229–237
- ^ Philbrick (2006) pp 288–289
- ^ Philbrick (2006) pp 311–323
- ^ Philbrick (2006) pp 331–337
- ^ a b Philbrick (2006) pp 332, 345–346
- ^ a b Timeline of Plymouth Colony 1620–1692. Plimoth Plantation (2007). Retrieved on 2007-04-02. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 68 - Galba, Governor of Hispania, names himself legatus senatus populique Romani, breaking the line of
- ^ Demos (1970), p 17
- ^ Demos (1970), pp 17–18
- ^ Weinstein and Rubel (2002), pp 64–65
- ^ Demos (1970), foreword p x.
- ^ a b c Demos (1970), pp 83–84
- ^ Demos (1970) pp 134–136
- ^ a b Maxwell, Richard Howland (2003). Pilgrim and Puritan: A Delicate Distinction. Pilgrim Society Note, Series Two. Pilgrim Hall Museum. Retrieved on 2003-04-04. Year 2003 ( MMIII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. Events 1581 - Francis Drake completes a circumnavigation of the world and is knighted by Elizabeth I.
- ^ Demos (1970), p 8
- ^ a b c d e f Fennell, Christopher (1998). Plymouth Colony Legal Structure. The Plymouth Colony Archive Project. Retrieved on 2007-04-02. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 68 - Galba, Governor of Hispania, names himself legatus senatus populique Romani, breaking the line of
- ^ a b Demos 1970, pp 104–106, 140
- ^ Demos (1970), pp 8–9
- ^ Demos (1970), p 132
- ^ a b Philbrick (2006), p 104
- ^ Deetz and Deetz, pp 87–100 and endnotes
- ^ Deetz and Deetz (2000), pp 92–98 and endnotes
- ^ Demos (1970), p 151
- ^ Demos (1970), p 66. Demos names the following figures for life expectancy: For males that reached 21 years old, they lived to an average age of 70; for women who reached this age the life expectancy was 63.
- ^ a b Demos (1970), pp 82–99
- ^ Demos (1970), p 66. Historian John Demos quotes a 1667 contract between John Phillips and Faith Doty which states "The said Faith Doty is to enjoy all of her house and land, goods and cattles, that shee [sic] is now possessed of, to her owne [sic] proper use, to dispose of them att [sic] her owne [sic] free will. . . "
- ^ Deetz and Deetz (2000), pp 99–100
- ^ Whipps, Heather (September 21, 2006). Events 1217 - The Estonian tribal leader Lembitu of Lehola was killed in a battle against Teutonic Knights. Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Census: U.S. household size shrinking. MSNBC. com. Retrieved on 2007-05-11. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 330 - Byzantium is renamed ''Nova Roma'' during a dedication ceremony but is more popularly referred to as Constantinople A study reported by MSNBC found that the modern American household consisted of 2. 6 people. Demos (1970), p 192 cites that by the third generation, the average family had 9. 3 births, with 7. 9 children living until adulthood. Since most families had two parents, this would extrapolate to an average of 10 people under one roof.
- ^ Demos (1970), 64–69
- ^ Travers, Carolyn Freeman (2007). Common Myths: Dead at Forty. Plimoth Plantation. Retrieved on 2007-05-11. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 330 - Byzantium is renamed ''Nova Roma'' during a dedication ceremony but is more popularly referred to as Constantinople
- ^ Demos (1970), pp 62–81
- ^ a b Demos (1970), p 141
- ^ Demos (1970), pp 71–75
- ^ Demos (1970), p 146
- ^ Demos (1970), pp 147–149
- ^ Demos (1970), pp 142–143
- ^ Demos (1970), p 144
- ^ Demos (1970), p 104
- ^ Demos (1970), p 148
- ^ Governors of Plymouth Colony. Pilgrim Hall Museum (1998). Retrieved on 2007-04-02. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 68 - Galba, Governor of Hispania, names himself legatus senatus populique Romani, breaking the line of
- ^ Demos (1970), p 7
- ^ Demos (1970), p 10
- ^ Demos (1970), p 14
- ^ Philbrick (2006), pp 214–215
- ^ Deetz and Deetz (2000), p 133 cite the first eight examples (treason-adultery), Demos (1970) p 100 mentions the last
- ^ Deetz and Deetz (2000), p 135
- ^ Demos (1970) p 102. Bumpus's actual sentence was to be "whipt att the post", with the note that "hee was crasey brained, ortherwise hee had bine put to death. "
- ^ Philbrick (2006), p 223
- ^ Johnson (1997), p 53
- ^ Demos (1970), pp 96–98
- ^ Deetz and Deetz(2000), p 143
- ^ a b Galle, Lillian (2000). Servants and Masters in the Plymouth Colony. The Plymouth Colony Archive Project. Retrieved on 2007-05-17. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 1521 - Edward Stafford 3rd Duke of Buckingham, is executed for Treason.
- ^ Martucci, David (1997). The Flag of New England. Retrieved on 2007-04-03. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 1043 - Edward the Confessor is crowned King of England.
- ^ Payne, Morse (2006). The Survey System of the Old Colony. Slade and Associates. Retrieved on 2007-04-03. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 1043 - Edward the Confessor is crowned King of England.
- ^ The Border is Where? Part II. The Rhode Islander: A depository of opinion, information, and pictures of the Ocean State. blogspot. com (2007). Retrieved on 2007-04-03. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 1043 - Edward the Confessor is crowned King of England.
- ^ a b Town of Bristol. EDC Profile. Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation (2007). Retrieved on 2007-07-13. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 1174 - William I of Scotland, a key rebel in the Revolt of 1173-1174, is captured at Alnwick by forces loyal to
- ^ Deetz and Deetz (2000), endnotes, lists twenty towns as part of Plymouth Colony. In addition to the ones listed here, the towns of Edgartown and Tisbury on Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket on its namesake island are included. Edgartown is a town located on Martha's Vineyard in Dukes County, Massachusetts, United States. Tisbury is a town located on Martha's Vineyard in Dukes County, Massachusetts, United States. Martha's Vineyard (adjoining the smaller Chappaquiddick Island) is an Island off the US east coast to the south of Cape Cod, both However, several other sources, including the 1890 Massachusetts Gazetteer used here, note that Martha's Vineyard (Dukes County) and Nantucket Island (Nantucket County) were part of the Colony of New York prior to the Dominion, and were not formally annexed until the 1691 charter that ended Plymouth Colony as an independent entity. The County of Dukes County is a County located in the US state of Massachusetts. Some towns north of the "Old Colony Line", such as Hull, Wessagussett and Hingham may have been founded by Plymouth settlers or were temporarily administered as part of Plymouth Colony before the boundary with Massachusetts was established in 1644. Hull is a town in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States. Weymouth is a city in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. Hingham is a town in Plymouth County on the South Shore of the U
- ^ Nason, Elias (1890). Barnstable County Massachusetts, 1890. Massachusetts Gazetteer. Retrieved on 2007-04-03. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 1043 - Edward the Confessor is crowned King of England.
- ^ Nason, Elias (1890). Barnstable Massachusetts, 1890. Massachusetts Gazetteer. Retrieved on 2007-04-03. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 1043 - Edward the Confessor is crowned King of England.
- ^ Nason, Elias (1890). Eastham Massachusetts, 1890. Massachusetts Gazetteer. Retrieved on 2007-04-03. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 1043 - Edward the Confessor is crowned King of England.
- ^ Deyo, Simeon L. (1890). Chapter XX. History of Barnstable County, Massachusetts. republished in 2006 online by CapeCodHistory. us. Retrieved on 2007-07-13. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 1174 - William I of Scotland, a key rebel in the Revolt of 1173-1174, is captured at Alnwick by forces loyal to
- ^ Nason, Elias (1890). Sandwich Massachusetts, 1890. Massachusetts Gazetteer. Retrieved on 2007-04-03. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 1043 - Edward the Confessor is crowned King of England.
- ^ Nason, Elias (1890). Yarmouth Massachusetts, 1890. Massachusetts Gazetteer. Retrieved on 2007-04-03. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 1043 - Edward the Confessor is crowned King of England.
- ^ Nason, Elias (1890). Bristol County Massachusetts, 1890. Massachusetts Gazetteer. Retrieved on 2007-04-03. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 1043 - Edward the Confessor is crowned King of England.
- ^ Nason, Elias (1890). Taunton Massachusetts, 1890. Massachusetts Gazetteer. Retrieved on 2007-04-03. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 1043 - Edward the Confessor is crowned King of England.
- ^ Nason, Elias (1890). Dartmouth Massachusetts, 1890. Massachusetts Gazetteer. Retrieved on 2007-04-03. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 1043 - Edward the Confessor is crowned King of England.
- ^ Nason, Elias (1890). Freetown Massachusetts, 1890. Massachusetts Gazetteer. Retrieved on 2007-04-03. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 1043 - Edward the Confessor is crowned King of England.
- ^ The Little Compton Historical Society Home Page. The Little Compton Historical Society (2005). Retrieved on 2007-07-13. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 1174 - William I of Scotland, a key rebel in the Revolt of 1173-1174, is captured at Alnwick by forces loyal to
- ^ Nason, Elias (1890). Rehoboth Massachusetts, 1890. Massachusetts Gazetteer. Retrieved on 2007-04-03. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 1043 - Edward the Confessor is crowned King of England.
- ^ Rochester (MA) Town History. Town of Rochester, Massachusetts (2007). Retrieved on 2007-07-13. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 1174 - William I of Scotland, a key rebel in the Revolt of 1173-1174, is captured at Alnwick by forces loyal to
- ^ Nason, Elias (1890). Swansey Massachusetts, 1890. Massachusetts Gazetteer. Retrieved on 2007-04-03. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 1043 - Edward the Confessor is crowned King of England. note: some confusion exists over the correct spelling of Swansea. The modern spelling is used here.
- ^ Nason, Elias (1890). Plymouth County Massachusetts, 1890. Massachusetts Gazetteer. Retrieved on 2007-04-03. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 1043 - Edward the Confessor is crowned King of England.
- ^ Nason, Elias (1890). Plymouth Massachusetts, 1890. Massachusetts Gazetteer. Retrieved on 2007-04-03. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 1043 - Edward the Confessor is crowned King of England.
- ^ Nason, Elias (1890). Bridgewater Massachusetts, 1890. Massachusetts Gazetteer. Retrieved on 2007-04-03. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 1043 - Edward the Confessor is crowned King of England.
- ^ Nason, Elias (1890). Duxbury Massachusetts, 1890. Massachusetts Gazetteer. Retrieved on 2007-04-03. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 1043 - Edward the Confessor is crowned King of England.
- ^ Nason, Elias (1890). Marshfield Massachusetts, 1890. Massachusetts Gazetteer. Retrieved on 2007-04-03. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 1043 - Edward the Confessor is crowned King of England.
- ^ Nason, Elias (1890). Middleborough Massachusetts, 1890. Massachusetts Gazetteer. Retrieved on 2007-04-03. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 1043 - Edward the Confessor is crowned King of England.
- ^ Nason, Elias (1890). Scituate Massachusetts, 1890. Massachusetts Gazetteer. Retrieved on 2007-04-03. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 1043 - Edward the Confessor is crowned King of England.
- ^ Deetz and Deetz (2000), p 14
- ^ Cline, Duane A. (2006). The Pilgrims and Plymouth Colony: 1620. Rootsweb. Retrieved on 2007-04-04. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 1581 - Francis Drake completes a circumnavigation of the world and is knighted by Elizabeth I.
- ^ Philbrick (2006) pp 21–23
- ^ Demos (1970), p 6
- ^ Philbrick (2006) pp 128, 151–154
- ^ Deetz and Deetz (2000), p 14 and endnotes
- ^ Demos, pp 110–111, also see Demos's footnote #10 on p 110
- ^ a b Demos (1970), Appendices, pp 192–194
- ^ Philbrick (2006), p 136
- ^ Philbrick (2006), pp 199–200
- ^ Deetz and Deetz (2000), pp 77–78. The first mention of cattle occurs with the arrival of "three heifers and a bull" in 1624, but there is some doubt as to whether this was the first cattle in the colony.
- ^ Chartier, Charles S. . Livestock in Plymouth Colony. Plymouth Archaeological Rediscovery Project. Retrieved on 2007-05-03. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 1491 - Kongo monarch Nkuwu Nzinga is baptised by Portuguese missionaries adopting the baptismal name of João
- ^ Johnson (1997), p 37
- ^ Johnson (1997), pp 36–37
- ^ Demos (1970) pp. 52–53
- ^ Philbrick 2006, pg 22
- ^ History Paintings. Pilgrim Hall (1998). Retrieved on 2007-04-05. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 456 - St Patrick returns to Ireland as a missionary bishop
- ^ Philbrick (2006) pp 75, 288, 357–358
- ^ Philbrick (2006) p 354
- ^ IMDB search: Miles Standish. IMDB. Retrieved on 2007-04-05. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 456 - St Patrick returns to Ireland as a missionary bishop
- ^ Plymouth Adventure (1952). IMDB. Retrieved on 2007-04-05. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 456 - St Patrick returns to Ireland as a missionary bishop
- ^ The Mayflower (2006). IMDB. Retrieved on 2007-04-05. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 456 - St Patrick returns to Ireland as a missionary bishop
- ^ 2007 Federal Holidays. U. S. Office of Personnel Management. Retrieved on 2007-04-04. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 1581 - Francis Drake completes a circumnavigation of the world and is knighted by Elizabeth I.
- ^ Wilson, Jerry (2001). The Thanksgiving Story. Holiday Page. Wilstar. com. Retrieved on 2007-04-05. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 456 - St Patrick returns to Ireland as a missionary bishop
- ^ History of Thanksgiving: A Timeline. Twoop. com (2006). Retrieved on 2007-04-05. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 456 - St Patrick returns to Ireland as a missionary bishop
- ^ Philbrick (2006) pp 75, 78–79
- ^ Philbrick (2006) pp 351–356
- ^ The Mayflower Society Home Page. General Society of Mayflower Descendants (2006). Retrieved on 2007-07-13. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 1174 - William I of Scotland, a key rebel in the Revolt of 1173-1174, is captured at Alnwick by forces loyal to
External links
- Timeline of Plymouth Colony
- Colonial America:Plymouth Colony 1620 A short history of Plymouth Colony hosted at U-S-History. com, includes a map of all of the New England colonies.
- The Plymouth Colony Archive Project a collection of primary sources documents and secondary source analysis related to Plymouth Colony.
- Pilgrim ships from 1602 to 1638 Pilgrim ships searchable by ship name, sailing date and passengers.
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