the Isles of Shoals, and returned to England with a map of the country. 1620. The Pilgrims and Plymouth. On the 16th of September the band of English fugitives, who had crossed to England from Holland on their way to America, set sail for their home in the wilderness over the sea. Of their two vessels, one, the Speedwell, was obliged to put back because unseaworthy. The other, the Mayflower, with a company of about 100 persons, kept on. The Hudson River was the point aimed at, but Cape Cod was struck instead. The voyage was long and trying. For nearly a month they reconnoitred the shores seeking a place to land; and finally, on the 21st of December, disembarked where the town of Plymouth now stands. Having no charter, they signed a compact in the cabin of the Mayflower before landing, binding themselves into "a civil body politic." John Carver was chosen governor, and Miles Standish military commander. Upon reaching the shore, they at once set to work to build themselves cabins, a storehouse, and some suitable defences, and thus to make themselves comfortable and secure for the winter. 1620. The First Slaves. The year of the landing of the Pilgrims at Plymouth was also the year of the landing of the first slaves upon what is now territory of the United States. These were brought by a Dutch vessel to Jamestown, and there offered for sale. They were twenty in number. The system thus introduced soon extended into other colonies, though some of them protested against the trade. 1623. Sir F. Gorges and Laconia. Sir Ferdinand Gorges and John Mason were both members of the "Plymouth Company." (See p. 16.) Gorges had already engaged in the unsuccessful attempt to colonize Maine. In 1622, he and Mason obtained from the Company a grant of a tract lying partly in each of the present States of Maine and New Hampshire. To this they gave the name Laconia, and the following year sent out parties to settle it. The present city of Dover marks the site of 1561-1626. one of those settlements. Shortly afFrancis Bacon. terwards a certain part of this tract was assigned to Mason alone, and then received the name of New Hampshire. 1628-1630. Boston and Massachusetts Bay. In 1628 a colony, chartered by the "Plymouth Company' (see p. 16), headed by John Endicott, entered Salem Harbor, and effected a settlement. The following year a reenforcement arrived, and Charlestown was settled. The next year, 1630, still larger accessions were received, all of excellent people, among them John Winthrop. This same year Boston was founded, as also Roxbury, Dorchester, Watertown, Cambridge (under the name of Newtown), and some other towns in the vicinity. The Massachusetts Bay colonists, like their brethren at Plymouth, were people of strong religious sentiments and elevated character, who likewise had left England because of oppression for opinion's sake; but there were some important differences of temper between them, and though they combined to lay the foundations of New England they should be carefully distinguished from each other. The Massachusetts Bay colonists alone are properly called "Puritans," the Plymouth colonists Pilgrims.' For many years, until 1692, the two colonies remained distinct from each other. 1631. The first vessel built on the Massachusetts shore was launched July 4. She was named the "Blessing of the Bay." 1631. Connecticut. The English Lords Say-andSeal, Brooke, and their associates, re- 1632. Battle of ceived a patent from the Earl of War- Lutzen. Death wick, to settle Connecticut; to which of Gustavus Adolphus, the territory, however, the Dutch also laid great Protestant claim. hero of Germany. 1634. Maryland. The settlement of Maryland was due primarily to George Calvert, Englishman, first Lord Baltimore, and a Roman Catholic, who, having in 1625 made an unsuccessful attempt to colonize Newfoundland, obtained from King James a grant of the territory now forming the States of Maryland and Delaware. Dying before the papers were actually executed, the charter was transferred to his second son, Cecil, who gave up the management of the projected colony to his elder brother, Leonard. Leonard Calvert sailed in November, 1633, with a company of about 2c0 persons, and, in March following, reached the Chesapeake, and on one of its estuaries founded the town of St. Mary's, of which, however, scarcely a trace now remains. Considerable difficulty was experienced with a previous trading settler of the region, William Clayborne, but he was finally dispossessed of his claim. A legislative assembly was convened at St. Mary's, in 1635, and soon after the Roman Catholic religion was made the religion of the State, but with entire toleration towards Christians of other beliefs. Religious freedom was a corner-stone of this colony from the first. 1635-1638. Further Settlements in Connecticut. In 1635, parties from Massachusetts removed to the valley of the Connecticut, and founded the towns of Windsor, Wethersfield, and Hartford. A settlement was made at the mouth of the river, and named Saybrooke after Lord Say-and-Seal, and Lord Brooke. Among those who followed thither from Massachusetts in 1636, was Rev. Thomas Hooker, who had just come over from England, and who became a minister of the church in Hartford; and, in 1638, Rev. John Davenport, who with his associates settled New Haven. These early settlers in Connecticut were involved in a formidable war with the Pequod Indians. 1636. Roger Williams and Rhode Island. Roger Williams was a Welshman by birth, who came to America in 1631, and was for a time a minister of the church in Salem. He soon provoked opposition by his opinions on various subjects; and particularly for his protest against the right of the magistrates to punish other offences than those against the civil law; and by order of the general court was presently banished. This act would seem to have confirmed what was a previous purpose in his mind, of founding a colony of his own upon the principles of the broadest civil and religious freedom. Eluding the attempt of the authorities to send him back to England, he proceeded with a few companions to the shores of Narragansett Bay and founded Providence, giving that name to the settlement in recognition of what he esteemed to be the divine leading. The organization of the First Baptist Church in America soon followed on this spot, and in time the colony secured a charter from England, Williams himself serving as president for between two and three years. The fundamental principle of this Rhode Island Colony was an absolute prohibition of all interference with the rights of conscience. 1638. Harvard College. This, the oldest collegiate institution in the United States, was projected by the Massachusetts colonists as early as 1636, who appropriated £400 as its foundation. But its actual existence began two years later, with its further endowment by the will of Rev. John Harvard, minister of Charlestown, whose name it bears. The first class entered upon study at this time, under the instruction of Nathaniel Eaton. 1639. The Connecticut Colonists adopted a written constitution, the leading features of which afterward entered into the constitutions of other States. In this same year Stephen Day, or Daye, set up at Cambridge the first printing-press in the colonies, the first issue of which was the "Freeman's Oath." IV. PERIOD OF COLONIAL GROWTH. 1640-1775. . 1641. The people of New Hampshire put themselves under the jurisdiction of Massa- 1564-1642. Gachusetts, and so remained for nearly 1642. Civil war lileo. forty years. In this same year Sir Wil- in England. liam Berkeley came over as Governor of Parliament arrayed against Virginia. Charles I. 1643. The United Colonies of New England. For their mutual benefit the Plymouth, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New Haven colonies 1545. Battle of banded together this year under the Naseby, Eng land, between name of The United Colonies of New Charles I. and England; each to be independent as the parliamentary forces under respected its own internal affairs, but Cromwell and submitting matters of joint interest to the Fairfax. Final control of commissioners, two from each defeat of the for mer.- Arch |