I hope that we shall not have them these hundred years!" This was the status of the colonial legislature of Virginia until Bacon's rebellion, in 1676, when the old intolerant legislature was dissolved and a more liberal one elected. The governors of the colony were appointed by the king. THE CAROLINAS-NORTH CAROLINA, The Carolinas were settled under the auspices of Charles II, of England. The colony was granted, in 1663, to Edward Clarendon, Lord Albemarle, the Earl of Shaftesbury and others. The people established a House of Representatives. A short time after this, the colony was divided into North and South Carolina. In 1689, North Carolina banished her proprietary Governor.-Willard, p. 120. SOUTH CAROLINA. In 1685, the French Hu-gue-nots, or French Protestants, settled in South Carolina. Governor Colleton was sent over from England, by the proprietors of the colony to govern the people. He was opposed by the Assembly of the people, and finally banished from the colony, in the reign of William and Mary.-Quack. p. 120. So the people of the Carolinas, dressed in "homespun and deer-skins," were considered the "freest of the free." They could not yield to the despotism of the proprietary governors. They wanted to rule themselves. They wanted a home governor. MARYLAND. (After the Queen, Henrietta Maria of France.) Maryland, though a part of the territory granted to the London company, was granted to George Calvert, Lord Baltimore, in 1632. Though a Lord, he was democratic in principle. His son Cecil granted liberty of conscience to all men. The first settlement of the colony was made at the village of St. Mary's. "Maryland was the first to proclaim universal suffrage, and to introduce the most democratic forms into the conduct of the government."-De Tocqueville p. 32. Maryland was settled principally by Catholic Irish who granted liberty of conscience to all who believed in Jesus Christ. The majority of the settlers were Irish Catholics. Maryland was a refuge for all who fled from religious persecution from Europe, New England, and Virginia. The people met in one assembly and voted. Every freeman had a vote without religious or property test. The assembly was composed of members chosen by the people. At first the legislature was composed of one house, but afterwards of two houses. The Upper House was chosen by the proprietors, and the Lower House by the people. The Protestants, who flocked from persecution and took refuge in Maryland, soon obtained a majority, and strange to say persecuted the Catholics. DELAWARE. The colony of Delaware was founded by Swedes and Fins. It was conquered by the Dutch; and brought under the dominion of New Netherlands, the name given to the Dutch colony in North America. The colonists remained quietly under the Dutch Government and with the Dutch passed under the dominion of England, in 1664. NEW YORK. In 1625, Peter Minnets bought the whole Island of Manhattan from the Indians for $24. The Dutch built the city of New Amsterdam, now New York. The Hollanders settled on Long Island, Staten Island, and New Jersey. The colony was under the control of the home government and the governors of New York. The Governors of New Netherlands were military governors; the people had no voice in this military despotism. The will of the governor of the garrison was supreme. At length deputies from the Dutch villages met in Assembly, and they demanded a government of the people. The government would not concede to their demands. The Dutch had no idea of a town meeting. In 1664, New Netherlands fell under the dominion of England, and it was called New York, in honor of the Duke of York, afterwards King James II, of England. The power of Holland ended in North America. NEW JERSEY. In 1664, the region between the Hudson and the Delaware was granted to Berkeley and Carteret, and was called New Jersey. The people established a colonial Assembly. The early settlers were Quakers and Dutch. PENNSYLVANIA. The Quakers, goaded by persecution in their native England, sought the wilds of America, and settled in New Jersey, in 1675. The early settlers of New Jersey were Quakers and Dutch. In 1681, William Penn obtained from Charles II a tract of land west of the Delaware, which was called Pennsylvania, or the woody land of Penn. Within this territory were settlements of Dutch and Swedes. The spot where now stands the city of Philadelphia was purchased by Penn from the Swedes. Penn also purchased the goodwill of the Indians. The people who emigrated to Pennsylvania with Penn were Englishmen. They followed the institutions of England, so far as they were suitable to their condition and circumstances. They divided the colony into counties, the same as in England. Six members were chosen annually from each county to the Assembly or Legislature. The people were represented in the Assembly. They had no idea of a town meeting, as a local government. All freemen had a vote who believed in God and kept the Lord's day holy. Murder alone was punished with death.-Quackenbos 124. Penn was proprietary governor. GEORGIA. In 1732, James Oglethorpe, a member of the British Parliament, obtained from George II a charter of the country west of the Savannah river. Oglethorpe was the proprietary governor. In 1752, the trustees resigned Oglethorpe's charter to the king. The Kings of England were willing enough, at first, to grant large tracts of country to favorites with a view to settlement. They allowed their favorites to exercise supreme authority while the settlements contained but a few persons, who had to contend with poverty, famine and the savages. But when the colonies became populous and the people had money and property to be taxed, the kings became jealous and wished to revoke the charters and take the government of the colonies under their immediate control and authority. Moreover, they dreaded the idea of self-government which was making such rapid strides in the colonies. They wished to have governors over the colonies chosen by the crown. From the moment that the Kings of England revoked or compelled the colonies to surrender their charters, we may date the struggle for independence, which increased in intensity as the colonies acquired wealth, intelligence and population. The colonists were thrown on their own resources on the wild shores of. America, to contend with poverty, famine and hostile Indians. In the stern school of adversity they learned th science of self-government. While in their log-cabins, dressed in homespun and deer-skins, they lost respect for royalty and aristocracy. The youth born and educated in the colonies, in the wilds of the forest, in contact with the "free and independent Redmen," disdained not only the governors sent over by England, but all manner of royalty and aristocracy. Thus, we see that the Southern States were settled by a very different class of Englishmen from those who settled New England, while the inhabitants of the Middle States of New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Pennsylvania, and Maryland differed from both, they being made up of different nationalities and religions. CHAPTER II.-NEW ENGLAND. The first settlement of New England was made by the Puritans, a peculiar people, who dissented from the Church of England, "as by law established," in 1602, in the reign of James I, King of England. They formed an independent congregation. They elected their own minister. Richard Clifton and James Robinson were chosen.Moore's Lives Govs. Ply. and Mass. p. 12. Persecution was the order of the times. Archbishop Banchroft and Laud, of Canterbury, persecuted the Puritans with unrelenting severity and cruelty. Exposed to all the rigor of English penal laws, which the British government could enforce, the Puritans were compelled to leave their homes in their native land, and seek new homes in foreign countries. Robinson and his congregation fled from the cruel laws of England and took refuge in Holland, in 1609. In consequence of the war between Spain and Holland the Puritans resolved on emigrating to America, where they would be free to retain their religion, laws, customs and language unmolested. They considered themselves in the like situation as the Israelites, and did not want to mix with any other people or religion. They feared that if they should remain in Holland their people would become absorbed in a foreign nation.-Ibid. 14. In 1617, Robert Chushman and John Carver were sent to England to negotiate with the London company with a view to settle in Virginia, and also to ascertain if the king would grant liberty of conscience. Though the king promised that he would not molest them, he refused to grant them, by public authority under the seals, liberty of conscience. After some negotiations with the London company of Virginia a patent was obtained under the company's seal, in the name of John Wincomb, who was to accompany the Puritans to America.-Bancroft, vol. i, p. 305. This patent and the proposals of a London merchant, named Thomas Weston, were carried to London, in 1619, for the consideration of the Puritan congregation. November 3, 1620, a territory, extending from 40 to 48 degrees of North latitude and from the Atlantic to the Pacific, was granted to a company of forty persons, with the Earl of Warwick at its head, by James I. This patent is the basis of all subsequent grants, patents or charters of New England.-Moore's Govs. Ply. and Mass. 10. The company had full control over this vast territory, subject to the authority of the king. Meantime, in 1620, Weston went to Leyden, Holland, and the Puritans entered into an agreement with him, that he should supply them with money and shipping to take them to America. The Speedwell, commanded by Capt. Reynolds, and the Mayflower by Capt. Jones, sailed for America. Both ships had put to sea, but the Speedwell was unfit for the voyage, and on September, 1620, the Mayflower, with one hundred and one passengers, besides the ship's officers and crew, sailed for America, with the intention to settle within the jurisdiction of the Virginia Company, on the Hudson river. But they were driven further north by the winds and perils of the sea, and by force of necessity they landed on Plymouth Rock. As many New England orators and public men claim that their ancestors came over in the Mayflower, we give the following for their benefit: The names of the subscribers are placed in the following order, those who brought wives, marked with a dagger (†), and those who died before the end of the next March, distinguished by an asterisk (*). 1. Mr. John Carver, † 2. Mr. William Bradford, † 3. Mr. Edward Winslow, t 4. Mr. William Brewster, † 5. Mr. Isaac Allerton, t 6. Capt. Miles Standishi, † 7. John Alden, 8. Mr. Samuel Fuller, * 9. Mr. Christopher Martin, 10. Mr. William Mullins, t 11. Mr. William White, † (1) 12. Mr. Richard Warren, 13. John Howland, (2) 14. Mr. Stephen Hopkins, t15. Edward Tilly, t 16. John Tilly, † 17. Francis Cook, 18. *Thomas Rogers, 22. * John Turner, 24. James Chilton, † 26. John Billington, † 30. 31. Gilbert Winslow, 34. * Richard Britlerige, 35. George Soule, (5) 36. Richard Clarke, 37. Richard Gardiner, 38. * John Allerton, 39. Thomas English, 40. Edward Dotey, (6) 41. Edward Leister, (6) (1) Besides a son born in Cape Cod Harbor, named Peregrine. (2) Of Governor Carver's family. (3) Morton writes his name Craxton. (4) In Morton, Digery Priest. (5) Of Governor Winslow's family. (6) Of Mr. Hopkins' family." (Moore's lives Gov. Ply. & Mass. page 26.) The Virginia patent was useless, as they had settled without the jurisdiction of the London company, and within the limits of the Plymouth company. They had no authority from any government or power. They were reduced to a state of nature and could establish a government for themselves. They had no protection from the government of England, but were treated as persons outside the pale of the British laws. Being reduced to a state of nature, they were free to make laws for their own protection and safety. They claimed the right to choose their own government and make their own laws.-Vide Vattel's Law of Nations, Book i, chap. 4. pp. 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22. Blackstone's Comm. vol. i, page 245; 1 Kent's Comm. pp. 208, 209. The emigrants to New England and the other colonies had this advantage that they had "neither lords nor common people, neither rich nor poor. On the voyage one man died, and a boy, the son of Stephen Hopkins, was born-called Oceanus. November 10, 1620, the Mayflower anchored in the harbor of Cape Cod 42 degrees north latitude, within the territory of New Plymouth. Here the first Englishman, Peregrine White, was born in the colony, on board of the Mayflower, in Cape Cod harbor, Nov. 1620. The last survivor of those who came over in the Mayflower was Mary Churchman, daughter of Isaac Allerton. The Pilgrims met in the cabin of the Mayflower and drew up articles of association. This may be called the first convention in the United States. These articles were a constitution for the government of the colony. At this meeting, they pledged themselves to be governed by the rule of the majority-"to submit to such government and governors, as we should by common consent agree to make and choose." The Puritans were opposed to monarchy, so thought King James I in 1604, when he said of the Puritans, "You are aiming at a Scots presbytery, which agrees with monarchy as well as God with the devil! I will have none of that liberty as to ceremonies."-Bancroft, vol. i, p. 298; Neal, ii, 52; Moore's Lives Govs. Ply & Mass. p. 24, with notes. After this compact was signed, John Carver was elected governor, by a unanimous vote, for one year. This was the first government of the people in America, where the people made their own laws, clected their own officers, civil, military and ecclesiastical, without patent, grant, charter or authority from any king or power in the world. This was establishing a democratic government in the wilds of America. The Puritan clergy were elected by the congregation. The Puritans were a joint-stock company. They mortgaged their labor to London merchants who supplied them with means to emigrate to America. They had to work on the credit system. The London merchants who supplied the Puritans with ships and money had a monopoly of the trade of the colony. They were adventurers. They were also shareholders in the colony. They relinquished all their rights to the colony for £1,800 sterling. There was no oath of office required of John Carver, as he had no patronage. There was no danger of political corruption. The politicians did not get rich on the people's money. The people were poor, frugal, and they possessed a stern and unflinching honesty. They did not want idlers; they despised "a proud heart, a dainty tooth, a beggar's purse, and an idle hand." |