* Leah and Rachel," in Hutchinson, I, 343. founding Maryland. Hammond's themselves. For six years the Virginians elected their own governors, enjoyed the most complete independence they Stedman and ever had before 1776, and were very prosperous. In 1659, on the fall of the Protectorate in England, they chose Berkeley as governor, and he was in office in 1660. 47. The Calverts and Maryland. - Maryland owed its rise to the action of two remarkable men, George and Cecilius Calvert, father and son. They desired to build America, III, up for the benefit of their family a great landed estate in America and also hoped that their fellow Catholics would find an asylum in the colony. The Calverts were men of ch. ii; Hart's broad and statesmanlike views, and deserve the greatest Contempora- credit for the liberal spirit which they displayed in the management of their colonies. Winsor's 517-529; Browne's Calverts, ries, I, No. 72. George Calvert, the father, was a prominent man in England during the last years of the reign of James and in the early years of the rule of Charles. He became one of the principal secretaries of state. At some time before 1625-the precise date is not certain - he became a Roman Catholic; in 1625 he withdrew from office. Calvert now actively embarked in schemes of colonization. His first venture, a settlement in Newfoundland, ended in failure. He then determined to transfer the scene of his colonial enterprise to the warmer climate of Virginia, and obtained from the king a grant of the unoccupied land north of the Potomac. George Calvert died before the charter was actually issued and it was given to his son, Cecilius, who was scarcely inferior to his father 1632] Government of Maryland 61 in judgment, although without the latter's experience in the management of affairs. grant. 48. Boundaries of Maryland. The limits of the new The province were set forth with great inexactness in the Maryland charter. The intention of the king undoubtedly was to Hinsdale's give to Baltimore all the unsettled land in Virginia north Old Northof the Potomac and south of the fortieth parallel, southern boundary of New England according to the charter of 1620 (p. 63). Owing, however, to the imperfection of geographical knowledge of those days, this intention was only partially carried out. the west, 78; American History Leaf lets, No. 16, P. 12. Among the more important provisions of the Maryland Western charter is one which assigned to Baltimore's colony a limit. western boundary, - the meridian of the source of the Potomac. During the seventeenth century this restriction did not matter much, but toward the close of the eighteenth century, when emigration to western lands began to attract attention, Maryland found itself placed at a great disadvantage as compared with Virginia and Pennsylvania (§ 172.) The southern boundary of the new colony was the south- Southern ern bank of the Potomac from its source to a certain place limit. named "Cinquack," thence across Chesapeake Bay by the "shortest line" to "Watkins' Point," and thence “unto the main ocean." This is one of the few instances in history where the bank of a river forms an important boundary; usually such a line follows the channel. In this case it gave rise to disputes between Virginia and Maryland, which, one hundred and fifty-five years later, led to the summoning of the Federal Convention (§ 179). The northern limit of Maryland was the fortieth parallel, but the disputes which arose over it will be better understood when we come to a study of the limits of Pennsylvania (§ 88). 49. Government of Maryland. - Maryland was made a province under the crown, and the Barons of Baltimore, as proprietaries, were given extensive powers of government. One important limitation of their power should be noted: they could legislate and tax only with the consent of the Authority of the proprie tary. the initiative. Winsor's 529; Browne's Calverts, freemen, by which word all free adult male whites seem to have been intended. This made it necessary to hold Dispute as to assemblies from the beginning. Disputes between the proprietary and the freemen at once began. Baltimore, relyAmerica, III, ing on the words of the charter, claimed the right to initiate or begin legislation; he refused his assent to a code of laws enacted by the freemen, and they, in turn, refused their consent to a code which he drew up. In the end, Baltimore was compelled to yield, and thus at the outset lost much of the power which he had expected to exercise. Furthermore, the laws of Maryland were not submitted to the English government; but any law was of no force if it was contrary to the laws and customs of England. ch. v. Toleration Calverts, chs. vi, viii; 50. Toleration Act, 1649.-The leading colonists of Maryland were for the most part Roman Catholics, but many of the settlers, including some important men, were Protestants. Puritans from Virginia entered the colony, and their friends were fast gaining the upper hand in England. In 1649 the Maryland assembly passed the Toleration Act, to the effect that no one should be molested for his religious beliefs, provided he were a Christian. This is one of the most memorable acts of the colonial period, and is the first of its kind in the history of modern times; but it should always be most carefully borne in mind that absolute religious freedom existed at this time in Rhode Island, owing to the liberal spirit of the Puritan leader of that colony, — Roger Williams. Both Catholic and Protestant writers have endeavored to secure for their respective sides the credit for the passage of this law; but now it is generally thought that the law was in the nature of a compromise. Soon afterwards, in the time of the Protectorate, Maryland fell into the hands of the Puritans, who oppressed the Catholics. In 1657, however, these disputes were arranged and the Toleration Act was restored. There were also many controversies with Virginians, especially with a man named Claiborne, and Hutchinson, the contests with them and with the Puritans always occupy I, 347. a large space in Maryland histories. Winsor's America, III, ch. xiii; Hammond's "Leah and Rachel," in 63 For many 51. The Council for New England, 1620.years after the unhappy attempt to found a colony at the mouth of the Kennebec (§ 38), no English colonists approached the shores of northern Virginia. The success of the Virginians again awakened the interest of the survivors of the Plymouth Company under the first Virginia charter. They, with some new associates, applied for a charter and obtained (1620) a grant of all America between forty and forty-eight degrees of north latitude under the name of New England (map p. 60). The grantees, under this new patent, never did much in the way of colonization; they acted rather as a great land company. The settlement of New England was due to men of a different stamp, whose departure from their native land was owing mainly to the religious contest then raging in England, although many of them were impelled by self-interest as well. Council for New EngWinsor's America, III 295; AmeriLeaflets, No. 16, p. 7. land, 1620. can History Puritans. England, 50-66; Gardiner's Puritan 52. The English Puritans.—The English Reformation The resulted in the separation of the church in England from the existing Catholic church. This was as far as the English monarchs and the mass of the English people wished to go, but there were many earnest persons who desired to proceed much farther and to purge the English church of what they Revolution; deemed to be abuses. These reformers were called Puri- J. R. Green's Short Histans, and were themselves divided into two groups, which shaded one into the other. The more conservative of them were the Nonconformists, who desired to reform the Church of England while remaining members of it. The more radical ones were willing to separate from the church, provided they could worship God in their own way; these were known as the Separatists. tory. The America, III 53. The Pilgrims. Among the Separatist congregations. was one which met in the dwelling of William Brewster in the little hamlet of Scrooby in Nottinghamshire. With the coming of James the Puritans were persecuted because he was determined to make them conform or to "harry them out of the land." They resolved to seek an asylum in a foreign country, where they might enjoy freedom to worship 71-75. Dexter's Pilgrims, pp. 61, 117; Fiske's Neu England, |