Part 11 (1/2)

THE PROVIDENCE ISLAND COMPANY

The Puritan leaders.--During the great struggle between king and parliament, several of the merchant princes were on the Puritan side.

One of the most powerful of these was Robert Rich, Lord Warwick. He had been an active member of the Virginia and Somers Islands companies, of the Guinea and Guiana companies, and of the Council of New England.

Closely a.s.sociated with Warwick were Lord Saye and Sele, Lord Brooke, Sir Nathaniel Rich, and John Pym. As the parliamentary contest increased in intensity, these leaders decided to plant a Puritan colony in the Caribbean.

The Providence Island Company.--The site selected was on one of the Mosquito Islands off the coast of Nicaragua. In 1629 a company was formed which was granted the greater part of the Caribbean Sea, from Haiti to the coast of Venezuela and to the mainland of Central America.

Besides Jamaica, then in the possession of Spain, the Cayman Islands fell within these limits. The English fleet which was sent out in 1630 temporarily occupied Tortuga, where colonists from Nevis had recently arrived, and the company asked that this island be included in the patent. The request was granted, but the English were able to hold the island only until 1635 when they were driven out by the Spaniards. The islands along the Mosquito coast were occupied by the company, and a project was formed to colonize the mainland. In 1635 Providence Island was unsuccessfully attacked by a Spanish fleet, but in 1641 the Spaniards succeeded in overcoming the colony, thus for the time ending English operations on the Central American coast.

READINGS

VIRGINIA

Becker, Carl, _The Beginnings of the American People_, pp. 65-80; Beer, G.L., _The Origins of the British Colonial System_, 78-175; Brown, Alexander, _Genesis of the United States; The First Republic in America_; Bruce, P.A., _Economic History of Virginia in the Seventeenth Century_, I, 189-330; _Inst.i.tutional History of Virginia in the Seventeenth Century_, II, 229-262; Channing, Edward, _History of the United States_, I, 143-224; Doyle, J.A., _English Colonies in America_, I, 101-184; Eggleston, Edward, _The Beginners of a Nation_, 25-97; Fiske, John, _Old Virginia and her Neighbors_, I, 40-222; Hamilton, P.J., _Colonization of the South_, 55-119; MacDonald, William, _Select Charters Ill.u.s.trative of American History_, 1-23; Osgood, H.L., _The American Colonies in the Seventeenth Century_, I, 23-97; Scott, W.R., _The Const.i.tution and Finance of English, Scottish, and Irish Joint-Stock Companies to 1720_, II, 246-289; Tyler, L.G., _England in America_, 34-103; Tyler, L.G., ed., _Narratives of Early Virginia_; Wertenbaker, T.J., _Virginia under the Stuarts_, 1-84; Johnston, Mary, _Pioneers of the Old South_; Flippin, P.S., _The Royal Government in Virginia, 1624-1775_.

MARYLAND

Brown, W.H., _Maryland_, 1-50; Channing, Edward, _History of the United States_, I, 241-268; Doyle, J.A., _English Colonies in America_, I, 275-296; Eggleston, Edward, _Beginners of a Nation_, 220-257; Fiske, John, _Old Virginia and her Neighbors_, I, 255-275; Hall, C.C., ed., _Narratives of Early Maryland_; MacDonald, William, _Select Charters_, 53-59; Mereness, N.D., _Maryland as a Proprietary Province_; Osgood, H.L., _The American Colonies in the Seventeenth Century_, II, 58-79; Tyler, L.G., _England in America_, 118-132.

THE BERMUDAS AND THE CARIBBEAN

Beer. G.L., _The Origins of the British Colonial System_, 12-20; Cunningham, William, _The Growth of English Industry and Commerce in Modern Times_, I, 331-339: Lucas, C.P., _A Historical Geography of the British Colonies_, II, 5-14, 43-50; Newton, A.P.. _The Colonizing Activities of the English Puritans_, 13-282; Scott, W.R., _The Const.i.tution and Finance of English, Scottish, and Irish Joint-Stock Companies to 1720_, II, 259-299, 327-337; Tilby, A.W., _Britain in the Tropics_, 44-50.

CHAPTER VII

THE BEGINNINGS OF NEW ENGLAND (1606-1640)

THE PURITAN MOVEMENT IN ENGLAND

The Puritans.--While the planting of colonies on the sh.o.r.es of Chesapeake Bay and on the Caribbean islands was in progress, other settlements were being formed in New England by English Separatists and Puritans. By the beginning of the reign of Elizabeth the Anglican church was firmly established, but it was not long before groups within the church began to show dissatisfaction. At first protests were made against some of the ceremonies and formulas of the service. After 1570 the Puritans, as they were derisively called, began to object to the episcopal form of government and to advocate the Presbyterian or Calvinistic system, which was based upon the idea of a representative form of church government. During the later years of the reign the Puritans laid more and more stress on morals. They believed that life should be sternly ascetic, that the Sabbath should be kept strictly, and that pleasures and extravagance should be suppressed.

The Independents.--Most of the Puritans had no wish to withdraw from the church, but desired to reform it. A more radical group, however, who became known as Independents, looked upon the national church as an unholy inst.i.tution contrary to scripture. They wished to reestablish the church as it was believed to be in the days of the Apostles. There were several groups of Independents or Separatists, the various groups being named after their leaders, the followers of Robert Brown being known as Brownists, those of Henry Barrow as Barrowists. They met in small groups which were called conventicles. The English church, through the Court of High Commission, proceeded with considerable severity against the Puritans, whom they attempted to make conform, but against the Separatists they showed no mercy, breaking up the conventicles, imprisoning many, and hanging some of the leaders.

James I and the Non-Conformists.--Soon after James I became king, the Puritans presented a pet.i.tion asking for changes in the church. The king called the Hampton Court Conference that he might hear the views of the various parties. James soon found that many of the Puritans believed in presbyteries, a form of government with which he had had unpleasant experiences in Scotland, and he angrily ended the conference. Shortly afterward, because of the so-called ”Gunpowder Plot,” the king became convinced that he was personally in danger. From this time on he supported the Anglican church. Severe laws were pa.s.sed against the Catholics, and the laws against Non-Conformists were enforced with greater vigor.

PLYMOUTH COLONY

Failures of the Plymouth Company.--The Plymouth Company, which received its charter in 1606, took immediate measures to occupy its territories.

In that year two unsuccessful attempts were made to found colonies. The information brought back, however, so interested the company that another expedition was fitted out the following year. Colonists were landed at the mouth of the Kennebec River; but great hards.h.i.+ps were experienced during the winter, and in the spring the discouraged settlers abandoned the enterprise.

Activity on the New England Coast, 1607-1619.--No successful settlement in New England was made until 1620, but in the meantime the coast was frequently visited. In 1613 Captain Argall attacked the French settlements at Mount Desert, Port Royal, and St. Croix. The following year John Smith explored and mapped the New England coast. In 1615 he was made Admiral of New England by the Plymouth Company and he attempted to found a colony, but it proved a failure. Several fis.h.i.+ng and trading voyages were also made under the direction of Sir Ferdinando Gorges, an influential member of the Plymouth Company.

The Council for New England.--The failure of the company to plant a colony led Gorges and others who were still interested to pet.i.tion for a new charter; on November 13, 1620, the doc.u.ment pa.s.sed the seals incorporating the Council for New England, which was given jurisdiction over the territory from 40 to 48 north lat.i.tude.

Origin of the Pilgrims.--The first permanent settlement in New England was not the work of the Council, but of a group of Independents.