The Beginner's Guide to American History. David Henry Montgomery
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Winthrop's company named the place where they settled Boston, in grateful remembrance of the beautiful old city of Boston, England, from which some of the chief emigrants came. The new settlement was called the Massachusetts Bay Colony, Massachusetts being the Indian name for the Blue Hills, near Boston. The Plymouth Colony was now often called the Old Colony, because it had been settled first. After many years, these two colonies were united, and still later they became the state of Massachusetts.
74. How other New England colonies grew up; the Revolution.—By the time Governor Winthrop arrived, English settlements had been made in Maine, New Hampshire, and later (1724), in the country which afterward became the state of Vermont. Connecticut and Rhode Island were first settled by emigrants who went from Massachusetts.
When the Revolution broke out, the people throughout New England took up arms in defence of their rights. The first blood of the war was shed on the soil of Massachusetts, near Boston.
75. Summary.—The Pilgrims landed at Plymouth, New England, in 1620. One of the chief men who came with them was Captain Myles Standish. Had it not been for his help, the Indians might have destroyed the settlement. In 1630, Governor John Winthrop, with a large company of emigrants from England, settled Boston. Near Boston the first battle of the Revolution was fought.
Why did some Englishmen in Holland call themselves Pilgrims? Why had they left England? Why did they now wish to go to America? Who was Myles Standish? From what place in England, and in what ship, did the Pilgrims sail? What land did they first see in America? What did they do at Cape Cod Harbor? What did the Pilgrims do on the Cape? Where did they land on December 21st, 1620? What happened during the winter? What is said of Samoset? What about Squanto? What about Massasoit? What did Massasoit and Governor Carver do? What about the first Thanksgiving? What is said about Canonicus and Governor Bradford? What did the Pilgrims build to protect them from the Indians? What is said about Weymouth? What did Myles Standish do there? What else did Myles Standish do besides fight? What is said of his death? What did Governor John Winthrop do? What did the people of New England do in the Revolution? Where was the first blood shed?
LORD BALTIMORE
76. Lord Baltimore's settlement in Newfoundland; how Catholics were then treated in England.—While Captain Myles Standish was helping build up Plymouth, Lord Baltimore, an English nobleman, was trying to make a settlement on the cold, foggy island of Newfoundland.
Lord Baltimore had been brought up a Protestant, but had become a Catholic. At that time, Catholics were treated very cruelly in England. They were ordered by law to attend the Church of England. They did not like that church any better than the Pilgrims did; but if they failed to attend it, they had to take their choice between paying a large sum of money or going to prison.
Lord Baltimore hoped to make a home for himself and for other English Catholics in the wilderness of Newfoundland, where there would be no one to trouble them. But the unfortunate settlers were fairly frozen out. They had winter a good share of the year, and fog all of it. They could raise nothing, because, as one man said, the soil was either rock or swamp: the rock was as hard as iron; the swamp was so deep that you could not touch bottom with a ten-foot pole.
77. The king of England gives Lord Baltimore part of Virginia, and names it Maryland; what Lord Baltimore paid for it.—King Charles the First of England was a good friend to Lord Baltimore; and when the settlement in Newfoundland was given up, he made him a present of an immense three-cornered piece of land in America. This piece was cut out of Virginia, north of the Potomac River.
The king's wife, who was called Queen Mary, was a French Catholic. In her honor, Charles named the country he had given Lord Baltimore, Mary Land, or Maryland. He could not have chosen a better name, because Maryland was to be a shelter for many English people who believed in the same religion that the queen did.
PART OF WINDSOR CASTLE.
All that Lord Baltimore was to pay for Maryland, with its twelve thousand square miles of land and water, was two Indian arrows. These he agreed to send every spring to the royal palace of Windsor Castle, near London.
The arrows would be worth nothing whatever to the king; but they were sent as a kind of yearly rent. They showed that, though Lord Baltimore had the use of Maryland, and could do pretty much as he pleased with it, still the king did not give up all control of it. In Virginia and in New England the king had granted all land to companies of persons, and he had been particular to tell them just what they must or must not do; but he gave Maryland to one man only. More than this, he promised to let Lord Baltimore have his own way in everything, so long as he made no laws in Maryland which should be contrary to the laws of England. So Lord Baltimore had greater privileges than any other holder of land in America at that time.
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