DOCSLIB.ORG

LAW, EMPIRE, and ENGLISH CULTURAL IDENTITY in the ATLANTIC WORLD, C

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
LAW, EMPIRE, and ENGLISH CULTURAL IDENTITY in the ATLANTIC WORLD, C The Pennsylvania State University The Graduate School ATLANTIC ARBITRATIONS: LAW, EMPIRE, AND ENGLISH CULTURAL IDENTITY IN THE ATLANTIC WORLD, c. 1607-1649 A Dissertation in History by Benjamin J. Herman © 2021 Benjamin J. Herman Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy May 2021 ii The dissertation of Benjamin J. Herman was reviewed and approved by the following: Daniel C. Beaver Associate Professor of History Dissertation Co-Adviser Co-Chair of Committee Ronnie Po-Chia Hsia Edwin Erle Sparks Professor of History Dissertation Co-Adviser Co-Chair of Committee Greg Eghigian Professor of History Tobias Brinkmann Malvin and Lea Blank Associate Professor of History and Jewish Studies Patrick G. Cheney Edwin Erle Sparks Professor of English and Comparative Literature Michael Kulikowski Head, Department of History Professor of History and Classics and Ancient Mediterranean Studies iii ABSTRACT This dissertation offers a new analysis of the trans-Atlantic political culture of the English Empire in North America in the four decades following the creation of Virginia. Previous studies have shown that the English state took great interest in initial colonial efforts and enacted policies that served the collective interests of state goals for empire. Using a combination of previously unused legal records and petitions as well as familiar manuscript and printed sources, the dissertation shows that ordinary English people played an equally large role in the creation of trans-Atlantic political culture. Through a combination of lawsuits, requests, petitions, and letters, English people accessed the state and actively desired to involve it in solving problems in their communities. They had done so in England, and their use and access of central institutions reflects customary traditions in early modern English communities. The language deployed by these subjects also stressed their continued relationship with England, conducted through the institution of the monarchy, and their common membership in the burgeoning English public sphere. This thesis sheds new insight on the development of the early English empire and identity formation among its Atlantic subjects. Additionally, the research has implications for understanding the relationship between the English Crown and the English people in the early seventeenth century, and how the relationship between the two acted as a give and take across distance. iv Contents LIST OF TABLES ......................................................................................................................... vi ABBREVIATIONS ...................................................................................................................... vii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ......................................................................................................... viii Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 1 Historiographical Context ........................................................................................................... 6 The English Empire in Atlantic History ................................................................................. 6 The People, Prerogative, and the Crown in the Early 17th Century ...................................... 14 The Public Sphere ................................................................................................................. 19 Methodology and Sources......................................................................................................... 23 Plan of Argument ...................................................................................................................... 27 Chapter 1: The Court of Requests and the Colonies ..................................................................... 31 History and Procedures of the Court of Requests ..................................................................... 33 Methodology and Sample ......................................................................................................... 39 Land and Property in the Americas .......................................................................................... 42 Shaping the Shipping Lanes...................................................................................................... 50 The Newfoundland Fishery, Requests, and Credit Networks ................................................... 56 Good Tobacco, Bad Tobacco .................................................................................................... 59 Women, the Atlantic, and the Court of Requests...................................................................... 64 Conclusion: The Court of Requests and Equity ........................................................................ 69 Chapter 2: The Court of Chancery and the Atlantic World .......................................................... 71 History and Function of the Court of Chancery........................................................................ 73 Methodology and Sample ......................................................................................................... 77 English Atlantic Settlers and the Chancery Court .................................................................... 80 Dealings in Land ....................................................................................................................... 85 Thomas Cornwallis, Maryland’s Plundering Time, and The Chancery ................................... 89 Shipping Debts in Chancery and Corporate Colonial Lawsuits ............................................... 96 Women, the Atlantic, and the Court of Chancery ................................................................... 104 Conclusion: Taking a Chance in the Chancery Court ............................................................. 110 Chapter 3: Petitions, Petitioners, and the Plantations ................................................................. 112 Petitioning Practices................................................................................................................ 114 The Language and Structure of Petitions ................................................................................ 118 v Methodology and Sources....................................................................................................... 121 Petitions for Mercy ................................................................................................................. 125 Petitions for Economic and Political Aid................................................................................ 132 Petitions for Economic Liberties ............................................................................................ 139 The Virginia Company Petitions ............................................................................................ 147 Conclusion: Petitions and Political Culture ............................................................................ 154 Chapter 4: Conflict Resolution in New England within Broader Atlantic Political Culture ...... 156 Law, Authority, and Society in the Puritan Worldview.......................................................... 159 The New England Way and Atlantic Political Society ........................................................... 165 New Englanders and Social Conflict Resolution .................................................................... 176 John Winthrop’s Accounts of Local Conflict Resolution in Massachusetts ....................... 176 William Bradford’s Account of Plymouth .......................................................................... 182 Other Incidents in New England ......................................................................................... 189 Response to New England in Privy Council ........................................................................... 193 Conclusion: Particularity within Imperial Political Culture ................................................... 197 Chapter 5 - Literate Influencers: Letters, Dispatches, and the Press as Mediums of Atlantic Political Culture .......................................................................................................................... 199 Literacy, Networks, and the Public Sphere ............................................................................. 201 Letter Writing.......................................................................................................................... 206 Woodall’s Cattle: Epistolary Networks as Problem Solvers .................................................. 212 Reports and Dispatches as Means of Influence on the Crown................................................ 215 Re-Imagining America in the Press: Arguments for Plantation ............................................. 225 The Bounty of America ...................................................................................................... 227 Assurances of Continuity .................................................................................................... 232 The Controversy over New England in the Press ................................................................... 237 Works Criticizing New England ......................................................................................... 239 Defenses of New England ..................................................................................................
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Women and the Law in Colonial Maryland, 1648-1715 Monica C
    Marquette University e-Publications@Marquette Dissertations (2009 -) Dissertations, Theses, and Professional Projects "Justice Without Partiality": Women and the Law in Colonial Maryland, 1648-1715 Monica C. Witkowski Marquette University Recommended Citation Witkowski, Monica C., ""Justice Without Partiality": Women and the Law in Colonial Maryland, 1648-1715" (2010). Dissertations (2009 -). Paper 27. http://epublications.marquette.edu/dissertations_mu/27 “JUSTICE WITHOUT PARTIALITY”: WOMEN AND THE LAW IN COLONIAL MARYLAND, 1648-1715 by Monica C. Witkowski A Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School, Marquette University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Milwaukee, Wisconsin May 2010 ABSTRACT “JUSTICE WITHOUT PARTIALITY”: WOMEN AND THE LAW IN COLONIAL MARYLAND, 1648-1715 Monica C. Witkowski Marquette University, 2010 What was the legal status of women in early colonial Maryland? This is the central question answered by this dissertation. Women, as exemplified through a series of case studies, understood the law and interacted with the nascent Maryland legal system. Each of the cases in the following chapters is slightly different. Each case examined in this dissertation illustrates how much independent legal agency women in the colony demonstrated. Throughout the seventeenth century, Maryland women appeared before the colony’s Provincial and county courts as witnesses, plaintiffs, defendants, and attorneys in criminal and civil trials. Women further entered their personal cattle marks, claimed land, and sued other colonists. This study asserts that they improved their social standing through these interactions with the courts. By exerting this much legal knowledge, they created an important place for themselves in Maryland society. Historians have begun to question the interpretation that Southern women were restricted to the home as housewives and mothers.
    [Show full text]
  • The Ferrar Family of Little Gidding C.1625-1637
    THE GOOD OLD WAY REVISITED: The Ferrar Family of Little Gidding c.1625-1637 Kate E. Riley, BA (Hons) This thesis is presented for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy of The University of Western Australia, School of Humanities, Discipline of History, 2007. ABSTRACT The Good Old Way Revisited: The Ferrar Family of Little Gidding c.1625-1637 The Ferrars are remembered as exemplars of Anglican piety. The London merchant family quit the city in 1625 and moved to the isolated manor of Little Gidding in Huntingdonshire. There they pursued a life of corporate devotion, supervised by the head of the household, Nicholas Ferrar, until he died in December 1637. To date, the life of the pious deacon Nicholas Ferrar has been the focus of histories of Little Gidding, which are conventionally hagiographical and give little consideration to the experiences of other members of the family, not least the many women in the household. Further, customary representations of the Ferrars have tended to remove them from their seventeenth-century context. Countering the biographical trend that has obscured many details of their communal life, this thesis provides a new, critical reading of the family’s years at Little Gidding while Nicholas Ferrar was alive. It examines the Ferrars in terms of their own time, as far as possible using contemporary documents instead of later accounts and confessional mythology. It shows that, while certain aspects of life at Little Gidding were unusual, on the whole the family was less exceptional than traditional histories have implied; certainly the family was not so unified and unworldly as the idealised images have suggested.
    [Show full text]
  • (King Philip's War), 1675-1676 Dissertation Presented in Partial
    Connecticut Unscathed: Victory in The Great Narragansett War (King Philip’s War), 1675-1676 Dissertation Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Major Jason W. Warren, M.A. Graduate Program in History The Ohio State University 2011 Dissertation Committee: John F. Guilmartin Jr., Advisor Alan Gallay, Kristen Gremillion Peter Mansoor, Geoffrey Parker Copyright by Jason W. Warren 2011 Abstract King Philip’s War (1675-1676) was one of the bloodiest per capita in American history. Although hostile native groups damaged much of New England, Connecticut emerged unscathed from the conflict. Connecticut’s role has been obscured by historians’ focus on the disasters in the other colonies as well as a misplaced emphasis on “King Philip,” a chief sachem of the Wampanoag groups. Although Philip formed the initial hostile coalition and served as an important leader, he was later overshadowed by other sachems of stronger native groups such as the Narragansetts. Viewing the conflict through the lens of a ‘Great Narragansett War’ brings Connecticut’s role more clearly into focus, and indeed enables a more accurate narrative for the conflict. Connecticut achieved success where other colonies failed by establishing a policy of moderation towards the native groups living within its borders. This relationship set the stage for successful military operations. Local native groups, whether allied or neutral did not assist hostile Indians, denying them the critical intelligence necessary to coordinate attacks on Connecticut towns. The English colonists convinced allied Mohegan, Pequot, and Western Niantic warriors to support their military operations, giving Connecticut forces a decisive advantage in the field.
    [Show full text]
  • PELLIZZARI-DISSERTATION-2020.Pdf (3.679Mb)
    A Struggle for Empire: Resistance and Reform in the British Atlantic World, 1760-1778 The Harvard community has made this article openly available. Please share how this access benefits you. Your story matters Citation Pellizzari, Peter. 2020. A Struggle for Empire: Resistance and Reform in the British Atlantic World, 1760-1778. Doctoral dissertation, Harvard University, Graduate School of Arts & Sciences. Citable link https://nrs.harvard.edu/URN-3:HUL.INSTREPOS:37365752 Terms of Use This article was downloaded from Harvard University’s DASH repository, and is made available under the terms and conditions applicable to Other Posted Material, as set forth at http:// nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:dash.current.terms-of- use#LAA A Struggle for Empire: Resistance and Reform in the British Atlantic World, 1760-1778 A dissertation presented by Peter Pellizzari to The Department of History in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the subject of History Harvard University Cambridge, Massachusetts May 2020 © 2020 Peter Pellizzari All rights reserved. Dissertation Advisors: Jane Kamensky and Jill Lepore Peter Pellizzari A Struggle for Empire: Resistance and Reform in the British Atlantic World, 1760-1778 Abstract The American Revolution not only marked the end of Britain’s control over thirteen rebellious colonies, but also the beginning of a division among subsequent historians that has long shaped our understanding of British America. Some historians have emphasized a continental approach and believe research should look west, toward the people that inhabited places outside the traditional “thirteen colonies” that would become the United States, such as the Gulf Coast or the Great Lakes region.
    [Show full text]
  • Bulletinofameric11amer.Pdf
    ' s*r THE UNIVERSITY r * - - - * ^ & >#*? OF ILLINOIS LIBRARY "> CW\ C > v- 5 wv i EMI BULLETIN OF THE AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION VOLUME V JANUARY-NOVEMBER, 1911 AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION 78 E. WASHINGTON STREET CHICAGO 1911 CONTENTS 1911 January MISCELLANEOUS March MISCELLANEOUS May MISCELLANEOUS July PROCEEDINGS OF THE PASADENA CONFERENCE September HANDBOOK, 1911 November. .MISCELLANEOUS INDEX A separate detailed index to the Proceedings of the Pasadena Conference is on pages 285-288 and its entries are not repeated here. Affiliated organizations, 309-10 Membership, benefits of, 291 Affiliation of A. L. A. with state library associa- Membership by states, 298 tions, report of committee on, 13-15 Necrology, 358 Bookbinding, report of committee on, 9, 26, New York state library, appeal for material, 45 45-6, 364 Officers, A. L. A., 1911-12, 301 Bostwick, Arthur E., attendance at Alabama Pasadena conference, travel announcements, library meeting, 360 1-2; 17-24; post-conference, 18-23; pro- Budget, A. L. A., 1911, 5 gram, 37-40 Charter, 290 Periodicals, list of library, 310 Chicago mid-winter meetings for 1912, an- Presidents, A. L. A., 299 nouncements of, 360-1 Publishing board, meeting, 6-8; budget, 1911, Clubs, library, 313-14 6-7; list of publications, 306-8 Committees, 1911-12, 303-5 Recorders, A. L. A., 300 Constitution, 291-6 Registrar, A. L. A., 300 Council, meeting of, 10-15; personnel of, 302-3 Secretaries, A. L. A., 300 Dues, 291 Sections, 308-9 Elmendorf, Mrs. H. L., attendance at Michi- State library conferences, A. L. A. at, 359-60 gan, Ohio and New York library meetings, State library associations, list of, 311-13 359 State library commissions, list of, 310-11 Endowment funds, 305 Stereopticon slides for library schools, 45 Executive board meeting, 3-6 Taylor, Mary W., resolution on death of, 9 Federal and state relations, report of com- Thwaites, Reuben G., represents A.
    [Show full text]
  • The Governors of Connecticut, 1905
    ThegovernorsofConnecticut Norton CalvinFrederick I'his e dition is limited to one thousand copies of which this is No tbe A uthor Affectionately Dedicates Cbis Book Co George merriman of Bristol, Connecticut "tbe Cruest, noblest ana Best friend T €oer fia<T Copyrighted, 1 905, by Frederick Calvin Norton Printed by Dorman Lithographing Company at New Haven Governors Connecticut Biographies o f the Chief Executives of the Commonwealth that gave to the World the First Written Constitution known to History By F REDERICK CALVIN NORTON Illustrated w ith reproductions from oil paintings at the State Capitol and facsimile sig natures from official documents MDCCCCV Patron's E dition published by THE CONNECTICUT MAGAZINE Company at Hartford, Connecticut. ByV I a y of Introduction WHILE I w as living in the home of that sturdy Puritan governor, William Leete, — my native town of Guil ford, — the idea suggested itself to me that inasmuch as a collection of the biographies of the chief executives of Connecticut had never been made, the work would afford an interesting and agreeable undertaking. This was in the year 1895. 1 began the task, but before it had far progressed it offered what seemed to me insurmountable obstacles, so that for a time the collection of data concerning the early rulers of the state was entirely abandoned. A few years later the work was again resumed and carried to completion. The manuscript was requested by a magazine editor for publication and appeared serially in " The Connecticut Magazine." To R ev. Samuel Hart, D.D., president of the Connecticut Historical Society, I express my gratitude for his assistance in deciding some matters which were subject to controversy.
    [Show full text]
  • Environmental Impacts on the Success of Bermuda's Inhabitants Alyssa V
    University of Rhode Island DigitalCommons@URI Senior Honors Projects Honors Program at the University of Rhode Island 2016 Environmental Impacts on the Success of Bermuda's Inhabitants Alyssa V. Pietraszek University of Rhode Island, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.uri.edu/srhonorsprog Recommended Citation Pietraszek, Alyssa V., "Environmental Impacts on the Success of Bermuda's Inhabitants" (2016). Senior Honors Projects. Paper 493. http://digitalcommons.uri.edu/srhonorsprog/493http://digitalcommons.uri.edu/srhonorsprog/493 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Honors Program at the University of Rhode Island at DigitalCommons@URI. It has been accepted for inclusion in Senior Honors Projects by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@URI. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Page 1 Introduction. Since the discovery of the island in 1505, the lifestyle of the inhabitants of Bermuda has been influenced by the island’s isolated geographic location and distinctive geological setting. This influence is visible in nearly every aspect of Bermudian society, from the adoption of small- scale adjustments, such as the collection of rainwater as a source of freshwater and the utilization of fishing wells, to large-scale modifications, such as the development of a maritime economy and the reliance on tourism and international finances. These accommodations are the direct consequences of Bermuda’s environmental and geographic setting and are necessary for Bermudians to survive and prosper on the island. Geographic, Climatic, and Geological Setting. Bermuda is located in the North Atlantic Ocean at 32º 20’ N, 64º 45’ W, northwest of the Sargasso Sea and around 1000 kilometers southeast of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina (Vacher & Rowe, 1997).
    [Show full text]
  • Godly Government Puritans and the Founding of Newark Timothy J
    Godly Government Puritans and the Founding of Newark Timothy J. Crist President, Newark History Society November 9, 2009 Godly Government Puritans and the Founding of Newark This is the 30th program that the Newark History Society has sponsored. Most of our programs have covered 20th century topics, although a few have dipped into the 19th century, including our program on Thomas Edison, which took us back to the 1870s. But tonight I want to go back 350 years, to 1659, to a time when England was in crisis. The resolution of that crisis led directly to the founding of Newark by a group of Puritans from New Haven Colony. The crisis was caused by the power vacuum in england following oliver Cromwell’s death in 1658. Cromwell had been the lord Protector of england following the english civil war and the execution of King Charles I. His son, richard Cromwell, succeeded him but quickly proved incapable, and he resigned early in 1659. england was left without an effective government. Army generals and their troops, as well as a rump Parliament, moved into the power vacuum. eventually, General George monck marched with his troops to london and engineered the restoration of the monarchy. So, after eleven years in exile, Charles II returned to england in may 1660 and finally succeeded his father as King. The people of new Haven Colony closely followed the crisis in england. With their strong Puritan views, they recognized immediately that the restoration of Charles II would turn their world upside down. They had formed new Haven Colony in 1639 to demonstrate how Biblical rules should guide the organization of both church and state, and they had expected to be the proverbial “city on the hill” showing God’s Way to england.
    [Show full text]
  • Archmere Claymont, Delaware
    rttn ooi ARCHMERE CLAYMONT, DELAWARE MCMXXI COPYRIGHT, 1921, BY JOHN JAKOB RASKOB PRINTED BY FRANKLIN PRINTING COMPANY PART I PAGE ., , , JOHN JAKOB RASKOB .. 3 ,, HELENASPRINGER[GREEN}RASKOB # '7 PART II THE RASKOB FAMILY ,, ,,,. ,,,. , , JAKOB RASKOB I5' , ,,,. , , JOHN RASICOB 17 PART III THE GREENE [AND GREEN} FAMILY THOMAS GREENE, SECOND GOVERNOR OF MARYLAND ., 2,3 FRANCIS GREENE 37 FRANCIS GREENE, JR. 40 BENJAMIN GREEN, IN REVOLUTIONARY ARMY ., 45 BENJAMIN GREEN, JR. ,,,. ., 49 WILLIAM P. GREEN " ., "" ' 53 THOMAS LILLY GREEN [HELENAMARRIED JOHN JAKOB RASKOB} 56 PART IV THE WHEELER FAMILY , ,, MAJOR JOHN WHEELER THOMAS WHEELER , ,,,. ,,,. ' BENJAMIN WHEELER [ELIZABETH MARRIED DAVID THOMAS} PARTV THE THOMAS FAMILY DAVID THOMAS [ELIZABETH MARRIED BENJAMIN GREI!N} 69 PART VI APPENDIX PAGE · VOYAGE AND SETTLEMENT OF MARYLAND J' 75 PASSENGER UST OF' "THE ARK" AND "THE DOVE"" 95 LETTER OF EDWARD HILL TO GOVERNOR GREENE ' 97 LETTER OF GOVERNOR GREENE [IN ANSWER) ,• , 100 LETTER FROM GOVERNOR GREENE TO GOVERNOR BERKELEY IOI COMMISSION OF THE COUNSELL , , ,- 103 PATENT TO THOMAS GREENE-TOWN LAND , , 106 INDENTURE-ENGAGING SERVANT BY THOMAS GREENE I<Y] TRUST DEED BY THOMAS GREENE ,,,- ,• , 108 ; , , WILL OF FRANCIS GREENE " 113 ESTATE OF FRANCIS GREENE, JR.-INVBNTORY ,, 117 ESTATE OP FRANCIS GREENE, JR.-ACCOUNT ,. , 121 WILL OF BENJAMIN GREEN , , , 122 WILL OF WILLIAM P. GREEN , , , 126 " \ "ARCID,IER.E"'-DESCRIPTION OP , , PACING PAGE , , , JOHN JAKOB RASKOB 3 DIPLOMA , , ., 6 • , HELENA SPRINGER GREEN RASKOB - 7 2100 BAYARD AVENUE, WILMINGTON, DELAWARE, 8 , "ARCHMERE" FROM THE EAST , - 128 , , , ., THE OLD HOUSE 130 , , THE OLD--P ASHIONED RCOM 132 , THE OLD STAIRWAY AND ENTRANCE HALL 134 , ,, "WOODSEDGE" 1 34 - • , "ARCHMERE" FROM THE WEST " 136 PATIO , , , , 136 FOUNTAIN IN THE PATIO 138 , , LOWER LOGGIA , 138 , DINING ROOM 140 , , , MUSIC ROOM 140 ,, ,, LIVING ROOM 142 , , , LIBRARY :r42 , , UPPER LOGGIA • 142 • ,,, , , , GARAGE 142 DRAWINGS BY HORACE T.
    [Show full text]
  • A File in the Online Version of the Kouroo Contexture (Approximately
    JAMES KENDALL HOSMER HDT WHAT? INDEX JAMES KENDALL HOSMER REV. PROF. JAMES K. HOSMER 1635 In Concord, Samuel Swan rented the Wright Tavern to two bakers, Thomas Safford and Deacon Francis Jarvis. According to the Deacon’s son Dr. Edward Jarvis’s TRADITIONS AND REMINISCENCES OF CONCORD, MASSACHUSETTS 1779-1878 (as edited by Sarah Chapin and published in 1993 by the U of Massachusetts P): In 1790 my father [Deacon Francis Jarvis] with Thomas Safford took the bake house which was in the building that was the Wright Tavern in the Revolutionary War, opposite the Middlesex House, adjoining the tavern. Soon Mr. Safford went to Lancaster, and my father carried on the business until 1824 and lived in the house until 1832. He then bought and removed to the farm, lately the property of Col. John Buttrick, and lived there until he died in 1840. The farm was occupied by my brother the late Capt. Francis Jarvis until his death in 1875. Since then it has been owned and occupied by his children, Joseph Derby and wife, and Cyrus H. Jarvis. From the early years of his residence in the town my father owned and cultivated lands sufficient for a small farm in the center of Concord until he went to the Buttrick farm. My mother was Millicent Hosmer, daughter of James H[osmer], granddaughter of Stephen and great-granddaughter of Stephen, who were the descendants of James [Hosmer], one of the first settlers in Concord in 1635. HDT WHAT? INDEX JAMES KENDALL HOSMER REV. PROF. JAMES K. HOSMER 1834 January 29, Wednesday: James Kendall Hosmer was born in Northfield, Massachusetts, a son of the Reverend George Washington Hosmer of Concord.
    [Show full text]
  • The Founders of Maryland As Portrayed in Manuscripts, Provincial
    U( ',3^ p^ THE FOUNDERS OF MARYLAND AS PORTEAYED IN MAmJSCRIPTS, PROYESTCIAL RECORDS AI^J"D EARLY DOCUMENTS, REV. EDWARD D. NEILL, A. B., Author of "English Colonization op America," "Virginia Compant op London," "Terra Marlb," " Fairfaxes of England and America," "History of Minnesota," etc. \J "Ifec falsa dicere, nee vera reticere." ff ALBANY: JOEL MIJNSELL. 1876. THE FOUNDERS OF MARYLAND. PEEFACE. Every year, the citizens of ancient Padua crowd the costly church, dedicated to their townsman, the Italian Saint Anthony, and hang upon its walls, or around the shrine, sketches in oil, or water colors, commemorative of important events in their lives. One of the many good results of the centennial year of the American Republic j is the taking down from the garrets, the neglected portraits of our forefathers, the removal of the stains and dust, the substitution of new frames, for those battered and worm eaten, and in remembering their labors for posterity. With the aid of manuscripts, brought to light during the last decade, and access to the papers of the British Kecord Office, we can now portray more accurately, and hang in a better light, the Founders of Maryland. The object of this little book, is to state facts, which had become obscured or forgotten, concern- 6 Preface. ing the first European settlers on the shores of the Potomac River, and Chesapeake Bay. Bearing in mind, the sentiment of Hieronymus " in a letter to Epiphanius : Malem aliena vere- cunde dicere, quam jura imprudenter ingerere," I have recorded facts, gleaned from the manuscript Provincial Records at the capital of Maryland, and other documents of the Provincial period, rather than obtruded my own opinions.
    [Show full text]
  • Maryland Designe
    Maryland Designe: The First Wall Between Church and State Courtesy the of Enoch Pratt Free Library By Thomas Penfield Jackson The Occasional Papers of The Center for the Study of Democracy Volume 3, Number 1, Fall 2008 The Center for the Study of Democracy: A Better Understanding of Maryland and the World Although we often focus on contemporary issues associated with democracy and liberty, the Center for the Study of Democracy was originally inspired by the historical importance of St. Mary’s City and the discussion of innovative 17th-century ideas about politics that helped establish effective civil government in the Maryland colony. This occasional paper brings us back to our 17th-century roots. Among the most important principles of civil government instituted at St. Mary’s City is ‘freedom of conscience’—a principle that remains in practice today and one that continues to act as the bedrock for many other core democratic values in the United States. This principle not only provides support for democratic liberties concerning freedom of speech and freedom of the press, but also directly supports the legal notion of separation of church and state. In the early years of Maryland’s founding, colonists, through the Assembly of Maryland, officially separated religion from civil government by passing An Act Concerning Religion. This act, as Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson points out “…represented the first time in the English-speaking world that government formally renounced by legislative enactment the right to dictate to its citizens what they must believe or how they must evince it.” It allowed settlers of different Christian faiths to vote and hold public office without a religious test and it remains a foundational civil liberty in the United States today; citizens of all faiths are entitled to freely participate in our democracy, irrespective of religious beliefs.
    [Show full text]