MAY 1628
COASTAL NEW ENGLAND
MORNING
The verdict is guilty.
Captain Myles Standish and his well-armed men stand outside a modest dwelling. They have come to arrest Thomas Morton, the leader of a small settlement forty miles north up the coast from Plymouth. Morton arrived in America aboard the Unity in 1624. But he wanted no part of the Puritan settlement at Plymouth.
Instead, the forty-nine-year-old lawyer from Devonshire established a small settlement where settlers could do pretty much whatever they wanted to do.*
So now Standish has arrived to arrest Thomas Morton, who is himself armed and not pleased about the situation. Supposedly his crime is selling guns to Indians, but his real transgression is that his settlement, named Merry Mount, offers religious freedom—and is growing more rapidly than Plymouth.
There are two types of people in the New World, the flamboyant Morton has written: Christians and Infidels. It is the Infidels, the lawyer believes, who are “most full of humanity, and more friendly than the other.”
Thus, Thomas Morton is rebuking Plymouth by allowing libertine exhibitions in Merry Mount, including male settlers “consorting” with Indian women. The raucous celebrations are held around a giant maypole, eighty feet high, with a pair of buck’s horns nailed near the top.
The Puritans are horrified by this pagan symbol.
Governor Bradford, based in Plymouth, describes these festivities as “the beastly ye mad Bacchanalians.” So Bradford, who ridicules Morton as “a Lord of Misrule,” orders Standish to put an end to this “school of Atheism.” The standoff doesn’t last long. Morton and his men are too drunk to resist. Morton surrenders and is immediately put in chains. The maypole is pulled down. Eventually, Merry Mount is burned to the ground.*
The power of Governor William Bradford and his Puritan advisers is absolute. The Mayflower long ago sailed back to England. Settlers stood on the rocky shore, watching uneasily as ship and crew disappeared over the horizon. Seven years later, they are alone—and many fewer. The dying season has lived up to its name.
Upon landing at Plymouth in 1620, Puritans and Strangers forged a legal foundation for the settlement. The leaders began by agreeing on a loose form of government combining British law and harsh religious beliefs. The next step was to build a town. Plymouth is laid out in the shape of a cross. Two intersecting streets make defense easier. A two-story fort is built on the highest point overlooking the town and bay. The work to build nineteen residences is underway when the “sickness” begins. Hunger. Scurvy. Winter fever. Frostbite. There is no safe place. There is no one to help.
The illness spreads as the English begin running out of food and beer. Myles Standish understands the colony can show no weakness to the native Indians who lurk in the forest. So the disease-ridden are used as ploys. “They set up their sick men with muskets upon their rests and their backs against the trees,” writes William Bradford. “They did that to convince the Indians the colony is able to defend itself.”
The ploy works, but there is no relief from struggle here in Plymouth. Frustration soon becomes anger. While the Puritans and Strangers mostly manage to get along for their mutual survival, it is never entirely harmonious. In January, a fire destroys the common house. By March 1621, forty-nine of the original Mayflower contingent are dead—almost half those who set sail from England. Only five women survive the winter. One of them, the teenaged Priscilla Mullins, has lost her parents and brother, leaving her completely alone in this strange place.
The fight for survival is communal. Supplies continue to dwindle. Settlers catch fish and seals. They also manage to shoot some fowl and deer, but it is not enough. Rations are cut by half. There is only one place to turn for deliverance.
That would be God.
Puritans pray, for they believe the Lord would not bring them this great way just to abandon them. They are looking for a sign that they have not been forsaken in this desolate place.
The sign arrives almost naked.
Indians have been watching the English since the first landing party. The settlers find signs of them all around: smoke rising in the distance, a cache of corn found buried in the ground. “Indians came skulking about,” Governor Bradford reports. “Once they stole [our] tools.”
Early in December, a Puritan landing party is attacked. Furiously howling Indians materialize out of the woods, firing arrows. Captain Standish stands calmly directing the defense. Several arrows whiz close by, but no one is hurt. His men return gunfire. An Indian is heard shrieking.
The First Encounter, as it is labeled, does not last long. The Indians disappear into the thick woods. The settlers give chase, but the enemy is gone. The Puritans kneel and offer thanks for their safety.
Myles Standish knows the hostiles will return. This is their land. Native Americans have lived here for ten thousand years. Plymouth is the home of the Wampanoag Nation, a name meaning “people of the first light.” There are almost seventy other nearby tribes. Many of them are peaceful. But not all.
The specter of Indian violence covers every decision. Standish well understands that. So his men drag a cannon to the top of Fort Hill, where they build a fortification around it. When the Indians attack, they will face that cannon.
And so the settlers are shocked in early spring when a tall Native American, his black hair short in front and long in back, walks confidently into Plymouth settlement. He is wearing “only a leather around his waist with a fringe.” The settlers quickly grab their muskets. They look around for other intruders. Then this Indian says the one word they never expected to hear: “Welcome, Englishmen.”
And he says it in English.
He also asks for a beer.
The visitor is named Samoset. The Puritans are astonished to find an Indian who speaks English. How is that possible? Samoset explains he comes from an island to the east, where he has been taught the language by English fishermen. Samoset also says that the Patuxet tribe, who cleared the land around Plymouth, are all dead. Four years earlier a plague spread through the area. The Great Dying, Samoset calls it. Only one member of the tribe remains alive. His name is Squanto, and he also has quite a story.
As a young man, Squanto and twenty other local Indians were captured by an Englishman named Thomas Hunt, who lured them aboard his ship and clapped them in chains. Destined to be sold into slavery in Spain, they endured six weeks trapped in the hold, living on raw fish and stale bread.
Squanto is enslaved in Spain but ransomed by a group of monks. Squanto soon finds himself in London, the servant of John Slaney, a wealthy merchant who owns land in the New World. The Indian learns English and eventually convinces the landowner that he can be useful if allowed to return to Massachusetts. Slaney agrees.
It takes five years, but Squanto finally finds his way home, only to discover illness has killed his tribe. To survive, he becomes a translator for the newly arrived Englishmen. William Bradford will call him a “special instrument sent of God.”
So it is that Squanto will become the most important friend of the Puritan settlement.*
Samoset and Squanto set off a chain of events. In a gesture of goodwill, the Indians return tools stolen from the English. Then, treaties are made. The settlers negotiate an agreement that neither the English nor Wampanoag tribe will “injure or do hurt” to the other. Squanto is ordered to stay with the settlers and teach them the Indian ways of survival.
After so much death and deprecation, there is now hope. Squanto is about forty years old and a gifted communicator. In clear English, he instructs the settlers how to hunt and trap game, where the fish and eels are feeding, and the best fields to plant corn, squash, beans, potatoes, and even pumpkins. Bury dead fish in the soil, he says, to help the crops grow. Rotate seeds to keep soil healthy. He points out which wild berries and nuts are safe to eat and which plants will make them sick. When settlers explore the lands beyond Plymouth, he is their guide. When they negotiate trading agreements with other tribes, he is the interpreter. What the Puritans do not know is that Squanto is ambitious. To gain power within the Indian community, he is exaggerating his relationship with Plymouth. Squanto claims the Puritans keep their fatal diseases in storage pits. He warns other Indians that if they do not do as he tells them, he will ask the English to release the plague upon them.*
Despite this deception, the relationship between the Indian community and Puritans has grown strong. Plymouth has survived its first winter. It put stakes in the ground and is beginning to harvest crops.
William Bradford, now thirty-one years old, is appointed governor. Bradford is of average size and has a pleasant face, set off by a trimmed beard. He was sick throughout much of his childhood. So rather than working, he reads the Bible. The governor is considered a thoughtful man, admired for his tact and forbearance. Bradford and his wife, Dorothy, arrived together on the Mayflower, leaving their three-year-old son, John, behind in England. The boy will eventually come to the New World.
There are new worries. And they have to do with personalities. Captain Myles Standish is a skilled military leader who provides security and confidence. However, he is known to have a quick temper and too easily resorts to violence. When the colony is threatened by Indians from the Massachusetts tribe, he arranges a meeting with their leader, Pecksuot. But rather than negotiating, Standish grabs the Indian’s knife and stabs him to death. He then returns to Plymouth carrying the head of another warrior he has killed. That cements his reputation as a brutal man.
The other powerful leader in Plymouth is John Alden, who has taken a prominent role in building houses and fortifications. Alden is among the most popular men in the settlement. Although he is younger than the other leaders, his opinions are respected and his advice sought. Alden and Standish get along but are opposite in their view of life. That rivalry will soon surface.
Despite the positive turn of events at Plymouth, there is still death. Susanna White was pregnant when the Mayflower left England and gives birth to the first English child born in the new colony—her son Peregrine is born November 20, just as the ship reaches American shores. But her joy is tempered weeks later when her husband, William White, suddenly dies of unknown causes. Susanna is left to fend for her five-year-old son, Resolved, and baby Peregrine.
The name Peregrine is auspicious. It means “to come from far away” and is often used to describe those on a religious pilgrimage. Governor Bradford often uses the term pilgrim to describe those in their midst who once made the trip from England to Holland. And Edward Winslow, in his journal about the Mayflower passengers, refers to the Plymouth colonists as pilgrims. Over the course of the next century, that word will become synonymous with these colonists.
In fact, Winslow, an adviser to Governor Bradford, also loses his spouse, Elizabeth. By May, the widower Winslow and the widow White decide to marry. Such rapid nuptials are not unusual, for love is a luxury in desolate places. Men and women have clearly defined roles and often marry for convenience. It is believed there are only two religious sacraments that must be observed: baptism and communion. The actual marriage ceremony is a civil matter. And there is no celebration: no music, no dancing, no laughter. At the nuptials, the Puritans recite psalms.
But even the pilgrims believe in consummating a marriage. Edward Winslow and Susanna White will go on to have five children.
The first harvest goes well.
To celebrate, the English invite the Wampanoag to join them in a feast. Governor Bradford writes, “Amongst other recreations we exercised our arms, many of the Indians coming amongst us, and amongst the rest their greatest king, Massasoit, with some ninety men, whom for three days we entertained and feasted.”
Bradford watches warily as games of chance and skill are played. Indians dance around campfires. Wild turkey, venison, duck, and shellfish are served. Beer and wine flow freely. It is truly an unexpected spectacle. The stoic settlers, who follow a strict religious code emphasizing modesty and virtue, mingling with the almost completely naked Indians. The English watch the Indians’ painted, tattooed faces reflected in the fires as they whoop and holler and let loose their joy. Yet a mutual respect now exists between them. Both sides are surviving in a brutal new world.*
Winter is coming once again. And the settlers understand the incredible hardship those months will bring. As they are preparing their homes, something very strange occurs: a ship appears off the coast. No one knows from where it has come. The settlement is not expecting supplies. The fear is this is a French ship—arriving to stop English expansion in America. Myles Standish puts the colony on alert. Men and boys are given guns and Indian allies notified.
As the mystery ship floats far offshore, some believe Standish actually wants a fight. And he may get his wish.
Finally, the ship makes way—sailing directly into Plymouth Harbor. As it comes closer, it shows the Union Jack! The ship is the Fortune, sent by London merchants. It is carrying thirty-seven passengers.
There is a reason the ship lay quietly. The Fortune’s crew and passengers are terrified of what they might find. The Mayflower had returned to England with dire news about the colony, so the arrivals are being very cautious.
The new settlers are mostly lusty young men who recover quickly from the long voyage. While Plymouth is thriving, there are not many women in the colony. In fact, there are four or five men for every available woman. Competition is fierce and eventually gives rise to one of the great romantic stories of history.
According to the poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, young John Alden is smitten by the lovely Priscilla Mullins but lacks the courage to reveal his attraction. Myles Standish, recently widowed, is also interested in Priscilla. So the soldier asks his rival, Alden, to present his marriage proposal to her. As chronicled by Longfellow, she rejects Standish and reveals her feelings for the young Alden. Eventually, John Alden and Priscilla Mullins become the third couple to be married in Plymouth. In their case, they marry for love.*
The Plymouth Colony soon welcomes more arrivals. Ships are now leaving England nearly every month for the New World. The economic success of the Puritans has spurred both merchants and individuals looking for a better life to cross the Atlantic.
But many do not understand what they are sailing into. Every aspect of life in Plymouth is now based on Scripture. For Puritans, the purpose of the law is to ensure proper morality. The legal system is set up mostly to punish sinners. It includes a ten-shilling fine for “those who profaned the Sabbath.” Moral failings are often treated as harshly as is larceny. Adultery, for example, is punished by a public whipping, and guilty parties are required to sew the red letters AD to their upper garments. Blasphemers are forced to wear a red B, and those who are drunk in public affix a red D to their clothing.
Sentences include spending time in the stocks, being burned on the shoulder, and even banishment. Capital punishment, the death penalty, might be imposed for several crimes, including treason, willful murder, sodomy, bestiality, and “Solemn Compaction or conversing with the ‘divell’ by way of witchcraft conjuracion.”*
All of the moral laws quickly create tension between the Puritans and the Strangers. Hard feelings permeate Plymouth. The Strangers want no part of a Bible-based justice system. For them, life is to be enjoyed. For example, Puritans do not celebrate Christmas and Easter. These religious holidays are not mentioned in Scripture—so they are treated as normal working days. Strangers strenuously object to this. Also, services are held twice on Sunday, through the morning and most of the afternoon. All Puritan families must attend.
The Strangers do not. Most of them follow traditional Christian practices and reject the Puritan approach. So, as Christmas draws near, the Strangers make it clear to Governor Bradford they are not going to work on that day.
Bradford initially respects their decision. On Christmas morning, he goes to labor with the Puritans in the fields. However, the governor is surprised when he returns for the noon meal to see a public celebration. Strangers are playing games in the streets, “some pitching the bar, and some at stool ball and such like sports.” For Bradford this is too much. He is infuriated. If the Strangers really want to show their devotion to Jesus, he believes they should do so in the quiet of their homes: “There should not be gaming or reveling in the streets.”
Bradford takes action. He works with Myles Standish to seize all gaming equipment and forbids such displays in the future. This disrupts the entire community and will eventually lead to a serious fissure.
The Strangers want out of Plymouth. They want freedom in this New World.
It will soon become a devil of a problem.