290

CHAPTER VI

PLYMOUTH AS A CORPORATE COLONY

When describing in a previous chapter the relations between the colonists of Plymouth and their English partners, attention was called to the fact that the former never willingly constituted a part of a proprietary system. To the limitations of that system they subjected themselves, because, unless they did so, it would have been impossible for them to procure the means with which to emigrate, or a measure of support while the colony was winning its way to economic independence. Because of the small number of the settlers, their poverty and the unfavorable conditions of the soil where they settled, the progress of the colony was slow. It was also a first experiment in Puritan colonization, and that without the advantages which come from the possession of a royal charter. In order to supplement agriculture by fishing and the Indian trade, subordinate plantations were started in the valleys of the Kennebec and Penobscot. These causes combined to prolong the somewhat loose and shifting relations with the partners till the close of the seven-year period, when they were dissolved. Joint trading continued for more than a decade longer. But with the dissolution of the original partnership, Plymouth settlers had come into control of both their land and trade. Politically dependent on the adventurers they had not been. Therefore the colony at that time appeared as a de facto corporation,—its essential character from the first,—and as such it may now be discussed. The marked difference between it and Virginia, or any genuine proprietary province, will appear at every step.

The internal development of the colony began with the famous compact signed in the cabin of the Mayflower while

291

she was riding at anchor in Provincetown harbor.¹ This was the earliest of plantation covenants, and is memorable solely for that reason. It was in substance reproduced on many later occasions and in other places—by the river towns of Connecticut,² at New Haven,³ by the settlers at Dover and Exeter⁴ on the Piscataqua, at Providence, Portsmouth, and Newport⁵ among the Narragansett settlements, and by many other New England towns. A tacit assumption of authority equivalent to what these covenants implied had to be made in all colonies where the exercise of the higher powers of government was attempted without a direct grant from the king. Finding themselves forced to settle outside the jurisdiction of the company from which they had received a patent, and threatened with revolt, the Pilgrims, while acknowledging the authority of the king, solemnly agreed to assume such power as was necessary for the framing of just and convenient ordinances, and the creating and filling of offices; and to such ordinances and officials they promised obedience. So far as the act itself was concerned, it might create a town or a colony. In this case it created both, and the two did not become differentiated till more than a decade later. Viewing the event from the standpoint of the colony, the meeting in the cabin of the Mayflower was in germ a general court, and the signers of the compact were the earliest active citizens or freemen of Plymouth. They were not made such by admission into any corporation, but without legal authority they assumed the position and later the name, and upon that assumption they proceeded to exercise political power in the colony.

Through their earlier negotiations these settlers must have become somewhat familiar with the organization of the London company and its colonies, and from these it may be surmised that the title and office of governor were borrowed.

292

The next office to be created was that of captain,¹ and this office, like all others in the little commonwealth, was elective, and that for an annual term. “Saturday, the 17th day,² in the morning,” says Bradford and Winslow’s Relation,³ “we called a meeting for the establishing of military orders among ourselves; and we chose Miles Standish our captain, and gave him authority of command in affairs.” The sudden appearance of a number of savages gave them occasion at once to arm themselves and stand ready for conflict. Their ^,great ordinances” were now planted in “places most convenient.” Twice again during the next four weeks the freemen met “to⁴ conclude of laws and orders for ourselves, and to confirm those military orders that were formerly propounded, and twice broken off by the savages” coming.” We also hear of another meeting on March 22 “about our public business,” which, like its predecessors, was interrupted by the necessity of parleys with the Indians. The treaty with Massasoit, which resulted from these interviews, the annalist has preserved,⁵ but the early orders to which reference is made have perished.

On the death of John Carver, the first governor, and the election of William Bradford as his successor in April, 1621, one assistant was chosen to aid him in the government.⁶ Thenceforward elections were annually held. In 1624, at the request of Bradford himself, a request which was caused by the growth of business, the number of assistants was increased to five. Later the board was again enlarged to seven, and at its meetings the governor was given simply a double vote. From that time his position, both in the board of assistants and in the general court, was the same as that which was later held by the governor of Massachusetts. As in Massachusetts, so within the colony of Plymouth, the general court was the actual source of political power.

In the early history of this settlement, as of other colonies, public and private functions were indistinguishably mingled. There was necessarily a return to primitive conditions, and

293

this fact was made more apparent by the joint management of land and trade. The governor and his assistant not only repressed disorder in the settlement, and led in negotiations with the Indians and in providing for defence, but they managed the common work, nursed the sick, fished, saw that the magazine was kept supplied, and acted as advisers and guides in all affairs. The governor was also an elder in the church. So long as relations with the adventurers were continued, these officials, though elected, acted as managers of a proprietary colony. All official correspondence with the adventurers was conducted by the governor. When agents were sent to England, as they frequently were, he doubtless had much influence in their selection. When the ship Fortune had returned home in 1621,¹ the governor and assistant, having distributed the newcomers among families, took an account of provisions, and, when they found them insufficient, the colonists were put on half allowance. When, on Christmas day of the same year, Governor Bradford returned from the fields and found some, who on a plea of conscience had been excused from work that day, playing games in the street, he “took away their impliments, and told them that was against his conscience that they should play & others worke.” If they observed Christmas from religious motives, let them stay indoors, “but there should be no gameing or revelling in the streets.” In these instances the governor acted as the overseer of an estate, much as the governor of Virginia might have done. But by virtue of his elective tenure, he was not bound by instructions from the adventurers as a proprietary governor must be, while the religious and political motives of the colonists and their magistrates necessitated a unity and a freedom of choice which mere servants and planters could not possess.

Many decisions concerning public business must have been reached through informal consultations between the officials and other influential settlers. When matters of special importance were to be decided, the whole company, consisting of de facto freemen, was called together. It was by a vote of this body that the place of settlement was decided upon,²

294

and probably also the method of laying out the town. The ordinances which were first issued by this body were, as we have seen, on the subject of defence. Not until the close of 1623 do we find a record of the passage by the court of any order concerning judicial administration;¹ but at that time trial by jury was introduced. When, earlier in that year, “the perticulers” arrived, “ye Govr, in ye name, and with ye consente of ye company,” received them,² and the conditions on which they were allowed to settle were “agreed on between ye colony and them.” Later, when these settlers began to arouse strife, the governor consulted “with ye ablest of ye generall body.”³ When, through the efforts of John Oldham, one of their number, aided by Lyford, the minister whom the adventurers had sent over, a dangerous opposition movement had been started, “ye Gov^r called a course and summoned ye whole company to appeare.” Bradford having, by an act not uncommon then, but one which would now be branded as the grossest violation of honor, opened the letters which Lyford and Oldham were sending home, and found that they were filled with calumnious charges against the colony, now faced the offenders with them and compelled the minister to confess his offence with tears. They had tried, in the interest of the adventurers and of the English Church, to increase the number of the discontented, and by a combination of those with “the perticulers” and fresh recruits from England to seize control of the colony and manage it in their own interest. The dramatic proceedings of this court were varied by the reading of the letters which had been seized, by a furious appeal on the part of Oldham to those who previously had appeared to support him but who now sat unmoved, and by the examination of various parties by the magistrates. The session developed into an impromptu trial⁴ of an offence amounting to treason against the colony, and ended in a vote for the expulsion of the accused. This sentence, after further offences by both, was executed.

The last among the early meetings of the general court to

295

which reference must be made was that called in 1627 to consider the division of the lands of the plantation. “Ye Gov^r and counsell with other of their chiefe friends,” had upon mature consideration resolved that a division of the lands was necessary. Thereupon “they caled ye company together, and conferred with them,” with the result that a conclusion was reached which “gave all good contente.”¹

It was in the name of William Bradford, the governor of this democratic commonwealth, one of its founders and second to none among the leaders of the enterprise, that the patent of 1629 was granted. Associated with him in procuring the patent were Standish, Winslow, and the other prominent settlers. The powers of the grant, such as they were, therefore had to be exercised exclusively in the colony and by the settlers themselves. Before the patent was issued the political form which the colony was to assume had been determined, and the council made no effort through the grant to change it in any respect. Though legally Plymouth had to be regarded as a fief lying within the domain of the New England council, and after 1635 within the king’s domain, it wholly lacked the feudal form of organization. Therefore, while Bradford continued to hold the patent as trustee, the colony followed the natural course of its development undisturbed. After 1632 the Records show that sessions of the council or court of assistants and of the general court were regularly held. The full power to legislate, to levy taxes, to organize a military force, to administer justice, and to inflict capital punishment² was assumed and exercised. Freemen were admitted by the general court; and in 1636 a freeman’s oath was enacted which, except in its recognition of the sovereignty of England, was similar in purport to that of Massachusetts. As arable land near the town of Plymouth became insufficient longer to satisfy the demand, removals began. Land here and there on the common domain was taken up, though for reasons already stated dispersion began relatively much later than in Massachusetts. These settlements, at first called plantations, wards, or sides, gradually developed into

296

towns, in spite of the opposition of the town of Plymouth and of the leaders who resided there. In January, 1634, the first constable was chosen in the general court for the settlement which later became known as Duxbury. A year later the evidence shows that there was such an officer at Scituate.¹ Annually thereafter constables for these settlements were elected or sworn in the general court.² In 1638 a constable appeared for Sandwich,³ where a settlement had been made the previous year. In 1639 one appeared for Yarmouth, and in 1640 constables were “nominated” for Taunton and Barnstable.⁴ In 1637, after it had been found impossible to locate a meeting-house which would be convenient for both its inhabitants and those of Plymouth, Duxbury was made a town, though its bounds were left to be fixed by the next court. Even earlier, in 1636, Scituate was called a town, and it was allowed to grant land and to make such orders as were found necessary, “provided they have, in case of justice, recourse unto Plymouth as before.”⁵ In 1638 it was enacted that all towns, allowed or to be allowed within the colony, should have the liberty to meet together and to issue such orders as were necessary for the herding of cattle and the doing of other needful things, provided they did not infringe any public acts.⁶ They were then given the right to punish petty offences, and the next year were empowered to levy local rates. It was also enacted that the governor and assistants should, under the authority of the general court, appoint and set forth the bounds of townships, as they had formerly done.⁷ Hence, as elsewhere in New England; and as was the case in the creation of the colony itself, the two things legally essential to the founding of a town were the grant of land and the grant of rights of local government, including the establishment of local offices. But that in Plymouth the control of the colony over the towns was more strict than elsewhere is indicated by the fact that their choice of selectmen, constables, and surveyors of the highways was subject to the approval of the general court of

297

election. This may perhaps have been due to the early opposition to the development of towns.¹

In consequence of the multiplication of towns, Plymouth the town became differentiated from Plymouth the colony, and appeared as a distinct unit for purposes of local government. It was a slow process, the stages of which it is not easy to trace. Sometime between November, 1636, and the close of March, 1637, a separate record book for the town was opened;² but the entries were made by the clerk or secretary of the colony till 1685. Then, for the first time, a town clerk was chosen. In January, 1633, a constable had been chosen.³ The earliest record of a town-meeting is dated the last day of March, 1637.⁴ At a meeting held in July of the following year bounds for the town were provisionally agreed upon, but they were not fixed by the general court till 1640.⁵ In February, 1650, the town chose selectmen and bestowed the usual powers upon them, though not till twelve years later did the general court empower the towns to elect such officers and itself define their authority. While by these steps its organization was being perfected, the leading inhabitants of Plymouth, among whom were some of the most prominent magistrates of the colony, viewed with jealousy the dispersion of the colonists and the founding of new towns. The traditions of the first decade were strong at the place of original settlement, and by the dispersion that town was losing prestige. To prevent this as far as possible, it was enacted in 1633 “that the chiefe government be tyed to the towne of Plymouth, and that the Governor for the time being be tyed there to keep his residence and dwelling; and there also to hold such Courts as concerne the whole.”⁶

A necessary result of the dispersion of inhabitants and the formation of towns was the development of the representative system. In 1636 and 1637 committees from the outlying settlements had been appointed to join with the governor and assistants in preparing a revision of the laws, in dividing

298

lands and in assessing a tax.¹ In June, 1639, “committees” or deputies from the towns—five members from Plymouth and two from each of the others—were added to the governor and assistants to form the general court.² After this the freemen as such continued to attend only the annual court of election, though to this, as in Massachusetts, they might send proxies. The general court of Plymouth was never divided into two houses, though apparently in 1649 such a proposition was made, but defeated. A committee then reported, “yt for the future, as formerly . . ., the Magestraits and Comitties or Deputies bee Concidered together as one body.”³ In Plymouth the religious test was never definitely established; but after towns had come into existence the law required that candidates for active citizenship should be approved by the freemen of the towns where they lived and proposed to the general court by the deputies of those towns.⁴ Gradually the requirements concerning admission were made more strict, till in 1671 a property qualification was required, and also testimony from the neighbors of the applicant that he was sober and peaceable in conversation and “orthodox in the fundamentals of religion.”⁵

The territory of Plymouth being small and relatively compact, the organization of counties did not become necessary till almost the close of her separate existence. In 1685 the colony was divided by its general court into three counties, their boundaries being fixed and county courts established. Thus the judicial system of the colony was completed. It included selectmen’s courts in the towns, with jurisdiction over cases of debt, trespass, or damage not exceeding forty shillings; and county courts held in each case by at least three magistrates and associates, the latter being annually chosen by the general court as special county magistrates to coöperate with the resident assistants in transacting county business. The latter, besides being the administrative body

299

of the county, probated wills and had jurisdiction over civil and criminal cases, provided the penalties did not involve life, limb, or banishment. At the head of the judicial system was the court of magistrates or assistants, sitting in the later years of the colony three times annually at Plymouth, which heard appeals and could “call all the Inhabitants, Freemen, Planters, or others to accompt for the breach of any Laws or Orders established or for other misdemeanours . . .” It also exercised an equitable jurisdiction. In 1684 an admiralty court was established, consisting of not more than four of the assistants and such “substantiall persons” as the governor should commission under the seal of the colony.

The military and fiscal systems of the towns and of the colony were similar in all important respects to those of Massachusetts, and require no extended description here. The county, while it had its treasurer, who received money from the constables or town councils, had not been incorporated into the military system when the independent existence of the colony ceased. There seem to have been no county regiments. Their organization came after Plymouth was absorbed by Massachusetts.

Such in outline was the commonwealth which evolved from the compact signed in the Mayflower. It was consistently democratic, and possessed all the organs necessary for an independent existence. Though the king was recognized in its public acts and documents, so far as its political life was concerned it enjoyed an independence greater even than that of Massachusetts. Owing to its more moderate policy it did not provoke internal dissensions or multiply enemies in England. Therefore the quiet course of its existence was never seriously disturbed by foes from within or without. The last step in the history of this commonwealth, so far as we need to follow it, was taken in 1641.¹ Then, with the approval of all parties concerned, William Bradford laid down his trusteeship and resigned the patent into the possession of the freemen of the colony assembled in general court. The surrender was accepted by the court; and thenceforward

300

the freemen, as the assigns of Bradford, were in name, as well as in fact, the grantees of such rights as were transferred by the patent.

“And ye said William Bradford doth, by ye free & full consente, approbation, and agreemente of ye said oldplanters, or purchasers, together with ye liking, approbation, and acceptation of ye other parte of ye said corporation, surrender into ye hands of ye whole courte, consisting of ye free-men of this corporation of New-Plimoth, all ye other right & title, power, authority, priviledges, immunities, & freedomes granted in ye said letters patents by ye said Honorable Counsell of New-England; reserveing his & their personall right of freemen, together with the said old planters afforesaid, excepte ye said lands before excepted, declaring the freemen of this corporation, togeather with all such as shal be legally admitted into ye same, his associats.”

When this transaction was completed, the freemen, like those in Massachusetts, were in every sense the actual possessors of political power.