the majority were members of some Puritan congrega tion, and because very few people had the right to vote in England; but it placed the entire con ¢ Portland Saco 1039 Dover 1623 Exeter. Kittery Portsmouth 1630 Cape Ann P EQUOTS Gloucester Concord Lexington) Salem 1629 Lynn Massachusetts Watertown Charlestown Charles ry Dorchest Bay Cape Cod Plymouth 1620 Cape Cod Bay Buzzards ELIZABETH Bay 1630 CUTTYHUNK MARTHAS THE SETTLEMENTS ALONG THE NEW ENGLAND COAST trol of the gov ernment in the hands of the Puritans. This "mixing poli tics and religion" led to some very interesting results. 69. Beginning to Differ. It was sim. a sign of progress for them to differ and dispute. At first the governor and the "assistants" alone made laws, but in 1631 Watertown refused to pay a tax because she was not represented in the General Court (§ 65). Her people highly prized the right of representation, for they and their fathers had suffered much in England to preserve it (§ 65). Watertown's protest led to the yearly election of deputies from each town to help govern. These depu ties were more democratic than the governor and the "assistants," and, after a bitter quarrel, in which the depu ties took sides with a poor widow while the "assistants" favored a rich man, they separated, thus establishing two houses of the General Court or Legislature (1641). 70. Separation; Emigration to Connecticut (1636). The growth of differences in religious and political opinions gradually formed two parties. Governor Winthrop's words show what the ruling party thought: "The best part (of the people) is always the least, and of that best part the wiser is always the lesser." The words of that learned minister, Thomas Hooker, voice the views of the other party: "In matters which concern the common good, a general council chosen by all to transact business which concerns all, I conceive most suitable to rule and most safe for the relief of the whole." Hooker and his followers, not liking the undemocratic character of the government, and being dissatisfied with their location, emigrated (1636) to the rich valley of the Connecticut. (88 87-93. See also map, page 72.) 71. Banishment of Roger Williams (1636). The two parties in Massachusetts came to a serious clash over the teachings of Roger Williams, a minister at Salem. He was a man of great ability and advanced ideas, who loved debate. He held that people ought not to be punished for religious opin THE ROGER WILLIAMS CHURCH AT SALEM, 1681 ions and for staying away from church. This seems reasonable to us, but England and other nations did punish men for their beliefs, and so did the Bay Colony But other questions were mixed with this one. Roger Williams asserted that no king had the right to give away the lands of the Indians by means of charters. These opinions were very dangerous just then, because Charles I. was already planning (1635) to take away the charter he had granted to the Massachusetts Company. Had he caught a whisper of such great contempt for his royal authority, nothing could have saved the charter. The people took sides over this and other questions, and the colony was divided when it should have been united. The General Court tried Roger Williams and decided by a small majority that he must go back to England. But he had no notion of doing so, and in midwinter made his way into the wilderness. He later became the founder of Rhode Island, the most tolerant and democratic of New England colonies. 72. Mrs. Hutchinson (1638). This excitement had hardly quieted down before a greater one arose over the teachings of Mrs. Anne Hutchinson. She drew large audiences in Boston each week, and discussed deep religious questions in such a way as to displease the leading ministers of the colony and the officers of the gov ernment. However, a few ministers and the governor, Sir Henry Vane, belonged to her party. Feeling ran high and even interfered with preparations for the war against the Pequot Indians (§ 88). Mrs. Hutchinson was banished (1638), and with some of her followers moved to Rhode Island, while others settled towns in what became New Hampshire. (See map, page 60.) 73. The Body of Liberties (1641). All this excitement and discussion made men think. The more they thought over their disputes, the more they were determined to have a body of written laws. The charter was written, but it did not tell what rights belonged to the people. In 1641, therefore, Nathaniel Ward, once a lawyer but now a minister, presented one hundred laws to the General Court. These were discussed and sent around for the towns to examine. Thus Massachusetts, following the example of Connecticut (1639), established a set of written laws, The Body of Liberties, to which the poorest and weakest could appeal for protection. BEGINNINGS OF EDUCATION 74. Why the Puritans Favored Education. No class in England believed more in learning than the Puritans, and of these, few encouraged it more than those emigrating to America. The custom in New England of settling in towns was far more favorable to schools than the southern way of settling on plantations ($37). The Puritans were earnest students of the Bible, and each wanted at least to be able to read it for himself. Besides, the Puritan ministers were well-educated men, having, as a rule, studied at Cambridge University. The people talked over the sermons heard on Sunday, and opposed or defended the minister's ideas. This frequent discussion made men wish to learn. 75. Harvard College. The first school founded in New England was the Boston Latin School, although private teaching had been going on from the beginning. In 1636 the General Court voted four hundred pounds for a college in Newtown. Two years later John Harvard gave his valuable library and about seven hundred and fifty pounds to the new institution, which then took his name. Newtown was afterward called Cambridge, to keep alive the memories of that English Cambridge where so many Puritan leaders had studied. 76. The First Printing Press; Founding of Public Schools. The year 1639 was a most important one in our history. It was not only the year of the first written constitution in America (§ 89), but of our first printing press and first free public school. The printing press was set up at Cambridge and the public school established at Dorchester. A little later it was ordered that "none of the brethren shall suffer so much barbarism in their families as not to teach their children and apprentices . . . to read the English tongue." To make sure that the children were taught to read, the General Court commanded every township of fifty householders to set up a school for reading and writing, and each town of one hundred householders to establish a grammar school. These were the beginnings of a system of free public schools. OUTSIDE DANGERS AND THEIR CONSEQUENCES 77. The First Danger from England (1635). During the excitement over Roger Williams and Mrs. Hutchinson, Massachusetts had been in danger of losing her charter. Not all the settlers liked the stern rule of the Bay Colony. Some complained to the king that the people of Massachusetts were now Separatists, were persecuting the people of the English church, and were even setting up an independent government. This looked to the king like rebellion and he immediately ordered Massachusetts to give up her charter. When the little colony heard this news it was not frightened. The governor called in the "assistants" and the ministers for advice, who promptly refused to accept a governor from the king, and decided to "defend our lawful possessions if we are able." New forts were built and the men were ordered to practice military drill; but before the king could take away the charter he had quarreled with Parliament and there was war in England (§ 39). 78. The New England Confederation (1643). The dangers from England, the claims of the Dutch to the Connecticut valley, the presence of the French in the |