Plymouth Colony

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The Plymouth Colony was an English colonial venture in North America from 1620 until 1691. The colony contained roughly what is now Bristol County, Plymouth County, and Barnstable County, Massachusetts. Bristol County, Rhode Island was detached from its namesake county in Massachusetts.

1 Founders
2 Mayflower voyage
3 New Plymouth
4 Towns
5 Official Seal
6 Notes
7 See also
8 External links

[edit] Founders

Main articles: Pilgrims and List of passengers on the Mayflower

The colony was founded by a group of people commonly known as the "Pilgrims", of which about 40% of the adults (and 56% of the family groupings) were English religious separatists. ^[1] The core group, after separating from the Anglican Church, left England for the Netherlands; then later returned briefly to England from which they sailed to the New World. The Pilgrim colonists obtained a land patent from the London Virginia Company in 1619 but did not use it because they did not succeed in reaching the Virginia Colony. The area they did settle was in the grant area of the Plymouth Council for New England (which was still in the process of being created before they left), and they received a formal land patent in 1621.

[edit] Mayflower voyage

The Mayflower, carrying 102 settlers, left Plymouth, England, for a third time on September 6, 1620, without her sister ship Speedwell, which had ultimately been deemed unseaworthy, and sailed for the New World with a land patent in the Virginia Colony. They anchored at Provincetown Harbor on November 21, 1620 (New Style). But having landed without a patent for that area, some settlers wanted to abandon their obligations. Therefore, the first governing document of the colony, the Mayflower Compact, was drafted and ratified by the group of colonists aboard the ship, as it lay off-shore upon arrival. Their first landfall was near today's Provincetown where they sought firewood and fresh water. After surveying the area, the colonists settled in December on Plymouth, on the western shore of Cape Cod Bay, in southeastern Massachusetts. Plymouth Rock is celebrated as the point where the colonists first set foot at their permanent settlement, though there are no contemporary accounts to verify the accuracy of the legend.

From Bradford's journal Of Plymouth Plantation, describing the Pilgrims safe arrival at Cape Cod aboard the Mayflower:

"Being thus arrived in a good harbor and brought safe to land, they fell upon their knees & blessed ye God of heaven, who had brought them over ye vast & furious ocean, and delivered them from all ye periles & miseries therof, againe to set their feete on ye firme and stable earth, their proper elemente. And no marvell if they were thus joyefull, seeing wise Seneca was so affected with sailing a few miles on ye coast of his owne Italy; as he affirmed, that he had rather remaine twentie years on his way by land, then pass by sea to any place in a short time; so tedious & dreadfull was ye same unto him. But hear I cannot but stay and make a pause, and stand half amased at this poore peoples presente condition; and so I thinke will the reader too, when he well considered ye same. Being thus passed ye vast ocean, and a sea of troubles before in their preparation (as may be remembred by yt which wente before), they had now no friends to wellcome them, nor inns to entertaine or refresh their weatherbeaten bodys, no houses or much less townes to repaire too, to seeke for succoure. .. Let it also be considred what weake hopes of supply & succoure they left behinde them, yt might bear up their minds in this sade condition and trialls they were under; and they could not but be very smale. It is true, indeed, ye affections & love of their brethren at Leyden was cordiall & entire towards them, but they had little power to help them, or them selves; and how ye case stode betweene them & ye marchants at their coming away, hath already been declared. What could not sustaine them but ye spirite of God & his grace? May not & ought not the children of these fathers rightly say : Our faithers were Englishmen which came over this great ocean, and were ready to perish in this willdernes; but they cried unto ye Lord, and he heard their voyce, and looked on their adversitie…"

[edit] New Plymouth

Historical populations
Date	Pop.


November, 1620	103

September, 1621	53

November, 1621	88

July, 1623	180

January, 1630	290

July, 1630	380

1643	2000

1690	3055

The first settlement of the colony was "New Plymouth", later Plymouth, Massachusetts. The site, known to the Wampanoag as "Patuxet", had recently been abandoned following an epidemic. The colonists chose it because it had a reliable supply of fresh water and the land had already been cleared. By the end of the first winter, almost half of the settlers were dead, from accidents and from scurvy and other diseases. Because of the lack of housing, many of the settlers spent time aboard ship that winter, which helped to spread fatal diseases. Half of the Mayflower's crew also died as they wintered with the colonists. Thus began one of most historically renowned and yet ill-fated colonial ventures in America (after the Roanoke Island settlement and Jamestown).

William Bradford became governor in 1621 upon the death of John Carver, served for eleven consecutive years, and was elected to various other terms until his death in 1657. On March 22, 1621, the Pilgrims of Plymouth Colony signed a peace treaty with Massasoit of the Wampanoags. The Wampanoag's (and especially English-speaking Squanto's) knowledge of corn and bean cultivation were likely essential for their survival.

The second group of settlers sailed on the Fortune, which arrived November 10, 1621. This second group, numbering about 34, was much smaller than the original Mayflower group but was almost as large as the survivors of that group, who numbered only around 50 when the Fortune arrived. The third group, of about 74 members, arrived on the Anne and the Little James in August 1623 and included the wives and children of several Mayflower passengers. The fourth group arrived in June 1629 on six ships and landed at Naumkeag (Salem, Massachusetts). The fifth group arrived June 1, 1630. They landed at Nantasket and settled Mattapan, which they called Dorchester, after their native city in England.

On June 12, 1630, the Arbella and 15 other vessels arrived at Salem with 800 to 900 people. The group was the Massachusetts Company under Governor John Winthrop, and they went to Boston to form the Massachusetts Bay Colony.

The patent of Plymouth Colony was surrendered by Bradford to the freemen in 1640, minus a small reserve of three tracts of land.

Plymouth ended its history as a separate colony with the 1691 formation of the Province of Massachusetts Bay.

[edit] Towns

Barnstable was first mentioned in 1638. In 1644, a house was constructed for the Reverend John Winthrop.
Bridgewater, originally called "Nunkatateset", was one of the first towns to be settled in the interior of Massachusetts. Purchased from Massasoit, on March 23, 1649, it was first settled in 1650. It was officially incorporated in 1656 and its name was changed.
Duxbury was first settled in 1624 by Myles Standish, who named the town after Duxbury Woods in his home town of Chorley, Lancashire, Great Britain. Several of the surviving Pilgrims settled in Duxbury, including John Alden and George Soule. The town was officially incorporated in 1637.
Eastham became a town in June 1646, called Nauset. Its name is changed to Eastham in 1651.
Freetown was settled in 1659 following Ye Freemen's Purchase and officially incorporated in July of 1683.
Marshfield was first settled in 1632 by Edward Winslow and was officially incorporated in 1640.
Middleborough was first settled in 1660 and was officially incorporated in 1669.
Plymouth was the first and most well known of the settlements. It was a shipbuilding and fishing center, as well as a rope and cordage producer.
Rehoboth was first mentioned in 1642 as Seekonk. It becomes Rehoboth in 1645. Because of the surrounding marshy terrain and hills, it was not an agricultural community. Based on the Palmer River, much food was obtained from river fishing and herring runs. The colony suffered damage in the King Philip's War, but many houses still exist today.
Sandwich was first settled in 1637 and officially incorporated in 1639.
Scituate was settled by a group of people from Plymouth about 1627, who were joined by immigrants from the County of Kent in England. They were initially governed by the General Court at Plymouth; in 1636 the town elected its own officers.
Taunton was a major bog iron and silversmithing hub, settled by 1637. Called Cohanet before being incorporated in 1639, it had a ready supply of iron from nearby swamps. Robert Treat Paine, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, was from this town.
Yarmouth was first settled in 1639 and was officially incorporated that same year.

[edit] Official Seal

Seal of Plymouth Colony

Still used by the town of Plymouth, the seal of the Plymouth Colony has obscure origins. The original seal was lost and its appearance recovered during the short-lived Dominion of New England. It depicts four figures within a shield bearing St George's Cross, apparently in Native style clothing, each carrying the burning heart symbol of John Calvin. The seal was also used by the County of Plymouth until 1931.