European Settlement Plymouth Colony GA SSUSH 1 b

European Settlement: Plymouth Colony (GA: SSUSH 1 b, 1 e)

The Plymouth Colony “The Landing of the Pilgrims at Plymouth, Mass. , Dec. 22 nd, 1620, ” Lithograph, Published by Currier & Ives, c 1876.

TIME / GEOGRAPHY

Plymouth Colony

RELIGIOUS

Pilgrims • Church of England (Anglicanism) – Created during the Reformation as a “middleway” between Protestantism and Catholicism Thomas Cranmer (1489– 1556), archbishop of Canterbury and principal author of the first two Books of Common Prayer • Calvinism – A Protestant form of Christian theology by John Calvin – Argues for an omnipotent (all-powerful) God – God chooses who goes to “Heaven” and who goes to “Hell” Sixteenth-century portrait of John Calvin (1509 - 1564) by an unknown artist

Pilgrims • Primitivism (primitive + ism) – A consequence of the Protestant Reformation – The idea that the earliest (most primitive) form of Christianity is the correct form Mural painting from the catacomb of Commodilla, Rome. Bust of Christ, c. 4 th Century. Anglicanism + Calvinism + Primitivism = Puritans William Brewster (c. 1560– 1643) was a Pilgrim colonist leader and preacher

Pilgrims • Pilgrims believed that the Church of England was beyond fixing – The only answer was to leave and start a better form of Christianity – This was not received well by traditional Anglicans – The Pilgrims (then called “Separatists”) traveled to neighboring countries to find a new home and religious freedom • They decided the best place to go was the New World – 1620: 102 Pilgrims set sail for Virginia

INTELLECTUAL

The Mayflower

The Mayflower • 1620: a group of 102 people (half Separatists) – Negotiated with the Virginia Company to settle in its jurisdiction – Non-Separatists included Captain Myles Standish • Instead of landing in Virginia the Pilgrims landed in Southern Massachusetts – Became squatters without legal right to land & specific authority to establish a govt.

POLITICAL

Mayflower Compact

Mayflower Compact • Written and signed before the Pilgrims disembarked from the ship. • Not a constitution, but an agreement to form a crude govt. and submit to majority rule. § Signed by 41 adult males. • Led to adult male settlers meeting in assemblies to make laws in town meetings.

SOCIAL

Plymouth Colony • Winter of 1620 -1621 – Unexpectedly hard winter Average England Winter = 35°F Average Plymouth Winter = 18°F The Result… 44 of the 102 died.

Plymouth Colony • Fall of 1621: First “Thanksgiving. ” § Colony survived with fur [especially beaver], fish, and lumber

ECONOMIC

Plymouth Colony • Plymouth stayed small and economically unimportant. – In 1691: only 7, 000 people in colony – Merged with Massachusetts Bay Colony.

AESTHETIC

Clothing

Architecture

Other Forms of Art? • Why was there no Visual or Musical Art created during the early Plymouth Colony?

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