Maryland. This was the first enactment of the kind in the United States and merited for the colony the name "Land of the Sanctuary." When the Protestants obtained a majority in the Maryland assembly, they repealed the Toleration Act (1654), excluded Catholics from the Assembly, refused them the protection of the law, and forbade the practice of their worship. The result was a civil war. For three years the victory alternated. At one time there existed two governments, one Protestant, the other Catholic. Finally, Lord Baltimore was entirely deprived (1691) of his proprietary rights, and Maryland became a royal province. The Catholics were disfranchised; the Church of England was established by law, and the capital was removed to the center of Protestant influence, which was now called Annapolis. At length (1714) the fifth Lord Baltimore (Benedict), renounced his Catholic faith and was restored to his proprietary rights. Maryland remained a proprietary colony until the rule of the sixth Lord Baltimore was ended by the Declaration of Independence. The Catholics, however, did not recover their rights until after the Revolution. 121. The Mason and Dixon's Line. In order to dispose of much ill feeling between Maryland and Pennsylvania, arising from boundary disputes, the Mason and Dixon's Line was established (1763-67). This east-west boundary line, fixed by two eminent surveyors, Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon, was adopted by Maryland and Pennsylvania as limiting their respective territories. It was later extended westward and became noted in history as marking the division between the free and the slave states. 122. Religion-Customs-Education. The Maryland people were very much like the Virginians except in religious matters. Like them, they were social and hospitable; sought amusements in outdoor sports (horse racing, fox hunting, etc.); had few towns, lived on broad plantations, and raised tobacco as a staple crop. They cultivated at an early date Indian corn and the sweet potato, and caught oysters and shot wild ducks in the waters of the bay. Negro slaves performed the work on the plantations. They lived apart in detached huts, although, in Catholic families, their religious training was the same as that of members of the household. The Catholics of Maryland brought with them their learned Jesuit teachers, who instructed their children, as well as those of the red man, in the essentials of religious and secular learning. From the repeal of the Toleration Act until the Revolu tion, the instruction of Catholic youth by Catholic teachers was prohibited. The Jesuits, notwithstanding, secretly maintained. two schools for boys. However, there were very few schools of any kind before the Revolution. The earliest was King William's School, now St. John's College, which was established (1694) at Annapolis by Nicholson, the second royal governor appointed by William and Mary. 123. Three Notable Facts. Among the thirteen original colonies Maryland was the first proprietary colony, the first self-governing colony, and the first colony to grant religious freedom. THE SETTLEMENT OF THE CAROLINAS 124. The Carolina Grant. Charles II of England, noted for his liberality in giving away American lands, granted (1663) the fertile territory stretching from Virginia to Florida and extending westward to the Pacific to Lord Clarendon and seven associates. These noblemen had either assisted the king in the recovery of his throne or befriended him in his exile during Cromwell's supremacy. The French, a century previous, had given the name Carolina to their attempted settlements in this region in honor of Charles IX of France. The Carolina proprietors retained the name out of compliment to Charles II of England. 125. The Grand Model-The Carolinas as Royal Colonies. A code of laws, called the "Grand Model," was drawn up for the government of the province of Carolina by the English philosopher, Locke. It divided the territory into provinces of nearly half a million acres, each to be governed by a landgrave, with a whole order of nobles under him. No settler was to vote unless he owned fifty or more acres of land. The tillers of the soil were to be serfs, and inferior to these were to be the slaves. In short, the "Grand Model" was to be a revival of the feudal system which had long since ceased to exist in the country that was now trying to bring it into existence again. Its only good feature was that it guaranteed religious liberty to all. The Church of England was, however, established by law. It was The Grand Model proved to be a grand failure. aristocratic, giving all the power to the nobles and barons, leaving the people in a condition of serfdom; the people, however, were determined to govern themselves. They decidedly objected to the Model; consequently, its regulations were never fully and fairly put into effect, although it reremained nominally in force for more than twenty years. Finally it was set aside by Parliament, which purchased the rights of the proprietors and divided the province into North Carolina and South Carolina. From this time (1729) until the Revolution (1775) the Carolinas remained two distinct royal colonies. 126. North Carolina Settled. North Carolina was first settled (1653) at Albemarle Sound by immigrants from Virginia under the leadership of Roger Greene. It was later called Albemarle in honor of the Duke of Albemarle, one of the proprietors. Among the people who first came to North Carolina were many rough characters; but there were also many industrious small farmers, and Quakers and Puritans, who had been expelled from other colonies. A number of settlers from the West Indies, under George Yeamans, established themselves (1664) near the mouth of the Cape Fear River, the present site of Wilmington, and with some New Englanders formed the Clarendon Colony. 127. Growth of the Colony. The growth of North Carolina was, at first, slow. The settlement at Albemarle made little progress; that at Clarendon was abandoned. After 1700, however, large numbers of French and Germans, and some years later many Irish, Scotch, and Swiss, emigrated to the colony. From this time on the population grew so fast that, during the Revolution, North Carolina ranked fourth among the thirteen original colonies. This population, however, lived widely scattered along the coast or in the roadless wilds and woods, either raising grain and live stock on small farms, or engaged in cutting timber, making tar and turpentine, hunting the bear, and trapping the beaver. These conditions were not conducive to the growth of industrial centers; hence, early North Carolina had no towns, and in power and importance she could not compare with her northern sister colonies. The people, nevertheless, loved their beautiful summer land. Cut off from the rest of the world, happy and contented in their isolation, they formed a sturdy colony, tolerant in religious matters, and marked by a spirit of independence. They were not free, however, from trouble with the Indians. A powerful tribe called Tuscaroras attacked and massacred (1711) hundreds of colonists. After two years of warfare the savages were defeated. They then joined their kinsmen of New York, known before this time as the Five Nations, and after this as the Six Nations. THE FOUNDING OF SOUTH CAROLINA 128. Industrial Growth. South Carolina was first settled (1670) on the Ashley River by immigrants from England under the leadership of William Sayle and Joseph West. This settlement originally known as the Carteret Colony, was removed after a few years (1680) to a better situation at the junction of the Ashley and Cooper rivers. Thus was laid the foundation of Charleston, the fifth largest city in colonial America. The only larger cities were Philadelphia, New York, Boston, and Baltimore. The South Carolina people early engaged in agricultural pursuits. They soon ascertained that the soil and the climate were suitable for the growing of all the plants of the Old World. Plantations of pears, olives, and mulberry trees soon extended along the Cooper and Santee rivers. Rice was introduced from Madagascar and was found well adapted to the lowlands; indigo flourished, and later cotton became a most important staple. South Carolina traded extensively with the Indians in furs, and had a large export trade to the northern colonies and the West Indies in forest products-timber, pitch, and turpentine. The result of the profitable commerce in rice and indigo |