Essay on Thomas Morton and the Puritans - 2673 Words

Thomas Morton and the Puritans An anti-city on a hill with a maypole compensating for something? A pleasurable refuge for indentured servants freed from service and respected natives? A place where a man just wanted to annoy his uptight, religious neighbors? Those are the obvious conclusions, but with like most anything in history, theres meaning and significance that we dont catch at first glance. Thomas Morton had an agenda, puritan leader John Winthrop may have had a secret, and there are so many fictions surrounding their whole story, its hard to tell whats reality and whats not. Its time to sift through the parts, and piece together a bigger picture, asking one, main question: Why were Morton and the Puritans engaged in†¦show more content†¦But he became governor of Plymouth Plantation in 1621. He adorned Morton with the derogatory nickname, Lord of Misrule, who ran a School of Atheism (Bradford 321). In 1630, after the first time Morton was sent to England, accused of selling guns to the Indians and then returned (due to a knight, Ferdinando Gorges, who needed someone to spy on the Separatists because he wanted New England as his fiefdom), Governor John Winthrop of the Massachusetts Bay Companys colony, joined with Bradford to keep Morton out of their hair (McWilliams 8-9). They charged Morton with the stealing of a canoe (10) from the Indians, and wrote letters to England accusing him of murder. That didnt work either -- he just told Gorges he was a persecuted Anglican (10). The men never settled their differences; after a third attempt at jailing Morton for a year, Winthrop, urged him to leave Massachusetts (11). He did, and died in 1647, at the age of 67, in Maine. That was only a quick overview of the key players. Since it started with Mare-Mount, lets explore the name itself. McWilliams explains the many, suggestive meanings: By playing upon the double meaning of mount and the four-fold connotations of mare (joyful, Mother of Christ, to join in matrimony, a female horse), Morton may have hoped to provoke his Puritan neighbors... (7). Was this all just to offend a peoples religious sensibilities? Of course not -- it was aShow MoreRelatedWilliam Bradford and Thomas Morton1110 Words   |  5 PagesIn the New World Bradford and Morton were both important men of our history. The stories of both great men give us an insight into the way religion and influence affected Puritan life. William Bradford said he believed, â€Å"Plymouth people were the chosen people to live out their last days in the earthly church† (Daly pg 560). Puritan settlers came to the new world seeking a better life and to get away from the rule of the Catholic Church they wanted to become a primitive Baptist church like in theRead MoreOpposing Views of Early Americans, Thomas Morton and John Winthrop1423 Words   |  6 PagesThere may not be two more contrasting characters of early America then Thomas Morton and John Winthrop. Morton was nicknamed, Leader of Misrule while Winthrop was seen as the model of [a] perfect earthly ruler (147). These two figures not only help settle a new land, they also had firsthand knowledge of each other. They are not two people that lived years apart from each other but rather they lived concurrently. With two such polarizing people living in a small new land, there was bound toRead MoreReaction Toward Natives And Puritans984 Words   |  4 Page sReaction toward Natives Puritans Thomas Morton and William Bradford lives started off very differently, which may indeed be the reason why they have very different views on the Natives and Puritans. Looking into these differences there is a definite reason why they choose the path they did. Morton taking interest in the Natives and disliking the Puritans happened due to his beliefs and his interest in new things. Bradford for intense was a Puritan, and came to dislike the Natives due to the factRead MoreAnalysis Of The Poem Rip Van Winkle 1527 Words   |  7 Pagesshort story as a new genre in American literature, as William Hedges observes, yet I find it surprising that this story could have been taught as utterly original. 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Both men are affected by the desire to promote their beliefs and to make their tales appear authentic; thereforeRead MoreThe American Character Essay1814 Words   |  8 Pagesfreedom. This parallels history in that a monarchy must be extinguished for the colonists to ignite the freedom that a democratic society provides. Irving’s keen writing exemplifies his historical insight in the tale â€Å"Rip Van Winkle.† Strong puritan beliefs are discussed in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s piece of 1835 â€Å"Young Goodman Brown.† An important question rises that ignites more questions on the role of God versus the devil in how we live our lives, the choices we make, and our uncertain salvationRead MoreThe History of American Literature3501 Words   |  15 Pagesbefore settlers arrived in America, explorers reported on their voyages to the continent. Italian explorer Amerigo Vespucci provided some of the earliest European descriptions of the American continent. Before 1600 Sir Walter Raleigh, Richard Hakluyt, Thomas Harriot, and John White had published accounts of discoveries. The writings of Captain John Smith, an explorer whose travels took him up and down the eastern seaboard of America, represent a shift from exploration narrative toward early historyRead More Timeline of American Literature and Events Essay3022 Words   |  13 Pageskilled over 300 settlers. Jamestown only survived because of a last minute warning but burned down in 1698. Many colonists that survived celebrated May Day on May 1, 1628 with Thomas Morton dancing around a maypole, but the Plymouth Pilgrims were against this display of celebration, and Captain Miles Standish sent Thomas Morton back to England. Intolerance continued when Anne Hutchinson was forced to leave Boston because of her religious beliefs and influence to help establish Rhode Island in 1638Read MoreNavajo Creation Story Analysis1136 Words   |  5 Pagespleased God to smite this young man† (Bradford A: 131). He then reinforces the notion of God’s intervention when he follows the statement with the assertion that the young man’s friends believed what happened to him was God’s will. New English Canaan Thomas Morton’s book, â€Å"New English Canaan† has several literary figures dispersed throughout the chapters. Most notable is the use of a rhyming scheme in both of the poems, â€Å"The Poem† and â€Å"The Song†. The rhyme in â€Å"The Poem† is an iambic pentameter for exampleRead MoreEssay Utopia4252 Words   |  18 Pagesclarissimi disertissimique viri THOMAE MORI inclutae civitatis Londinensis civis et Vicecomitis’, translated into English would read, ‘ON THE BEST STATE OF A COMMONWEALTH AND ON THE NEW ISLAND OF UTOPIA, by the Most Distinguished and Eloquent Author THOMAS MORE Citizen and Undersheriff of the Famous City of London.’. Utopia (Latin: no-place) is a society of great planning and capability. A community where individuals compromised their rights for the good of the collective and focused on a communal