A beginner's historyMace, William H. (William Harrison)
History
A beginner's history
Mace, William H. (William Harrison)
United States -- History
=40. A Colony of Catholics and Protestants.= When the people of England
began to change their religion, some became Puritans, others members of
the English Church, and still others Catholics. Great disputes arose
among the religious sects. There was much persecution. To escape this,
many English people fled to the New World. The Puritans settled in New
England, and the Cavalier members of the English Church found new
homes in Virginia.
George Calvert desired to find a home for his people, the Catholics.
He had studied at Oxford University, and had been secretary to one of
Queen Elizabeth's great statesmen. When James I became king, he made
Calvert Baron of Baltimore.
[Sidenote: =Charles I gives Baltimore a part of Virginia=]
His successor, Charles I, was also Baltimore's friend, and when the
latter asked the king for permission to found a colony of Catholics in
America, Charles gave him the whole of what is now Maryland. He also
declared that the colony should bear the name of Maryland in honor of
his queen, Henrietta Maria.
[Sidenote: =All permitted to worship as they pleased=]
Lord Baltimore immediately began to gather a colony of emigrants. He
welcomed Protestants as well as Catholics, for it was decided that in
the colony of Maryland all Christians were to have the same rights.
Very few nations in the world at that time permitted people to worship
as they pleased.
Lord Baltimore died before the expedition was ready, and according to
the custom of England, Cecil Calvert, his eldest son, fell heir to his
estate and titles. The new Lord Baltimore sent more than three hundred
persons in two ships, the _Ark_ and the _Dove_. The long voyage had a
happy ending; the immigrants reached the mouth of the Potomac in the
springtime, when Maryland is at the height of its beauty (1634).
[Sidenote: =The Indians are friendly=]
Governor Calvert, in the _Dove_, sailed up the Potomac. He decided to
locate his little village, which was to be called St. Mary's, on land
occupied by the Indians. He paid for the land on which the wigwams and
cornfields stood, and the Indians invited the settlers to live with
them until their log cabins could be built. This good feeling lasted a
long time, and these settlers escaped the savage wars from which many
of the colonists suffered in the early days.
[Sidenote: =Annapolis founded=]
Many Puritans came into Maryland and settled a town afterwards named
Annapolis. A number of interesting events took place there in the early
days. Later the city became the home of the famous training school for
the American navy, the United States Naval Academy.
[Illustration: GOVERNOR CALVERT LOCATING THE VILLAGE OF ST. MARY'S]
Once Baltimore's authority was taken away because there were some
disputes with a Virginian high in authority. The Puritans joined him
and overthrew Baltimore's rule. Later, however, his authority was
restored and religious freedom reëstablished.
[Sidenote: =Baltimore settled=]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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