NEW JERSEY SETTLED 85 Settlement them, known as the "Charter of Liberties," established the authority of the assembly, guaranteed triennial sessions, and provided for freedom of conscience and the popular assent to taxes. The whole fifteen seem to have been approved at first by the Duke of York, but before they were registered he became James II, and New York became a royal province. The laws now went before the Committee of Trade, which found that the "Charter of Liberties" asserted too definitely the right of the assembly to govern the colony. In fact, at that time there was in England a tendency to reduce the powers of colonial assemblies; and since James II as king did not need his colonial revenue, the "charter" was disallowed. When Governor Dongan in 1686 received a new commission, being now a royal governor, he was authorized to make the laws for the colony. Thus ended for the Stuart period the progress of liberal government in New York. In 1664, the year New York was granted to the Duke, that part of it which now comprises New Jersey was by the grantee transferred to Lord John Berkeley and Sir George Carteret and called New Jersey, from the Island of Jersey, which Carteret of New had bravely defended during the Puritan wars. The Jersey. governor of New York protested in the name of his superior that the grant only passed title to the land, but Berkeley and Carteret insisted that it conferred on them the rights of government as well, and they proceeded to organize the government of New Jersey, with a governor, council, assembly, and local officers. The dispute was finally settled in their favor. Some settlers were already within the colony, Dutch and English, and more came. Among them were many New England men who brought in the democratic spirit of their former homes. At length the two proprietors divided their holding. Then Berkeley sold his share, the western part, to four prominent Quakers, among them William East and Penn. In 1682 East Jersey was purchased by Quakers Jersey. from the Carteret heirs, and soon after a small remnant was acquired from Fenwick, who held by a previous grant from Berkeley. Thus the two Jerseys became Quaker colonies. In the eastern part the settlers were chiefly New Englanders, in the western part they were Quakers. Both sections enjoyed religious liberty and prospered under a liberal form of government. West Penn's But William Penn was not satisfied with a colony depending so largely on charters badly defined, and in 1681 he secured from King Charles a patent for Pennsylvania, west of the Delaware, and made plans to build a commonwealth on Quaker Charter. principles. The name was given by the king himself, much to the chagrin of Penn, who wished to avoid a semblance of vanity. The grant was evidently to satisfy the king's debt to Penn's father, who had been a British admiral. It gave Penn, the sole proprietor, ample power to devise a government. But recent experiences had taught the king that a colony was capable of becom ing quite an independent affair, and it was provided that the Pennsylvania laws be submitted to the king, that the navigation acts be enforced, and that the supremacy of Parliament be recognized. to Settlers. Penn's terms to attract colonists were liberal. To those Englishmen, Swedes, and Dutchmen who were already in the region ceded he offered assurances of protection, and in 1681 he sent them a governor. In England he himself was ceaselessly active in measures to attract immigrants. His position among the Quakers was such Proposals that his invitation must be heard. It was sent forth with persuasive charms. Let all thrifty men, he said, who wished to establish prosperous homes in a new land and all who would live in just equality with their neighbors come to Pennsylvania. No religious discrimination should be made against any man who acknowledged the existence of God, but only Christians could take part in government. His ideas of good government were embodied in a published "Frame of Government." Any government," he said, "is free to the people under it, whatever be the frame, where the laws rule and the people are a party to those laws, and more than this is tyranny, oligarchy, or confusion." To an age keenly alive to the dangers of the doctrine of divine right of kings this must have been a voice of comfort. In 1682 Penn himself arrived in Pennsylvania, accompanied by about one hundred colonists. In 1682 he had acquired what is now Arrival of Delaware from the Duke of York, in order that his colony might have sea front; and he first visited the settlements already planted about New Castle. Having confirmed. the government of the three "Lower Counties," i.e. Delaware, he went on to Philadelphia, the site of which had already been selected under his directions at the confluence of the Schuylkill and Delaware rivers. Its broad streets, at right angles with one another, gave the place an air of dignity which long impressed visitors. It was Penn's desire that each dwelling should be in the center of a garden in order that Philadelphia might be "a green country town, which will never be burned and always be wholesome." He gave careful supervision to all that pertained to the colony, and said in seven years, "with the help of God," Pennsylvania would equal her neighbors in population. The boast was not too large, for immigrants came in large numbers, and in three years the population exceeded eight thousand. Penn's benevolence was seen in his policy toward the natives. He took no land without making treaties in which he gave articles of value to the savages. One treaty, in June, 1683, probably at Shackamaxon, now Kensington, became famous, and tradition long referred to the "Treaty Elm" under which Penn and the Indians. it was made. The result of this policy was uninterrupted peace EARLY PENNSYLVANIA GOVERNMENT 87 with the Indians of eastern Pennsylvania. It was supported by the sobriety of the inhabitants and by the absence of frontier land squatters who occasioned most of the Indian wars in other colonies. Like the Self-Government in Pennsyl Penn's "Frame of Government" provided for a council of 72 members and an assembly of 200, all elected by the freeholders. Fundamental Constitutions of Carolina, it was drawn for a large colony and without reference to actual conditions in a new country. Penn did not attempt to put it into operation. His first assembly, which met in De- vania. cember, 1682, consisted of a council of eighteen members and a lower house of 54, all elected by the settlers. To this body he gave the privilege of preparing the government of the colony, with the result that a "Great Charter" was enacted by the assembly, April 8, 1683, in which all the functions of government were provided for by the representatives of the people. Penn accepted it, for he wished for nothing more than that men should govern themselves in their own way, but in a spirit of enlightened benevolence. However, his personal influence had much to do with the form of government adopted. Another measure of this first assembly was to incorporate the Lower Counties with Pennsylvania. It was action very objectionable to the people of the Counties themselves, and they soon began an agitation which resulted, early in the next century, in their separation as a distinct colony though still under the governor appointed by Penn for Pennsylvania. Delaware. turns to England. Meanwhile, Penn was called to England, partly to relieve his distressed brethren through his personal influence with the Duke of York and partly to arrange a boundary dispute with Lord Baltimore. In the first instance he was easily successful; Penn Refor 1200 Quakers were released from prison through his intercessions. In the second he was also successful, but it was many years before the victory was secured. The controversy with Lord Baltimore goes back to the grant of 1681, which undoubtedly included within Pennsylvania lands Charles I had granted to Maryland. The fortieth parallel of latitude marked Maryland's northern boundary by the charter of 1632; but Penn's charter provided that his southern line should begin with a semi- The Penncircle with a radius of twelve miles from New Castle and proceed westward on the fortieth parallel from the point Controversy. at which the semicircle cut that parallel. On investigation it was found that New Castle was 20 miles south of the fortieth parallel, and if the semicircle were drawn as described, it would leave a broad strip of Maryland in the new colony. Penn argued his rights against Baltimore, but could not settle the dispute. The latter naturally held to his rights under a grant previous to 1681; but Penn, who was bent on having an outlet to the sea, would not relent, and the dispute Baltimore was continued by the two men and their heirs until 1760. In that year the present boundary was agreed upon, and in 1767 it was run by Mason and Dixon. Penn gets Even more annoying was the controversy for the possession of Delaware. All the colony was within the bounds of the Maryland patent, but the Duke of York claimed it by the conquest of the Dutch, and Baltimore did not dispute the claim. to Delaware. When, however, the Duke transferred Delaware to Penn the Maryland proprietor asserted his rights and seemed about to prevent the confirmation of the Duke's grant when Penn returned to England, 1684. The influence of the Quaker proved sufficient for his cause, and in 1685 his right to Delaware was recognized by the Lords of Trade. His wonderful influence with James, now become king, was the despair of his enemies, who started the report, widely believed at the time, that Penn was in reality a Jesuit. He came under suspicion when James was driven out, was arrested, and for a time, 1692-1694, his colony was taken from him. He easily cleared himself of the charges and was restored to his rights. In England many misfortunes beset him. Chief among them was the His Second news that the colonists were wrangling over the powers of government. After many gentle remonstrances he himself came back in 1699, and for five years modified by his presence the strife which is, perhaps, inherent in a democracy such as he had created. Spite of the divisions the colony grew rapidly in numbers and wealth. at Peace. THE STUART REACTION The Cromwellian period in Maryland history, so full of political and military combat, was succeeded by an interval of quiet. Each side had learned something in the conflict. The proprietor, Maryland who easily secured the recognition of his rights from Charles II, knew well that turmoil interfered with industry and consequently lessened his income. The people longed for peace. The toleration act of 1649, made to meet an exigency of the time, remained a permanent result of the late conflict, and for a time Catholics and Protestants lived together amicably. Ideals of Cecil Calvert, the second Lord Baltimore, died in 1675. Under him the colony was founded, and his tactfulness had brought it through many dangers. His son and successor, Charles, governor from 1661-1675, was a man of downright convictions, and knew not his father's art of compromising. Like other English noblemen of the day he wished to use political power for the benefit of his family and dependents. What Charles II did in England, what the Duke of York did in New York, and what Berkeley did in Virginia, Charles Calvert, as governor and as pro STUART IDEALS RESISTED 89 prietor, sought to do in Maryland. Through him the offices were filled with kinsmen, the suffrage was limited to freeholders, and only half of the members-elect were summoned to the assembly. This policy awakened the old spirit of resistance, and in 1676, while Lord Baltimore was absent, a band of sixty, incited by Bacon's example in Virginia, gathered to overthrow the proprietary government. The governor seized and hanged the popular leaders, Davis and Pate, and the rebellion collapsed. But the spirit of discontent did not disappear. The absence of Baltimore in order to oppose Penn's efforts in England gave opportunity to its growth. Eventually he fell into a dispute Revolution with the collectors of the royal revenues in Maryland and in Maryland. the king took the side of his own officers. Most important of all, the struggle was given a religious cast. The accession of James II, a Catholic sovereign, in 1685 accentuated this phase of the controversy. When the royal prince, called the "Old Pretender" by most Protestants, was born, he was proclaimed in Maryland by the proprietary governor with impolitic fervor. The Protestants, through the progress of immigration many times as numerous as the Catholics, were ready for revolt. Then came news that William of Orange had landed in England. No longer restrained, they formed under the lead of John Corde and others an Association for the Defense of the Protestant Religion. They seized St. Mary's, the seat of government, dispersed the Catholic bands who met to resist them, sent a loyal address to William and Mary, and held an assembly in which representation was on a popular basis. The new sovereign of England accepted the revolution in Maryland, which then became a royal province. In 1715 a Protestant succeeded to the Baltimore title and was restored to his full rights in Maryland, which from that time until the revolution was a proprietary colony. Berkeley's For sixteen years after the Restoration political authority in Virginia was the will of Governor William Berkeley. As Charles II prolonged his own supremacy by maintaining the "Cavalier Parliament" for seventeen years, so Berkeley in Virginia Despotism. kept alive for fourteen years the assembly chosen in 1661 in the height of enthusiasm for the Stuarts. By this means, by nominating his own councillors, and by making other appointments judiciously, he concentrated the authority in the hands of a small group of wealthy planters who depended on his own favor. Meanwhile, the price of tobacco had steadily fallen, due partly to the navigation acts and partly to over-production. Virginia had no other money crop, and naturally exploited that to the limit of her capacity. Proposals to limit production had little effect, and there was much suffering. Throughout this period prices of imported merchandise grew higher, the planters fell into debt to the London merchants, and the spirit of hopelessness easily ran into defiance. Berkeley's |