Plymouth, Massachusetts Bay and the little-known colony of Providence Island in the Caribbean were part of a broader Puritan geopolitical strategy to solve England's problems.
A fascinating article and very fitting for the day after Thanksgiving, Dr. Martin! I didn't know any of this! The Puritans sought to leave England go to the New World and build a society that would reflect their high religious ideals and to assist England in tipping the balance of power away from Spain. It also serves to relieve the religious instability in England, not to mention the population of the country had exploded. Spain was the undisputed leading world superpower, had colonies all over South and Central America and had the world’s greatest navy, the Spanish Armada. They had been the first to get into the world and establish colonies. However, the race for colonies had expanded as the English, Dutch and Swedes joined the fray. The English sought to knock the Spanish off as the world’s preeminent power. That combined with all the other three factors mentioned above, is why the Mayflower risked death, starvation, calamity at sea, and much more to make the harrowing voyage across the Atlantic Ocean to the New World.
The crew consisting of Pilgrims and non-Pilgrims led by William Bradford and Miles Standish led the daring voyage. Much of the crew would die before finally they arrived in what today we would be called the Island of Mosquita located off the northern coast of Panama. They called this colony the Providence Island colony. But it failed because of a variety of problems. They couldn’t find anywhere suitable to build settlements, there were already Dutch privateers living there, there were quarrels over religion, didn’t have the men and materiel they needed, their attempts to live in peace with the local Indians failed, and the Spanish kept attacking it.
But the Massachusetts Bay Colony and Plymouth Bay Colony would be a different story. Both would become prosperous and successful. North America didn’t have South or Central America’s mineral wealth. But it did have other valuable things to build the basis for an economy on like timber, fishing, agriculture, and most of all the fur trade. The Pilgrims at Plymouth Bay nearly all died. They only survived because of hard work, ingenuity, their faith in God, the will to survive, and assistance from the Native Americans. Samoset, Squanto and the great Chief Massasoit were all key figures in helping the Plymouth Bay Colony survive. They held the first Thanksgiving dinner to celebrate the fact they survived the winter together and signed a peace treaty that lasted for fifty-years. The Pilgrim-Wampanoag Alliance is quite an inspiring story. Both peoples were ravaged by diseases and the Wampanoag’s numbers had been reduced even more by warfare with other tribes. They needed each other and together they looked death in the face and bravely laughed at it!
Your historical perspectives lead to a sober and sensible view of today's world, addressing challenges with informed common sense. We can and should consider cause and effect in problem-solving as circumstance, not as unprecedented, unsolvable calamity. Your Christian worldview further clarifies truth and discerns restorative direction. I'm thankful for your service to our nation.
A fascinating article and very fitting for the day after Thanksgiving, Dr. Martin! I didn't know any of this! The Puritans sought to leave England go to the New World and build a society that would reflect their high religious ideals and to assist England in tipping the balance of power away from Spain. It also serves to relieve the religious instability in England, not to mention the population of the country had exploded. Spain was the undisputed leading world superpower, had colonies all over South and Central America and had the world’s greatest navy, the Spanish Armada. They had been the first to get into the world and establish colonies. However, the race for colonies had expanded as the English, Dutch and Swedes joined the fray. The English sought to knock the Spanish off as the world’s preeminent power. That combined with all the other three factors mentioned above, is why the Mayflower risked death, starvation, calamity at sea, and much more to make the harrowing voyage across the Atlantic Ocean to the New World.
The crew consisting of Pilgrims and non-Pilgrims led by William Bradford and Miles Standish led the daring voyage. Much of the crew would die before finally they arrived in what today we would be called the Island of Mosquita located off the northern coast of Panama. They called this colony the Providence Island colony. But it failed because of a variety of problems. They couldn’t find anywhere suitable to build settlements, there were already Dutch privateers living there, there were quarrels over religion, didn’t have the men and materiel they needed, their attempts to live in peace with the local Indians failed, and the Spanish kept attacking it.
But the Massachusetts Bay Colony and Plymouth Bay Colony would be a different story. Both would become prosperous and successful. North America didn’t have South or Central America’s mineral wealth. But it did have other valuable things to build the basis for an economy on like timber, fishing, agriculture, and most of all the fur trade. The Pilgrims at Plymouth Bay nearly all died. They only survived because of hard work, ingenuity, their faith in God, the will to survive, and assistance from the Native Americans. Samoset, Squanto and the great Chief Massasoit were all key figures in helping the Plymouth Bay Colony survive. They held the first Thanksgiving dinner to celebrate the fact they survived the winter together and signed a peace treaty that lasted for fifty-years. The Pilgrim-Wampanoag Alliance is quite an inspiring story. Both peoples were ravaged by diseases and the Wampanoag’s numbers had been reduced even more by warfare with other tribes. They needed each other and together they looked death in the face and bravely laughed at it!
Your historical perspectives lead to a sober and sensible view of today's world, addressing challenges with informed common sense. We can and should consider cause and effect in problem-solving as circumstance, not as unprecedented, unsolvable calamity. Your Christian worldview further clarifies truth and discerns restorative direction. I'm thankful for your service to our nation.
Thank you!