VIRGINIA AND MARYLAND

弗吉尼亚和马里兰

New conditions of living in England.

The Virginia Company.

The Virginia colonists at Jamestown, 1607. Higginson, 52, 110-117; Eggleston, 1928; Explorers 231-269.

31. The Virginia Company, 1606. —English people were now beginning to think in earnest of founding colonies. It was getting harder and harder to earn one’s living in England, and it was very difficult to invest one’s moneyin any useful way. It followed, from this, that there were many men who were glad to become colonists, and many persons who were glad to provide money to pay for founding colonies. In 1606 the Virginia Company was formed and colonization began on a large scale.

32. Founding of Jamestown, 1607.— The first colonists sailed for Virginia in December, 1606. They were months on the way and suffered terrible hardships. At last they reached Chesapeake Bay and James River and settled on a peninsula on the James, about thirty miles from its mouth. Across the little isthmus which connected this peninsula with the mainland they built a strong fence, or stockade, to keep the Indians away from their huts. Their settlement they named Jamestown. The early colonists of Virginia were not verywell fitted for such a work. Some of them were

gentlemen who had never labored with their hands; others were poor, idle fellows whose only wish was to do nothing whatever. There were a few energetic men among them as Ratcliffe, Archer, and Smith. But these spent most of their time in exploring the bay and the rivers, in hunting for gold, and in quarreling with one another. With the summer came fevers, and soon fifty of the one hundred and five original colonists were dead. Then followed a cold, hard winter, and many of those who had not died of fever in the summer, now died of cold. The colonists brought little food with them, they were too lazy to plant much corn, and they were able to get only small supplies from the Indians. Indeed, the early history of Virginia is given mainly to accounts of “starving times.” Of the first thousand colonists not one hundred lived to tell the tale of those earlydays.

Sickness and death.

Sir Thomas Dale.

His wise action.

Tobacco.

33. Sir Thomas Dale and Good Order. —In 1611 Sir Thomas Dale came out as ruler, and he ruled with an iron hand. If a man refused to work, Dale made a slave of him for three years; if he did not work hard enough, Dale had him soundly whipped. But Sir Thomas Dale was not only a severe man; he was also a wise man. Hitherto everything had been in common. Dale now tried the experiment of giving three acres of land to every one of the old planters, and he also allowed them time to work on their own land.

34. Tobacco-growing and Prosperity. —European people were now beginning to use tobacco. Most of it came from the Spanish colonies.

Tobacco grew wild in Virginia. But the colonists at first did not know how to dry it and make it fit for smoking. After a few years they found out howto prepare it. They now worked with great eagerness and planted tobacco on every spot of cleared land. Men with money came over from England. They brought many workingmen with them and planted large pieces of ground. Soon tobacco became the money of the colony, and the whole life of Virginia turned on its cultivation. But it was difficult to find enough laborers to do thnecessary work.

Prosperity.

White servants.Criminals.

Negro slaves, 1619.

Sir Edwin Sandys.

The first American legislature, 1619.

End of the Virginia Company, 1624.

35. Servants and Slaves. —Most of the laborers were white men and women who were bound to service for terms of years. These were called servants. Some of them were poor persons who sold their labor to pay for their passage to Virginia. Others were unfortunate men and women and even children who were stolen from their families and sold to the colonists. Still others were criminals whom King James sent over to the colony because that was the cheapest thing to do with them. In 1619 the first negro slaves werebrought to Virginia by a Dutch vessel. The Virginians bought them all—only twenty in number. But the planters preferred white laborers. It was not until more that twenty-five years had passed away that the slaves really becamenumerous enough to make much difference in the life of the colony.

36. The first American Legislature, 1619 —The men who first formed the Virginia Company had long since lost interest in it. Other men had taken their places. These latter were mostly Puritans or were the friends and workers with the Puritans. The best known of them was Sir Edwin Sandys, the playmate of William Brewster—one of the Pilgrim Fathers. Sandys and his friends sent Sir George Yeardley to Virginia as governor. They ordered him to summon an assembly to be made up of representatives chosen by the freemen of the colony. These representatives soon did away with Dale’s ferocious regulations, and made other and much milder laws.

37. Virginia becomes a Royal Province, 1624. —The Virginians thought this was a very good way to be governed. But King James thought that the new rulers of the Virginia Company were much too liberal, and he determined to destroy the company. The judges in those days dared not displease the king for he could turn them out of office at any time. So when he told them to destroy the Virginia charter they took the very first opportunity to declare it to be of no force. In this way the Virginia Company came to an end, and Virginia became a royal province with a governor appointed by the king.

Virginia a royal province.

Intolerance in Virginia.

Persecution of the Puritans.

Maryland given to Baltimore, 1632.

Settlement of Maryland. Higginson, 121-123; Eggleston, 5053; Source-book, 48-51.Roman Catholics in England.

38. Religious Intolerance. —In 1625 King James died, and his son Charles became king. He left the Virginians to themselves for the most part. They liked this. But they did not like his giving the northern part of Virginia to a Roman Catholic favorite, Lord Baltimore, with the name of Maryland. Many Roman Catholics soon settled in Lord Baltimore’s colony. The Virginians feared lest they might come to Virginia and made severe laws against them. Puritan missionaries also came from New England and began to convert the Virginians to Puritanism. Governor Berkeley and the leading Virginians were Episcopalians. They did not like the Puritans any better than they liked the Roman Catholics. They made harsh laws against them and drove them out of Virginia into Maryland.

39. Settlement of Maryland. —Maryland included the most valuable portion of Virginia north of the Potomac. Beside being the owner of all this land, Lord Baltimore was also the ruler of the colony. He invited people to go over and settle in Maryland and offered to give them large tracts of land on the payment of a small sum every year forever. Each man’s payment was small. But all the payments taken together, made quite a large amount which went on growing larger and larger as Maryland was settled. The Baltimores were broad-minded men. They gave their colonists a large share in the government of the colony and did what they could to bring about religious toleration in Maryland.

40. The Maryland Toleration Act, 1649. —The English Roman Catholics were cruelly oppressed. No priest of that faith was allowed to live in England. And Roman Catholics who were not priests had to pay heavy fines simplybecause they were Roman Catholics. Lord Baltimore hoped that his fellow

Roman

Catholics and Puritans in Maryland.

The Toleration Act, 1649.

Tobacco and grain.

Commerce.

Servants and slaves.

Catholics might find a place of shelter in Maryland, and many of the leadingcolonists were Roman Catholics. But most of the laborers were Protestants. Soon came the Puritans from Virginia. They were kindly received and given land. But it was evident that it would be difficult for Roman Catholics, Episcopalians, and Puritans to live together without some kind of law to go by. So a law was made that any Christian might worship as he saw fit. This was the first toleration act in the history of America. It was the first toleratioact in the history of modern times. But the Puritan, Roger Williams, had already established religious freedom in Rhode Island.

41. Maryland Industries. —Tobacco was the most important crop in early Maryland. But grain was raised in many parts of the colony. In time also there grew up a large trading town. This was Baltimore. Its shipowners and merchants became rich and numerous, while there were almost no shipowners or merchants in Virginia. There were also fewer slaves in Maryland than in Virginia. Nearly all the hard labor in the former colony was done by white servants. In most other ways, however, Virginia and Maryland were nearly alike.

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31. 弗吉尼亚公司（1606年） ——现在英国人开始认真地思考创建殖民地的事。在英国赚钱变得越来越难，很难找到投资赚钱的路子，因此，有很多人乐于做殖民者，也有许多人乐于拿出钱支持创建殖民地，1606年，这些人创建了弗吉尼亚公司，大规模的殖民运动开始了。

32. 詹姆斯敦的创建（1607年） ——1606年，第一批殖民者开往弗吉尼亚，数月航行，他们历尽磨难，最终到达切萨皮克湾和詹姆斯河，并在詹姆斯河的一座半岛上安营扎寨，这座岛距离河口大约三十英里。他们在将这座岛与大陆相连的峡地构筑一道坚固的工事（或者我们可以把它叫做栅栏），用以阻止印第安人的骚扰，他们把自己的聚居地叫做詹姆斯敦。弗吉尼亚的早期殖民者并不适应这里的生活，其中有的人从来没有用双手劳动过，有的是穷人和无所事事的懒汉，也有一些精力旺盛的人，如莱特克里夫、阿切尔和史密斯。但是，这些人把大部分时间用于到海湾和河流中探险、寻找黄金和彼此争吵。夏季热病爆发，很快，最初的一百零五个殖民者当中有五十个死于热病。随着严冬的到来，许多没有死于夏季热病的人死于严寒。殖民者所带的食物很少，他们又懒于种植谷物，他们能够得到的仅仅是来自印第安人的少量供给。实际上，弗吉尼亚的早期历史可概括为“饥荒时代”，在第一批一千人的殖民者当中不足百人存活下来，幸存者留下的是关于那艰难时势的传说。

33.托马斯·代尔爵士和善政 ——1611年，托马斯·代尔爵士作为总督出现了，他实施铁腕统治。如果有人不干活，代尔就罚他做三年奴隶；如果有人干活不够卖力，代尔就让人用鞭子狠狠地抽他。但是，托马斯·代尔爵士不仅是一个严厉的人，还是一个明智的人，至此一切井然有序。这时候，代尔尝试分给原有殖民者每人三英亩土地，还允许他们在自己的土地上干活。

34.烟草种植与繁荣 ——从此，欧洲人开始吸食烟草，多数烟草由西班牙殖民地而来，烟草在弗吉尼亚长得很快，但是，一开始殖民者不知道如何把它们烤干以供抽吸。几年后他们才发现如何做，之后，他们带着极大的热情投入劳动，在荒芜的土地的每一个角落都种上烟草。有钱人从英格兰来了，他们带来很多劳力并开垦了大片土地，很快，烟草变成了殖民地的钱，耕作成为整个弗吉尼亚的主要生活方式，但是，很难找到足够的劳力来完成那些必须完成的劳动。

35.雇佣工和奴隶 ——多数劳动者是白人，这些男女必须在弗吉尼亚劳动几年的时间，他们被称作雇佣工，其中的一部分是穷人，这些穷人出卖自己的劳动以支付去往弗吉尼亚的行程；一部分是一些走了霉运的男人和女人，甚至包括从家里偷东西并被卖给殖民者的孩子；还有一部分人是詹姆斯国王发配过来的罪犯，这是对罪犯最轻的处罚。1619年，一艘荷兰船将第一批黑奴运到弗吉尼亚，弗吉尼亚人买下了全部黑奴——只有二十人。但是，殖民者喜欢白人劳动力。短短二十五年间，奴隶人口迅速增长足以给殖民地生活带来翻天覆地的变化。

36. 第一个美国立法机构（1619年） ——随着时间的推移，弗吉尼亚公司的创建者对这个公司失去了兴趣，另有人取代他们在公司中的位置，这些后来者多数是清教徒或者是清教徒的朋友抑或合作者。其中最著名的是埃德温·森迪斯爵士，他是朝圣神父威廉·布瑞斯特的玩伴，森迪斯和他的朋友派乔治·叶德磊去弗吉尼亚做总督，他们要求乔治召集一个集会，这个集会的参加者是殖民地上自由人选出的代表，这些代表很快就废除了代尔的残酷法规，并制定一些新的、相对温和的法律。

37. 弗吉尼亚成为王室的一个省（1624年） ——弗吉尼亚人认为这是一种好的管理方式，但是，詹姆斯国王认为弗吉尼亚公司的这些新规则太过于自由，他决定毁掉这个公司。当时的法官不敢得罪国王，因为国王随时可以撤掉法官。因此，当国王让他们毁掉弗吉尼亚公司时，他们就择机宣布该公司的权力无效。弗吉尼亚公司以这种方式终结，弗吉尼亚变成了王室的一个省，其总督由国王指派。

38.宗教不容忍 ——1625年，国王詹姆斯死去，他的儿子查理继位，他极度放任弗吉尼亚人为所欲为，但是，弗吉尼亚人不满意的是，查理将弗吉尼亚北方地区送给罗马天主教徒罗德·巴尔的摩，并称其为马里兰。许多罗马天主教徒到巴尔的摩的殖民地定居。弗吉尼亚人感到害怕，唯恐他们来到弗吉尼亚并制定针对弗吉尼亚人的严酷法律。清教徒传教士也从新英格兰赶来，开始向弗吉尼亚人传教。总督伯克利和大多数弗吉尼亚人都是圣公会教徒，他们讨厌罗马天主教徒和清教徒，制定了针对这些人的严酷法律并将他们从弗吉尼亚赶到马里兰。

39.马里兰的聚居地 ——马里兰包括波特马克以北，弗吉尼亚最为富庶的地方，巴尔的摩不仅是这块陆地的拥有者，还是这块殖民地的总督，他邀请人们到马里兰参观和定居，并以收缴少量年税的方式向他们提供大块的土地。但是，定居者的到来使得收益总量大得惊人，而且越来越大。巴尔的摩的人胸襟开阔，他们给殖民政府中的殖民者大量分红，并竭力促成马里兰的宗教容忍。

40. 《马里兰宽容法案》 反抗运动（1649年） ——英国的罗马天主教徒深受残酷压迫，英国不允许天主教牧师在英国驻足，那些不是牧师的罗马天主教徒不得不支付高昂的罚金，原因很简单——他们是罗马天主教徒。罗德·巴尔的摩希望他的教徒们能够在马里兰找到生存之所，并希望多数殖民者头领都是罗马天主教徒。但是，大部分劳动者都是新教徒，很快清教徒从弗吉尼亚赶来，他们得到热情的接纳并被给予土地，但是，对于罗马天主教徒、圣公会教徒和清教徒而言，没有任何法律约束而聚居在一起，显然非常困难，因此，就制定了一部所有基督徒都觉得适当而遵从的法律。这是美国历史上的第一部信仰自由法令，是现代史上第一部信仰自由法令。但是，清教徒罗格·威廉姆斯已经在罗得岛确立了宗教自由。

41.马里兰的工业 ——烟草是早期马里兰最重要的作物，但是，这个殖民地的大部分地区也种植谷物，随着时间推移这里形成一个大的商贸集镇，这就是巴尔的摩。巴尔的摩的船主和商人变成了富人，并且越来越多，而在弗吉尼亚则没有船主和商人，而且，马里兰的奴隶也比弗吉尼亚少。前期的殖民地的所有重体力劳动几乎都是由白人雇佣工来做，然而，在其他多个方面，弗吉尼亚和马里兰都非常相似。 GzbWgyRXQQoqiee521vqapYcMt2BIA2+JhVmbCmFYIWWzsvyvpqnaxdNZSejaAK2