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Baltimore’s charter, Virginia’s reaction, and a rough voyage to America
George Calvert’s heir, Cecil Calvert, the Second Baron Baltimore, got a charter to create a semi-feudal palatinate in America in 1632. This would give his colonists the maximum amount of independence to peacefully establish a Catholic haven.
Virginia opposed the plan, because Maryland would be carved out of land which had belonged to Virginia since 1607, so Baltimore had to stay in England to deal with legal disputes. Father Andrew White helped him recruit a group of mostly-Catholic gentlemen to bring mostly-Protestant servants to Maryland, and at the end of the year they set sail.
In February 1634, they landed in the Chesapeake, met the new Virginia governor, and bought some land from the local Indian tribes to build a fort.
Transcript
When George Calvert decided to set up a Catholic haven in the New World, he already had lots of colonization experience. He’d been a member of the Virginia Company, and when it was dissolved, he was named by the King as one of Virginia’s royal commissioners. But, a few months later, he’d resigned all his public posts, converted to Catholicism and gone to Ireland. Then he’d sailed to Newfoundland, where he tried to set up the colony of Avalon, but it was cold, and the soil was poor, so two years later in 1628, he decided to move South.
Introduction
He sailed to Virginia, possibly to settle there, but more likely to explore the area and scout out places for his own colony. Even if he intended to stay, though, the authorities required him to sign the notorious Oath of Allegiance. He proposed his own oath, which would demonstrate his unwavering loyalty to the King without rejecting the Pope, but they rejected his proposal and force Baltimore and his colonists to return to England. On the way home, he explored around the Chesapeake, and he decided to found his colony there. He returned home and drafted a charter for his proposed colony.
This was a unique charter. It essentially created a feudal palatinate, the most independent way a colony could be organized. Baltimore and his heirs and assigns would be the Lords Proprietary, with essentially total control over the colony. He’d have a legislature to advise and assent to his laws, but little required legislative or judicial input, and virtually no control from England. The Lord Proprietor couldn’t, however, pass laws which deprived people of life, limb or property without legislative input. Churches would be consecrated according to the ecclesiastical law of England, but the issue of state Church would be left to the Colonists. The Lord Proprietor could confer dignities and titles, raise and maintain a military force, and wage war. He could also constitute manors and establish courts baron, which was key to his recruitment of colonists. He could proclaim martial law, impose taxes, and England could not tax the colony except for customs duties. They could trade with any nation England was at peace with, and not only would Baltimore’s colony not be considered a part of Virginia, if there was any ambiguity in the wording of the charter, it would always be interpreted in Baltimore’s favor. All of the King’s subjects would be allowed to catch, salt and dry fish in Baltimore’s Colony, and they could cut any underwood they needed for this purpose. The King would get 1/5 of any gold and silver found in the province, and Baltimore would send a yearly tribute of two Indian arrows every Easter Week.
This was a very unique charter, but King Charles supported Baltimore’s claim. He was trusted, loyal, and had an ideology the King could agree with. And, Virginia was a Crown Colony, under his control, but this is where the issue enters a little bit of a grey area. Or, more accurately, a massive grey area which would have consequences which plagued both Maryland and Virginia for years.
In the eyes of Virginia, though they were a Crown Colony, they were still a colony with jurisdiction and authority over the area of the original 1607 Charter. The only thing that had changed was that the London Company was gone. They didn’t want the King to cut off a piece of their land and give it to someone else, especially Catholics.
So, Virginia worked to assert its dominance over the region. Governor John Pott and Council Members Samuel Matthews, Roger Smith and William Claiborne, wrote a petition to the King in 1629, asking for a confirmation of their rights, and the protection of their religion. And, soon afterward, Claiborne went to England personally, to demand that Baltimore not be given a land grant south of the James River. And he did stop the confirmation of the grant. Then, he entered an agreement with a London merchant firm called Clobbery and Company which made him their agent, the man who would trade for furs for their company in the region north of Virginia. He then got a license from the King to trade with Nova Scotia, and then he returned to Virginia, where he got a license from the Virginia Governor to trade with the Dutch and New England. He bought land from the Indians at what’s now Kent Island, set up some buildings, stationed some men, and set up a plantation and trading post.
The patent Baltimore got about 10 months later, though, was for the land north of Virginia. And you can see where this is going. Although, George Calvert, first Baron Baltimore, died before the charter passed the seal, and so instead the charter was given to his oldest son, the 27 year old Cecil Calvert, the new Lord Baltimore.
And charter in hand, the new Lord Baltimore started recruiting people for the mission. The set-up again was semi-feudal. People were assigned land based on how many people they brought with them, including wives, children and servants, and they had to pay the Lord Proprietor a yearly quit-rent based on how much land they got. That land would become a manor, with all the royalties and privileges given to manors in England. Every person they brought needed to be adequately supplied, which came to about 20 pounds per person.
Some of the gentlemen who signed up were Baltimore’s own friends, even protestant ones. Their religion would be accepted in Maryland, and the prospect of getting a manor was appealing, especially for younger sons.
Some of the Catholics did come from Henrietta Maria’s Court, but to recruit others, Baltimore relied on the Jesuit priest he employed, the man who would become known as the apostle of Maryland, Father John White. White had been born in London in 1579, and had studied in the English exile colleges in Douai and Valladolid. He’d returned to England after graduating, but been arrested in 1603, and then became a Jesuit. He’d gone back into exile, periodically sneaking back to England to visit Catholic friends. When Cecil Calvert offered him a job, he’d moved back to England. He had connections with other Catholic priests and families, and was dedicated to the idea of converting Native Americans to Catholicism. He recruited another Jesuit, John Altham, to join him in Maryland, and went about helping his boss find more Catholic families to come to America.
Now, almost all of these affluent passengers were gentlemen, and a lot of these people came from old and well known Catholic families, people like Thomas Cornwallys, and Jerome Hawley, who had married into the family of the Earl of Devon. And, perhaps most interestingly at all, three of the gentlemen passengers were Edward, Frederick and Robert Wintour, nephews of Gunpowder Plot participants.
And, as we’re talking about gentlemen, I’d actually like to directly address something I only touched on in the Jamestown episodes, and that’s the misconception of the 17th century gentleman as a dandy. Gentlemen of the 17th century were less warlike than those before Henry VII, in the Wars of the Roses, but they were still at least somewhat tough. They joined the military, they staged uprisings and rebellions under just about every monarch since Henry VII, and in just a few years they’d take sides and in many cases leadership positions in the English Civil War. The perception of the English gentleman as a useless dandy isn’t really applicable until the 18th Century, and that was a big part of the cultural split which ultimately helped fuel the American Revolution in colonies which hadn’t previously been particularly revolution-minded. That’s obviously years down the line in our discussion, but it’s important to note as we envision the gentlemen who ended up at Jamestown or Maryland.
But, back on topic, while the majority of gentlemen were Catholics, the vast majority of the servants were Protestants, but again that wasn’t 100%. One of the most dramatic stories of the voyage to Maryland involves a Catholic servant who, while preparing to go was confronted and pushed to sign the Oath of Allegiance. When he refused, he ended up in the hands of a merchant who prepared to send him as involuntary indentured labor in some other colony. At the last minute, one of the Catholic gentlemen recognized the servant, paid the merchant for him, and took him as a companion to Maryland.
All in all, 200 people planned to make the trip, and even more gave money and servants to the mission. Baltimore then hired a 400 ton merchant ship, called the Ark, and a 40 ton pinnace, the Dove, to transport his people to America. He’d intended to accompany the mission himself, but with ongoing legal disputes with Virginia, he decided to remain in England for a year, and appointed his younger brother, Leonard Calvert, to act on his behalf as governor.
And, he sent them with a set of clear instructions for setting up the colony, instructions which really illustrate his unique approach to founding Maryland, as well as the unique difficulties of being a Catholic colony in North America. His orders detail that the colonists must be extremely careful, must be extremely deferential, and must be extremely fair, all without being weak. He forbade religious disputes, particularly Catholics offending Protestants, and required the Catholics to treat the Protestants fairly. He required people to take an oath of loyalty to the King as a condition of settling there. The colonists were ordered to try to learn more about Baltimore’s adversaries, as well as the political situation in Virginia, and why Virginia was as hostile as it was to the colony, but they were to be extremely cautious about going to Jamestown or near the fort at Point Comfort unless extreme weather forced them to. Instead, they should find a place for a settlement, and then send a Protestant messenger to Jamestown, to notify the Virginia governor of their arrival and present the messages from England and assure him that Baltimore wanted good relations with Virginia, and that he intended to come, but needed to stay in England for an extra year. And to show their good intent, they should make every effort to oblige the Council of Virginia, but make it clear that their behavior was a matter of courtesy, and not Maryland giving up her rights. Apart from that, they just shouldn’t have anything to do with Virginia in the first year, just to be on the safe side.
They should write a letter to Captain Claiborne, telling him about their arrival and their authority, and inviting him to a friendly meeting. The person who carried the messenger should again be a Protestant. If he agrees to come to the meeting, they should be very courteous and tell him that his plantation was within the precincts of Baltimore’s Patent, and that Baltimore gave him permission to proceed with his trading. Calvert was also to tell Claiborne that Claiborne’s partners, Clobbery and Company, had asked for a grant from Baltimore, but that Baltimore had rejected their proposals because they made slight of Claiborne’s interest. Baltimore intended to do Claiborne no wrong, but show him all the love and favor he could. If, on the other hand, Claiborne refused to meet with them, the colonists were simply to leave him alone for the first year, until Baltimore could either come to Maryland or give them further directions. Again, they should just learn more about the situation.
When looking for a permanent settlement, their first priority should be that it’s a healthy place, and a fertile place, second that it can be easily fortified, and third that it should be a place that’s convenient for trade with both English and savages. When they chose a place, they should bring their men ashore with all provisions, assemble everyone and read Baltimore’s letters to them, as well as explaining the general plan of the colony, and the priorities of the colony, first converting the Indians to Christianity, and second augmenting the King’s empire, and third working to advance the interests of the colony and its investors. They were then to explain that Baltimore cared deeply about this colony, and wanted to join them, but had to stay in England for their good as well as his. The first things built should be a fort, storehouse and Church, and the colonists should build their houses in as decent and uniform a matter as they could. The surveyor should survey everything, and plan it out.
And after setting up and organizing the settlement, they should send Baltimore Platts of everything, and they should send him reports of everything, and when in doubt, they should send him information multiple times rather than not at all. Finally, corn and food will be planted before anything else, and only when there was enough corn planted could people start planting things like tobacco. That would be an annual rule, not just for the first year. All men would be given military training and drilling, and they’d look for places to make salt or saltpeter, as well as searching for iron ore and other commodities.
And finally, passengers on board, orders in hand, on November 22, 1633, the Ark and Dove set sail from the Isle of Wight, and it was a rough, rough beginning. First, they almost got caught by Turkish pirates, only to be saved by a London merchant ship called the Dragon. Then, a violent storm hit as the three ships were sailing together. The Ark was big enough to withstand the storm, and the Dragon had turned back for England, but the Dove was in real danger. They decided to push on, though, telling the officers of the Ark that they’d hang a light from their masthead if they were in danger of sinking. The storm got more and more violent, though, and in the middle of the night, the Ark’s crew could see two lights displayed from the Dove’s masthead, which quickly disappeared. Then, for three days, the Ark was battered by the storm, its mainsail split, its rudder unshipped, completely alone, and totally at the mercy of the waves until the storm died down, or they sank. As the latter began to look more and more likely, they prayed and gave penance, but finally the storm started to dissipate.
The rest of the voyage was relatively calm, though 12 people did die after drinking their Christmas wine. The Ark encountered another fleet of ships they feared were pirates, but their course luckily steered them toward land before the ships could approach. They stopped at a few islands to trade, buy and sell goods to help Baltimore recoup part of the expedition’s expenses, and they finally ended up in Barbados, where the local merchants were oddly hostile, demanding exorbitant prices for the provisions they wanted. Their reception may have been partially because they were Catholics. Barbados was an extremely divided island, with a substantial puritan population, but also enough of a pro-King and high-Church faction that the brother of Maryland settler Jerome Hawley had been governor there. More importantly, though, Barbados had just one day before discovered a planned servant rebellion. Two West Country brothers named Weston gathered a group of servants who planned to kill their masters and seize the first ship which touched land. The plot had only been discovered at the last minute when one servant warned them. The Ark, however, would have been the first ship.
With so many narrow escapes, the settlers were feeling pretty good, and they were about to get even more good news. Six weeks after the storm, they reconnected with the Dove, which they’d thought had sunk. The Dove had given up trying to fight the storm, changed course and taken refuge in the Scilly Islands, accompanied by the Dragon to the Bay of Biscay. From there, the Dove had sailed as fast as possible, finally catching the Ark in the Caribbean.
The two ships island hopped around the Caribbean for a little while longer. They spent some time at Montserrat, inhabited by Catholic Irish who had been driven from Virginia. They were entertained at St. Christopher’s by the English governor and two Catholic captains, as well as the French governor on the same island. They ate delicacies like plantains, pineapples, cinnamon, guavas and papayas, and traded with the locals in St. Lucia, who were only willing to trade with them once they saw they were English. In February, though, they left, and on February 24, they finally reached the Chesapeake.
Specifically, they reached Point Comfort in Virginia, and went to Jamestown to meet the Virginia governor, contrary to their instructions. Fortunately for them, Virginia had recently elected an extremely Royalist governor. We’ll go back and get into what’s been going on in Virginia since it became a royal colony, but suffice it to say for now that Virginia had split into factions every bit as much as England had, and that the issue of Maryland had seriously inflamed pre-existing political controversies in the colony. Friendships were ended if one person expressed sympathy for the Marylanders, and in conversation, colonists would say things like, they’d rather just kill their cattle than sell them to the Papists. Marylanders weren’t just Catholics, they were Catholics encroaching on land Virginia had always owned. The old governor and the majority of the Virginia Council were hostile to the King, but the new governor was John Harvey. He was a strong supporter of the King, and in fact he was either a brother or cousin of the famous Royalist doctor William Harvey, who discovered the circulatory system. And, he was also a pragmatist. The colonists brought the King’s letters and Baltimore’s papers, so clearly the colony was going to be established whether he liked it or not. Plus, the Crown owed him quite a bit of money for his duties as governor, and if he were an ally, Baltimore could push for that. Of course, that was easier said than done. The governor was both poorer and less powerful than the Council members, who were extremely opposed to both his politics and his policy toward Maryland. So, Harvey didn’t have much influence, but he gave the Marylanders a warm reception, and they stayed with him 8-9 days. He sold them some of his own cattle, and other settlers sold them a pinnace. He also sent another royalist Virginian, Henry Fleet, to accompany them as translator. Fleet had been in Virginia since 1621, but had been taken prisoner by a Maryland-area tribe, the Nacotchtanks, while trading with the Massawomeks in 1623. He’d spent five years as a prisoner before the Virginia government paid his ransom, but he’d learned their language and become a successful trader, and in fact he was Claiborne’s biggest trading rival.
It was very, very cordial, and finally the colonists sailed up to the mouth of the Potomac. There, they saw hundreds of armed natives prepared to resist their landing, as well as alarm fires kindled throughout the country to assemble the tribes, as messengers carried the news of their arrival into the interior. They convinced the natives that they had peaceful intentions, and bought a plot of land to use for a fort. It was strategically located, but too small for a full settlement and full of berries, nuts and edible greens.
And it was there, on March 25, 1634, that White celebrated the first Mass in English America. The colonists took communion, and after the Mass, the settlers formed a procession, led by the governor, secretary and other officers, who carried a huge cross on their shoulders and erected it on the island, where they knelt as White recited “The Litany of the Holy Cross.”
And, though we’ll get into the actual events of settling the colony next week, a letter by Robert Wintour written in 1635 perfectly summarizes the colonists’ hopes at this time. He said they’d had issues with Virginia, but they were being as obliging as possible and the two colonies would surely put aside their differences and enjoy a happy alliance. The natives were nice, and as the colonists’ only ambition was to convert them, there would be no cause for future conflict, and the land was good. There was some illness, and a temporary lack of necessities, but it was a perfec what more riches did one need than a decent, comfortable life?