Papist Devils
Catholics in North American
British Colonies
2. The Founding of Maryland
© 2016 George E. Blanford Jr.
Overview of
Colonization in
North America
1607
1614
1614
1620
1631
1634
1636
1636
1638
1663
1679
1729
1732
Virginia
New York
New Jersey
Massachusetts
Pennsylvania
Maryland
Rhode Island
Connecticut
Delaware
North Carolina
New Hampshire
South Carolina
Georgia
Also in Newfoundland
and the West Indies
Company—A collection of
investors interested in
making a profit
Dutch—Claimed by Henry
Hudson in 1609
Religious Colony—Seeking
religious freedom
Royal—Governor appointed
by the King and laws
modeled on English law
Proprietary—Governor
appointed by the
proprietor and governing
laws approved by the
proprietor
Trusteeship—Trustee acts
like a proprietor for a
limited period of time
Robert Cecil (1563? – 1612)
 His father was William Cecil, Lord Burghley (1520 –
1598)
 William held many important offices including
Secretary of State for Edward VI and Elizabeth
I
 William was one of Elizabeth I most trusted
councilors
 Robert Cecil became Secretary of State (1590 – 1612)
 Elizabeth would not name her successor, so Cecil
entered into coded negotiations with James
 He instructed James on how to flatter Elizabeth
to get on her good side
 In turn, Elizabeth looked on James favorably
 On his accession, James kept Cecil on the Privy
Council and gave him many more important offices
as well as a peerage
Lord Robert Cecil (~1563 - 1612)
by John Critz the Elder
George Calvert (1579 – 1632)
 Born into an old Yorkshire Catholic family
 Raised Catholic, converted to the Church of
England under pressure at age 12
 Studied languages at Trinity College,
Oxford, 1594-97
 Studied law at Lincoln’s Inn, 1598-1601
 While on an extended trip to Europe (16011603), he met Sir Robert Cecil and became
his protégé
 Calvert rose to higher posts as Cecil rose
 Beginning in 1606, Calvert received royal
appointments to minor offices
Sir George Calvert (1579 – 1632)
by Daniel Mytens
George Calvert (1579 – 1632)
 In 1609, his appointment as clerk of the Signet
office brought him into close contact with the
king
 From 1610-1618, Calvert was sent abroad on
many important missions for the king
 He was knighted in 1617
 He was appointed a Secretary of State in 1618
 In 1623, James raised him to an Irish peerage,
Baron of Baltimore
 In late 1624, Calvert converted to Catholicism
 In February 1625, Calvert resigned as Secretary
of State because he was asked to take oaths of
supremacy and allegiance
 James died in March, 1625
Coat of Arms for the Barony of Baltimore granted to Cecil
Calvert, Second Baron Baltimore
Motto: Fatti maschii, parole femine
State Flag of Maryland, adopted in 1904
Charles I (r. 1625 –1649)
 He believed in the divine right of kings which set him
on a course of antagonism with Parliament
 Parliament distrusted him because he married a
French Catholic
 He tried to repress penal laws, but was overruled
by Parliament
 He dismissed Parliament in 1628 and ruled 11
years without reconvening it
 In 1640, Parliament immediately enacted laws
reducing the king’s power
 He could no longer dismiss Parliament without
its consent
 Charles wanted to arrest 5 MPs for treason in 1642
 He entered the House of Commons without an
invitation—a major breach of protocol
King Charles I (1600 – 1649)
after an original by Anthony van Dyke
Charles I (r. 1625 –1649)
 The MPs had been warned and escaped
 Parliament, controlled by Puritans, seized
jurisdiction of London
 Charles fled
 English Civil War (1642-1649)
 The war was indecisive up to 1646
 Then Charles was captured
 Futile negotiations ensued
 Oliver Cromwell’s Model Army gained
control of Parliamentary forces
 Charles was tried for treason in 1648
 Found guilty, he was beheaded on
January 30, 1649
 Cromwell formed the Commonwealth of
England
King Charles I (1600 – 1649)
by Anthony van Dyke
Avalon
 George Calvert had a longstanding interest
in colonization
 As early as 1609, he invested in the Virginia
Company and the East India Company
 In 1620, he bought the southeast peninsula of
Newfoundland and in 1622 he sent 50 men to
start a colony and fish for cod
 In 1623, he obtained a royal charter for the province of Avalon
 He sought help from Rome to send priests to his colony; Rome provided two
 After encountering numerous delays, in 1627, he finally went himself with a mixed
company of 100 Protestants and Catholics
 The colony did not thrive
 It was too cold—half the colonists were habitually sick (at least 9 died)
 Soil was too rocky for farming—although fishing was good
 England was at war with France and the colonists were constantly attacked by
the French
Terra Mariae
 After the bitter winter of 1628-29, Calvert
decided to abandon Avalon
 Returning to England, he went south and
did what he could to reconnoiter Virginia
 The Virginia Co. had gone bankrupt
in 1624
 Calvert petitioned Charles I for a charter
for the northern part of Virginia in which
no one had settled
 It was opposed by Virginians
Terra-Mariae Map by John Ogilby, 1671
 Charles I granted the charter
 He wanted the province named after his wife Henrietta Maria and the name
Terra Mariae was chosen
 Before the charter had received all of its seals, George Calvert, First Baron
Baltimore, died in April, 1632. He was succeeded by his eldest son, Cecil
Cecil Calvert (1605 – 1675), Second Baron Baltimore
Lord Proprietor of the Province of Maryland
Lord Cecil Calvert (1605-1675), 2nd Baron Baltimore
 Cecil Calvert had gone to Avalon, but, to protect
Maryland in England, he never went to the colony
 Virginians formally sued in 1633
 Charles’ problems with Parliament threatened
Calvert’s control of Maryland
 Calvert interest in colonization
1. Money
2. A safe haven for English Catholics
 A feudal system of governance was imposed on the
colony
 The Lord Proprietor had almost as much power as
the king
 Central government: Governor, Council, Assembly
 Local government: Manors like in England
 Would provide security and freedom for
Catholics
Conditions of Plantation
 To attract colonists, Calvert offered cheap land and advertised it under
conditions of plantation. These conditions became known as the head-right
system
 The conditions of plantation of 1633 have been lost, but the 1636 version exists
 For the transportation fee of £20 for 5 able men between 16 and 50, 1000 acres
of land for a manor at 20 shillings rent/year (2000 acres in 1633?)
 For transportation of an individual, 100 acres of land per head at 2 shillings
rent/year
 For transportation of less than 5 indentured servants, 100 acres for the
transporter and 100 acres to the servant after completing terms of indenture
 For transportation of children under 16, 50 acres at 12 pence/year rent
 Over time, the conditions of plantation were modified primarily by lowering the
amount of land and probably by raising the rent
 The head-right system was abolished in 1683, but an allocation of tobacco, which
had become currency in Maryland, continued to be awarded to immigrants
The Ark and the Dove
 With difficulty, Calvert assembled his first colonists
 Two brothers, Leonard (Governor of Maryland) and Phillip
 Two Jesuits, including Fr. Andrew White
 ~15 nobility and gentry, mostly Catholic
 ~125 workmen, mostly Protestant, many indentured
 The 400 ton Ark and the 40 ton Dove departed Gravesend Nov. 1633, most of the
Catholics joined at the Isle of Wight and left on the feast of St. Clement, Nov. 22
 They arrived at Barbados in about 7 weeks
despite a severe storm
 Stayed at Barbados and Guadeloupe for
several weeks restocking supplies
 Arrived at Jamestown in late February
 They departed in early March
 Arrived at St. Clement’s Island on the
Potomac River on March 24, 1634
 Mass was celebrated the next day
Replica of the Dove, St. Mary’s City, MD
Site of the First Mass said in
English North America
St. Clement’s Island
March 25, 1634
Initial Growth of the Colony
 Following Lord Baltimore’s instructions, Leonard Calvert contacted
Algonquin tribes to establish cordial relations with them
 He first encountered Piscataways , on Piscataway Creek, who did not
welcome them
 Down river they encountered Yaocamicos who traded cloth and tools
for 30 square miles of land
 They built a palisade at a site called St. Mary’s which probably housed
most of the settlers for 3 years. St. Mary’s City became the first capital of
Maryland
 Although the beginnings of Maryland were not as severe as they had
been for Virginians, many people died prematurely and others gave up
and left. But more came and the colony grew. Most newcomers were
Protestant
 Fur trading had been looked on as a good start-up business, but it failed
to be very profitable
 Developing the manorial system was delayed because it was expected
that Lord Baltimore would come to manage it. After several years,
Leonard was instructed to grant land under the conditions of plantation
Leonard Calvert (1606 - 1647)
First Governor of Maryland
Manorial Maryland
 By 1642, 16 manors had been laid out representing 4/5 of patented land
 The largest were ~12,000 acres, but some were as small as ~1,000 acres
 Manorial lords also received 10 acres of town land, ~90% of St. Mary’s City
 This was the peak of the manorial system
 St. Mary’s City never developed into a city although is was incorporated in the 1670’s
 It functioned as the colony’s principal port and a center of banking and commerce
for only a decade
 Most manorial lords felt no need for country and city residences as in England
 An abundance of inlets, deep enough for ocean vessels, did not require a central
port
 Manors became judicial and economic centers
 Tobacco quickly became the foundation of Maryland’s economy
 Growing numbers of freeholders began to increase significantly
 Indenture only lasted ~5 years—then they became freeholders of 100 acres
 It was not necessary to have a huge plantation to grow tobacco profitably
 In 1642, the Catholic population was at its high point of ~25% of the ~400 colonists
Separation of Church and State
 Under his charter, Calvert could erect only Anglican churches. As an alternative he
chose to separate church and state and neither erected nor supported any churches
 This was totally unconventional in the 17th century (although proposed by
Luther)
 Following the religion of the liege lord was a matter of patriotism
 The lord enforced both civil and religious commandments or laws
 The lord supported the clergy for both him and his people
 To have religious liberty, Calvert had to keep politics and religion separate
 It implied a religiously pluralistic society—with Catholics in the minority!
 He saw that religious toleration would protect his investment
 English Catholics had faced this reality since Reformation
 Separation of church and state was an unstated policy of the Lord Proprietor
 The Lord Proprietor and manorial lords would not support clergy
 Court records show that toleration was enforced on Catholic manorial lords by
fining them for interfering with the religious practices of the Protestants
Calvert and the Jesuits
 When seeking Jesuits, Calvert made it clear that they would receive no support and would be
treated no differently than the gentlemen adventurers
 They reluctantly accepted
 They would receive land in accordance to the head-right system
 They would be supported by revenues obtained by working the land
 Contrary to the proprietor’s instructions
 They publicly offered Mass in St. Mary’s City and on their manors
 They offered retreats
 They proselytized Protestants—they were only permitted to proselytize Indians
 They established missions to Indians and were successful
 By 1655, tribes with whom they had success were forced westward by Susquehannocks
 Their presence and these actions by the Jesuits in Maryland jeopardized the colony
 Thomas Copley SJ arrived in 1637
 He viewed Maryland as a Catholic state that should recognize rights and privileges of
the Church
 He opposed laws requiring Jesuits to serve in the assembly, on juries, in the militia and
to pay taxes
 In 1638, Calvert worked out a compromise eliminating these requirements
Calvert and the Jesuits
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The modes of acquiring property by the Jesuits became a major source of contention
 By Church law, property acquired by the Jesuits would become Church property—English
mortmain law prohibited corporations (like the Jesuits) from owning property
 They brought many persons into the colony (62 in the first 5 years, but never more than 5
priests) entitling them to enormous tracts of land by the head-right system
 They also purchased land from other colonists
 They also bought and received land from the Patuxent tribe
Lord Baltimore directed that
 English mortmain law applied in Maryland
 Purchase by a lay trustee could not be used to avoid the law
 Colonists must take an oath not to purchase or to receive land from Indians
Lord Baltimore was infuriated when the Jesuits declared that these conditions could not apply to
them by Church law
 He became determined to replace the Jesuits with secular priests
 He demanded that the Jesuits cede all property that they had acquired to him
Before Leonard Calvert had received his brother’s instructions forbidding trustee ownership, he
approved a grant to purchase St. Inigoe Manor by a trustee of the Jesuits
 The onset of the English Civil War and other problems defaulted into permitting purchase by
trustees
 Afterwards, the Jesuits became a major land owner in Southern Maryland