PLYMOUTH COLONY 



4714 



PLYMOUTH COMPANY 



While their little ship was rocking in the 

 harbor, the "Pilgrim Fathers" met in its cabin 

 and swore loyalty and obedience to the gov- 

 ernment they had framed. After exploring the 

 coast, they landed at Plymouth Rock, Decem- 

 ber 21, 1620. 



"Above them spread a stranger sky ; 

 Around, the sterile plain. 

 The rock-bound coast rose frowning nigh ; 

 Beyond the wrathful main : 

 Chill remnants of the wintery snow 

 Still choked the encumbered soil, 

 Yet forth those Pilgrim Fathers go 

 To mark their future toil." 



Consult Bradford's History of Plymouth Plan- 

 tation; Bliss's Old Colony Town, and Other 

 Sketches. 



Related Subject*. In connection with a study 

 of Plymouth Colony, the following articles in 

 these volumes will be found interesting : 



Alden, John 

 Bradford, William 

 Carver, John 

 Courtship of Miles 



Standish 

 London Company 



Mayflower 

 Pilgrims 

 Plymouth, Mass. 

 Plymouth Company 

 Plymouth Rock 

 Puritans 



Massachusetts, subhead Standish, Miles 



History 

 Massachusetts Bay 



Company 



"LAND OF THE PILGRIMS' PRIDE" 



Plymouth, Mass., in 1622. From the lower left hand corner the buildings, in order, were the store- 

 house and the residences of P. Brown, J. Goodman, William Brewster and J. Billington ; beyond 

 these the identity of the occupants in that line of houses is not known. Across the street within the 

 stockade was the home of Governor Carver. The picture is from a painting by W. L. Williams ; his- 

 torians have regretted that other paintings, to show the arrangement of the entire colony, are now 

 impossible to produce. 



The Indians who originally occupied this shore 

 had died of a pestilence a few years earlier, 

 and the Pilgrims took possession of their aban- 

 doned fields. During the first year, scarcity of 

 food, exposure and disease caused the loss of 

 half of their number, including their governor, 

 John Carver. William Bradford, one of the no- 

 blest characters of colonial history, was chosen 

 as the second governor, and through his guid- 

 ance and courage and the perseverance and 

 faith of the people, the colony survived. 



The following year, fifty more of their people 

 came from Leyden, Holland. Under the lead- 

 ership of Bradford, who was the governor for 

 more than thirty years, and the -protection of 

 the brave and able Captain Miles Standish, the 

 colony prospered. The communal system, which 

 had been adopted during the first year, was 

 abandoned, and a democratic government was 

 permanently established. E.D.F. 



PLYMOUTH COMPANY, in American his- 

 tory, an English colonization and trading com- 

 pany, incorporated in 1606 under a charter 

 granted by James I. This company, which was 

 composed of Plymouth and Bristol merchants, 

 was formed at the same time as the London 

 Company. The king granted to the Plymouth 

 Company colonization rights in America from 

 the Rappahannock River to the eastern point 

 of Maine, or, according to some authorities, to 

 the northern limit of the mainland of Nova 

 Scotia. The exact limits of the grant cannot 

 be stated positively. The relations of the com- 

 pany to the king were defined by the charter, 

 which provided that the lands colonized were 

 to be held free of any military or other service 

 to the king, but that the Crown should receive 

 a fifth part of whatever precious metals were 

 found. The appointment of the governing coun- 

 cils lay with the king, but settlers were guar- 



