Plymouth Colony

century English Colony located at the fringe of Massachusetts

Bay. Often known as the first settlement of Europeans on

English terrain the formation of this colony (starting from 1620)

has a story of its own. The story starts when a bunch of

English Separatist Church congregants caught up to Plymouth

Rock after months of sailing. With the help of neighbouring

tribes these people were able to successfully establish an

economy of their own.

But more than its economic significance the reason why a

settlement this old continues to interest historians is its strong

religious influence on European, English and American folklore

revolving around John Robinson, the pioneer of English

separatists.

Plymouth colony was determined not to be a monarchy state

which led to the formation of the democratic Mayflower

Compact consisting of 41 original separatists. It became a

foundation to any further governmental decisions and

legislations. Most laws were inspired from the English common

law. A general code of conduct was devised using the Bible.

The governor was considered as the supreme authority.

All the religious beliefs of the people of Plymouth colony were

centred about strong supernatural faith. They objected to any

transmutations in Bible and believed that Bible should be sole

foundation of a man’s philosophy and any attempts to digress

from this philosophy was highly vilified.

There are instances of severe discrimination between men and

women of the colony owing to the fact that Robinson believed

that men and women had different social responsibilities and

women were the weaker sex. Due to this women were not

even granted citizenship and they were seen as subordinates to

the men.

The colony which was initially set to be a promising economy

it gradually declined due to attacks from foreign Native

Americans which resulted in most of the original inhabitants

forming smaller groups. Although the colony disappeared in the

late 16th century the Mayflower Compact continued to

influence the dynamics of future colonies.