Women and Slavery?

>SG> Subj: ancestors on the Mayflower
>SG> Date: 5/5/2004 3:07:07 PM EDT
>SG> From: [SouthernGirl]

>SouthernGirl> Dear sir; I'm writing with the concern of passengers aboard the Mayflower. It has no mention of slaves aboard said ship. Or were they called servants.

Hi [SouthernGirl], and Wow, where did the year go? Sorry for the long delay in answering your message, it got side-tracked. Research on this subject is still on-going. Here is what I have to date. The word "slave" itself originally referred to WHITE "slavic" people of central and eastern Europe. "For a thousand years, so many millions of these white European Slavs were captured and sold as servants, that the word 'Slavs' or 'slaves' became universally used for the word 'servant' and was only later applied to black servants."

As for the Pilgrim's 1620 Mayflower voyage, there were no slaves or black people aboard. There were various kinds of servants, who were basically employees. Of course, all the Pilgrims considered themselves to be servants of God. And all the Mayflower passengers were collectively servants of the people that financed their voyage - their first profits were to be used to pay back the investors. In the Mayflower passenger list we find some household servants and hired-servants, such as the sailors and carpenters, etc. Possibly some were indentured servants who were under contract to serve, usually for 7 years, or to the age of 25 in the case of children of poor people given up as apprentices to someone who could better raise them in a trade or occupation. There were orphan/foster children "put to" some families. Some of the servants were signers of the Mayflower Compact, since all male adults at least 21 years of age were considered responsible members of the community and had an equal vote and voice in the elections.

Interestingly, the "man-servant" named John Howland was the ancestor of both Bush presidents. In the 1623 land division, the land was divided equally, each family being given 1 acre per family member, and John Howland and those in his care received 4 acres, (next to the 5 acres where their loving Indian friend Hobomok dwelt among them with his family.)

The first black person recorded to have seen Plymouth was a 30-year old man called John Pedro who arrived in the early summer of 1622, stayed a short time, and continued on to take up residence in Elizabeth City, Virginia. The next record we find was the 1643 list of men granted permission by the court to carry a musket within the city of Plymouth, which seemingly indicates that "the Blackamore" was a free man, not a slave. Blacks are mentioned more frequently after the 1650's, in court and probate records.

My research indicates that the very first black immigrants to America were the twenty Africans who arrived in August 1619 at the Jamestown colony, a little more than a year before the Pilgrim landing. (Source: Lerone Bennett, Jr., "Before the Mayflower: A History of Black America": Penguin Books, 1993) They were not forcibly brought as slaves, but unable to pay their own way, they came as indentured servants seeking a better life in the new world. After their time of service they would have been free to seek their own lot in life. (Some indentured servants were given as much as 50 acres as their own after their service, indicating they served above and beyond the call of duty.)

>SouthernGirl> It has come to my attention from my 113 year old great grandmother that her mother and grandmother were aboard a ship called the Mayflower that came to South Carolina and brought them over as slaves. It a shame that people do not tell the whole history of the activities that really went on , but luckly I have someone that can tell the history the way it happened.

Yes. Of course that was a different "Mayflower", a popular name for ships for some reason. The Mayflower that brought the Pilgrims was only used as a cargo ship afterwards for a year or so before it became too run-down to sail anymore and was dismantled. And yes, it is a shame that so many people were sold into un-willing slavery. Your ancestors would have been among the last to be brought over before the Civil War and the [supposed] freeing of the slaves. (Some people question if we are really free today, since the average southern slave paid ONLY about 20% of his crops to his master - but today, the average "free" American pays about 55% of their income to the government.)

>SouthernGirl> Try looking through the eyes of one that has no history mention in books that are full of lies. We need to get our history straight. But of course back then we were nothing but property and had no recognition in early history when the pilgrims landed a Plymouth Rock.

Well, as far as I can tell, the Pilgrims were honest in their writings even to pointing out their own faults. (And, grin, the Pilgrim writings make no mention of the so-called "Plymouth Rock" mentioned by later story-tellers.) They believed in the biblical "Love thy neighbour as thyself" principle. Before coming over here, they had been dwelling in the "United States" of the Netherlands, where they had religious liberty and equality, and free public schools and a republican form of government. The Pilgrims were not hysterical Puritans like the infamous people of the Salem witchcraft trials. In Plymouth, there were only two people tried for witchcraft -- both declared NOT guilty and the accusers were punished for false accusation.

Although by law, the Pilgrim WOMEN had less social status and couldn't vote, they were closer to equality than the Puritan and other groups of the day. Women in Plymouth had the right to buy, sell and OWN property, and a husband could not sell property without the consent of his wife. Women were guaranteed at least 1/3 of their husband's estate, despite what a husband might put in his will. Women could be legal witnesses for a deed or a probate document. There are cases of women serving on juries at Plymouth too. (Even Indians were allowed on juries sometimes where an Indian was a party to a court action.)

Women in Plymouth had more say in their marriages - they chose who they would or would not marry, although if it was a first marriage the father generally had an extralegal "veto" power, but otherwise it was her decision. By law, however, a husband could discipline his wife, just as he could discipline his children; but if she was visibly injured, the court took punitive action - steep fines and/or public whipping, with more severe punishment for repeat offenders. And unlike today, the matter went to trial whether the woman pressed charges or not. Too many battered women today let their mis-placed "love" cloud their better judgment. Domestic violence was very rare in Plymouth. None of the Mayflower passengers themselves were involved in any abuse cases, but such cases did occur among later Plymouth residents and accounts of these incidents can be found in the Plymouth Colony court records. And domestic violence was not one sided -- there are several accounts in the Plymouth court records of women who beat their husbands.

>SouthernGirl> Thank you for your time

You're very welcome. I learned some new things researching these things and hope you gain some benefit as well. People sometimes say that the only thing that men learn from history is that they never learn. Well, yeah, grin, but I have learned one thing by experience: "People who walk through life looking backward tend to trip a lot." But seriously, although we can't change the past, we can forgive and forget and work from this day forward to be more loving toward each other. We should thank God for his blessings and pray for courage through the dark trials of life. The Bible says "Whosoever" (not just one elite race) "Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." (Rom.10:13 AV1611)

God be thanked for the "free gift" of eternal life to all that believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace be with you and yours, in love for Jesus' sake. Amen. --Richard

See also:
The Pilgrims and the Mayflower Compact
Christian Growth and Revival