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1. Planting the Seed
- University of Nevada Press
- Chapter
- Additional Information
1 Planting the Seed here were eleven ships in the Winthrop Fleet that set sail from England to the New World in 1630. For·twenty-one-year-old Jared Bourn of Bobbingworth, Essex, it was an adventure he would probably remember for the rest ofhis life. Although he sailed aboard the Arbella, the flagship ofthe fleet, young Bourn had signed on as an indentured servant, obligated to pay for his passage by working for Puritan elder William Colborne for five years. At the end ofhis servi,e, he was to receive some land to mark his change of position from indentureship to that ofa freeman. Yet during the first weeks at sea, after the departure on April 8, 1630, from Yarmouth, Isle ofWight, there must have been times when he wondered why he had given up a yeoman's life in Bobbingworth , for the ship offered far less comfort than he had known at home, and during turbulent seas, most passengers were seasick and feared for their lives. Quarters aboard the vessels ofthe fleet were tight at best. On the Arbella, seamen had their quartersin the high forecastle deck, and the poop deck on the stern contained the cabins for the ship's officers and the leaders of the Puritans. In between these tall structures-"between decks"-were some very rough cabins to accommodate women and children. The men who sailed as future landowners or servants had to make do with hammocks. Food supplies consisted of cured beef; beef tongues in brine; salted codfish; brown and white biscuits that were dry to begin the voyage and soon became moldy; a quarter barrel ofbutter to spread on the biscuits; oatmeal ; dried peas, and mustard seeds to make the peas more palatable; and flour, salt, and suet that were used by the cook to make a dull diet into LAST BONANZA KINGS something the passengers would eat. Liquid for drinking was limited to 3,500 gallons of water and IO,OOO gallons of beer, which was used to prevent scurvy. To keep themselves warm in the cold winds blowing off the Atlantic Ocean, the passengers had only heavy clothing and the small amount ofwarmth that drifted from the cook's stove, for which there were only eight thousand pieces offirewood for the entire voyage.1 To Jared Bourn and the other pioneers bound for the New World aboard the Arbella and the other ships of Governor John Winthrop's fleet, this westward voyage proved to be much rougher than they had ever imagined. During the hours of darkness, the only light available aboard the Arbella was given off by four lanterns and six dozen candles. Toilet facilities consisted ofwhatever pots were available, or the pitching and rolling deck with only the railing to hold on to while taking care of natural needs. John Winthrop and the other Puritan leaders of the Massachusetts Bay Colony were courageous people. Most of them came from a strong middle class, and they left comfortable lives in England to escape the Romish changes that they saw taking place in the Anglican Church. So they put their faith to the test by sailing westward with a new vision of a life apart from a faith that they believed had failed them. In every sense, the Puritans were true believers willing to risk their lives for their religion. The Moses of this fleet of believers was forty-two-year-old John Winthrop, an influential man ofmeans and education. He was a dignified and controlled individual whose temperament kept him from making impulsive moves.2 Winthrop's religion controlled his actions, for he was convinced that his decision to journey with other religious followers was an act of God. As for Jared Bourn and others like him, their reasons for sailing westward were as much for a better economic future as for religious beliefs. The nature ofsociety in England confined Bourn to a social class that would never receive an opportunity to advance, but in the New World he could hope to break away from such constrictions. Even though his knowledge of the land they were sailing to as pioneers was very limited, he did know that Governor John Winthrop had obtained a charter from Charles I that seemed grand in every sense of the word. What this New World meant to these members of the Massachusetts Bay Colony was that the land they were going to settle ran from a few miles south of the Charles River to a...