COLONIAL SOCIETY IN THE 1650s & '60s

A hefty 1651 tome, Leviathan, or The Matter, Forme and Power of a Common Wealth Ecclesiasticall and Civil by Thomas Hobbes, concerns "the structure of society and legitimate government. It is regarded as one of the earliest and most influential examples of social contract theory." Radical for its time, Leviathan is still considered by some to be a profoundly influential work of political thought.

According to Hobbes, there were only three types of commonwealth: monarchy, aristocracy and democracy. He believed that monarchy was by far the best.

The Little Monarchy

I knew nothing of Hobbes's writings or political views until, while researching Pilgrim life, I came across this quotation  of his from Leviathan:

"It appears that a great family, if it be not part of some commonwealth, is of itself, as to the rights of sovereignty, a little monarchy—whether that family consist of a man and his children, or of a man and his servants, or of a man and his children and servants together—wherein the father or master is the sovereign."

A family consists of a man and his children? ... a man and his servants? ... a man and his children and servants together? Now I ask you: Where was the woman in his so-called "great family?" Was Hobbes that blind? Were women that invisible?

I bring this up on the heels of the "little baby step in the right direction" explained in the scene-setter between  generations 4 and 5, for no matter how much the newly negotiated compact positively affected women's roles, the Pilgrims and their descendant families for several generations remained the domain of the men who headed them. Of that there is no doubt.

While the term "motherhood" implied bearing, nursing and nurturing offspring, making their clothes, teaching them manners and good hygiene, the term "fatherhood" implied specific powers over those offspring: authority to punish, to have the final word, and the pièce de résistance, bestowal of his estate on his favored adult children (spelled s o n s).

"The Law is A Ass!* 

The long arm of English law reached the New England colonists repeatedly. Every ship from England to New Plymouth brought additional directives ordering heads of household to teach their children and servants their catechism, send them to church regularly, teach them the English language and make them fully aware of English laws. And they were admonished to train "their children and apprentices in some honest lawfull calling, labour or employment," threatening that if they persisted in rearing "rude, stubborn and unruly" children, they could lose custody to another man who would "force them to submit unto government." And a wide range of fines were specified for habitual disregard of these laws.

In this new land, Pilgrim families were pretty much the "little monarchies" defined by Hobbes. But because the husbands and wives now shared their labors, and their bones were tired, and their thoughts were focused on keeping themselves and their children alive, English laws governing the rearing of their children were, if not completely ignored, at least not given consideration over earning enough food to keep from starving to death. Moreover, there were many selectmen, village elders and church officials to help guide Plymouth's young people in the lawful religious and filial ways that were expected of them.

As the years wore on and the hard-working Pilgrims became more prosperous, parents increased the time they devoted to preparing their children for adult life—teaching them necessary skills such as reading and writing, as well as the physical skills with which to earn their livings and maintain their homes. And it was considered especially important for fathers to not only oversee their children's matrimonial choices, but also to give them a proper start in married life.

To be sure, there were a few neglectful parents and unruly children. There are stories of sexual rebellion, even child abuse. Certainly, crimes were committed, both petty and heinous. And just as certainly, criminals were punished. And occasionally a colonial family would give up its dream and return to England. It was a growing community, after all, and not for the faint of heart. For the most part, however, the Cushman families and the other hard-working citizens of Plymouth tried to leave the colony a better place than when they arrived.

*Mr. Bumble's memorable line from the Charles Dickens classic, Oliver Twist. (When Mr. Bumble is informed that "the law supposes that your wife acts under your direction," he replies "If the law supposes that...the law is a ass—a idiot. If that's the eye of the law, the law is a bachelor; and the worst I wish the law is that his eye may be opened by experience—by experience."