Presidents Before George Washington

Presidents Before George Washington

By

Robert Richardson

SMASHWORDS EDITION

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PUBLISHED BY

Robert Richardson on Smashwords

Presidents Before George Washington

Copyright 2013 by Robert Richardson

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Smashwords Edition, License Notes

This e-book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This e-book may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for

respecting the hard work of this author.

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Author's Statement

Why did I write this book? I was taught that George Washington was our first President until one day I was walking my dog and happened to start up a conversation with someone and the topic turned to early American Presidents. The fellow I was talking with said that there were Presidents before George Washington. I was not sure of what I heard, so I defended what I was taught and kindly walked away.

Weeks went by and while listening to a radio station, it was mentioned again that there were Presidents before George Washington. After hearing this, I decided to look into this subject and became motivated to inform others about the Presidents before George Washington who have been overlooked for one reason or another.

I also wanted to bring more insight into American history from the time of the Pilgrims to today. I had many questions to answer and information to reveal to my readers. For example, what were the other reasons why the Pilgrims came to America and what was the voyage like? Other questions I was able to answer was what was the significance of Mayflower Compact and what did it actually say? Was the first Thanksgiving in November? What was Colonial life like? Why was the Biblical death penalty used on animals and humans? White Slaves in America? Who was the first President of the United Colonies? What two Presidents served the shortest terms? Who was the only American President ever to be held as a prisoner of war in another country? What President was born in a foreign country? What were the many reasons for the Revolutionary War? What was one of the main reasons for the Revolutionary War? Who else rode with Paul Revere? What was in the full text of the Declaration of Independence? What was the first Constitution? What was the full text of the first Constitution? Who was the first President of the United States of America? Who helped the United States of America defeat Great Britain? Did the United States of America need a revised or second Constitution? And how many Presidents did America have before George Washington?

I also wanted to share what went wrong during and after President George Washington. What were the reasons for the War between the States or the Civil War? What went wrong to America's money system? Why was both President Lincoln and President Kennedy assassinated? Why was Washington DC designed as it is? Plus, what was the Organic Act of 1871 and how did it change our Federal Government?

In this e-book you will find more American history and hidden information than you could possibly find by spending years in a classroom or endlessly researching.

I did not want to leave my readers with a negative feeling about America, but to give them hope with a solution to change the negatives into positives. I hope you enjoy reading my book and receive more insight and understanding. Thank you for your support and please tell others. Robert

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Presidents Before George Washington

Chapter 1: Coming to America

During the 1600's, the English kings tried to force their subjects by oppression and persecution into accepting the teachings of the Anglican Church of England. The Puritans were a group of people who wanted to purify the Church of England by making the Church doctrine simple, based on the Bible, without excessive creeds, ceremonies, statues and traditions of men. The Puritans desired to bring reform within the Church of England, but not to separate from it. Because of their desire to reform the Church of England, they experience persecution.

The Separatists or otherwise called Calvinists or Pilgrims, were a group of people who separated from the Church of England without trying to reform it. They started their own church services because they totally rejected the doctrine of the Church of England and the demands of the King. The Separatists or Pilgrims faced more persecution than the Puritans and some were even executed for their Christian beliefs.

One group of Separatists, under the leadership of William Brewster, met in the village of Scrooby, England, for secret church services. They met in secret for approximately seven years to avoid English officials from persecuting them, under the leadership of Queen Elizabeth I and followed by King James I.

The Separatists learned that the country of Holland was much different than England and accepted other religions and cultures more willingly. The Separatists all agreed that they could no longer stay in England because of the persecution that threatened their safety and lives.

In 1608, William Brewster and his group of English Separatists boarded a Dutch ship and fled to Holland. They first settled in Amsterdam and two years later moved to Leiden, which is the second city in Holland and home of its famous University.

After 10 years, the majority of the Separatists became dissatisfied with Holland and felt that their lives in the long run would be better coming to America. There were various reasons for leaving Holland and the Dutch way of life, including a different language, the Dutch people were liberal while the Separatists/Calvinist/Pilgrims and their church was conservative. Other reasons included the desire for their future posterity to be English, not Dutch. Everyday life in Holland was hard and when others from England came to join them, it was financially difficult for them. The Pilgrims wanted to advance the gospel of the kingdom of Christ 1 and come to America to help the other English Colonists in Virginia, that had an unsuccessful settlement since 1607.

The reality was that in Holland the Pilgrims could have stayed there as long as they wanted. There was no persecution, no harassment by the Dutch people or the Dutch Government. According to Morton the Pilgrims continued divers years in a comfortable condition, enjoying much sweet society and spiritual comfort in the ways of God, living peaceable amongst themselves, and being courteously entertained and lovingly respected by the Dutch. 2 In fact, the magistrates in the city of Leiden, where the Pilgrims lived, commented that the English never had any suit or accusation against any of them for the ten years that they lived there. 3

It seems to be unfortunate that most are not taught that the Pilgrims first moved and lived in Holland to flee the religious persecution of the British Monarchs and the Church of England. What also is not being told is that the Pilgrims lived in Holland for ten years and decided to leave the multicultural liberalism of Holland because it was detrimental to the values of the Pilgrim adults and their children.

Before leaving Holland, the Pilgrims had agents go back to England and negotiate on their behalf to obtain a patent, permission or license for their voyage to the northern part of Virginia, or what is now the New York City metro area. The Pilgrims rejected an offer to settle under the auspices of the Dutch government in New Amsterdam and instead approached British King James, who initially refused to give them an official patent, but said that if they went to Jamestown he would not interfere, provided they carried themselves peaceably. The Separatists feared that they would be persecuted by Anglicans if they joined the English colony in Jamestown, Virginia.

Finally, Thomas Weston, a London merchant, found a proposal from the Plymouth, England branch of the Virginia Company that offered a patent to settle Northern Virginia at the mouth of the Hudson River. This seemed like a good location for the Separatists because it was far away from Jamestown and the established Anglican Church.

A group of English investors known as merchant adventurers agreed to finance the voyage and settlement. They formed a joint-stock company with the colonists, in which they would adventure or risk their money in exchange for the settlers personal labor for a period of seven years. During that time, all land and livestock were to be owned in partnership. At the end of seven years, the company would be dissolved and the assets divided.

Weston found seventy investors, but in the end, only a small number of Separatist were willing to risk their lives making a dangerous voyage to an unknown land. Weston solved the problem by recruiting others who were sympathetic to the Separatist cause, but were primarily interested in relocating to America for economic reasons.

At the last minute, the Virginia Company changed some of the conditions of the agreement. This new condition required that the voyage to America would start from Southampton, England. Many of the Pilgrims were afraid that going back to England first might prove dangerous and risky, but some of the others thought otherwise. Obviously, cooler heads prevailed and they relied on God's providence.

Some of the Separatists in Holland refused to go back to England before making the trip to America and decided to stay in Holland, but the majority trusted that God would protect them, so they went forward.

Once they had their patent, the Pilgrims negotiated for two ships. Since they were living in the Netherlands, they hired a Dutch ship called the Speedwell to take them from Delft Have, the Netherlands, to Southampton, England. The Speedwell was built in 1577 and weighed about 60 tons. The Speedwell, in 1603, crossed the Atlantic Ocean transporting the English explorer Martin Pring to Maine and Virginia.

The second ship was hired at London and was called the Mayflower. On July 1620, the Mayflower sailed from London to Southampton, to be loaded with food and supplies for the voyage. The Mayflower was larger than the Speedwell, it measured 90 feet long, 24 feet wide and weighed about 180 tons. The Mayflower was built in 1609 and had three mast's, a double deck and resembled a cod's head and a mackerels tail in shape The quarter-owner and captain was named Christopher Jones and there were about 30 crew members. Together both ships would sail for Northern Virginia.

Once the preparations were made, the Pilgrims had a solemn day of humiliation. Part of the time the pastor preached and the rest of the time was spent praying with the members. The pastor, John Robinson, discussed that he perceived his members as sons and daughters of Abraham by faith, and were chosen by the Lord Jesus Christ to be brought out of sinful Babylon and into a New Jerusalem, to build the Lords temple anew, with themselves as its stones. The Pilgrims were a courageous people because of their strong faith and belief that all things would work out for good because of their love of the Lord and his teachings.

The following day of July 22, 1620, the Pilgrims boarded the Speedwell at the port in Delft Haven, Holland, and sadly and tearfully said good-byes to those who were not making the voyage, including the majority of the church congregation and other friends. Pastor John Robinson did not go on the first voyage. The plan was for the first group of Pilgrims to settle and establish the colony and then the rest would follow the next year. The Speedwell set sail with its small group and traveled to meet up with the Mayflower at Southampton, England. In Southampton, both ships were loaded up with supplies for the voyage. On August 5, 1620, the Speedwell and Mayflower set sail for America but only hours later, the Speedwell started taking on water. The leak forced both ships to stop for repairs at Dartmouth for several weeks. On August 24th, both ships set sail again and sailed through the English Channel and at approximately 300 miles out into the Atlantic Ocean, the Speedwell started leaking again and had to return to Plymouth, England, where they decided that the Speedwell was not sea worthy and could not make the voyage to America. This brought about frustration to some passengers and approximately 20 quit and were sent home to Holland. The other passengers and their cargo was transferred from the Speedwell to the Mayflower.

After a month of problems and delays, the Mayflower was ready to set sail. Of the 102 passengers and crew on the Mayflower, 37 were from the Pilgrim congregation in Holland. The rest were family servants, planters with their families, that were hired by the Virginia Company, and the ships crew. On September 6, 1620, the Mayflower finally set sail from Plymouth, England to America.

The weather during the first half of the voyage of the Mayflower was relatively good with adequate winds. The only real problem during the first half of the voyage was with a hateful sailor that was constantly