Freeman (Colonial)

Freeman is a term used generally as an English or American Colonial expression in Puritan times, which referred to those persons who were not under legal restraint – usually for the payment of an outstanding debt, because of their continual drunkenness, because they had recently relocated, or because they were idle and had no way in which they could continue the justification of their stay within the colony.

"Freedom" was earned after an allotted time, or until the person demanding "payment" was satisfied – this was known as indentured servitude, and was not originally intended as a stigma or embarrassment for the person involved since many of the sons and daughters of the wealthy and famous of the time found themselves forced into such temporary servitudes. It was a sort of debtor's prison without the walls, torture, or meager subsistence.

However, as time wore on, the name "freeman" somehow became associated with the servitude of slavery, and many of those who had thought that their servitude was only temporary, soon found out that their master was asking them to work a little bit too hard, or that he was taking a little bit too long in setting them free.

As a result, many "servants" began escaping and eventually the entire system of "freemen" was officially eliminated by 1691, though parts of the system did still remain through the 18th Century.

Progression to freeman

Initially, anyone first entering into a colony, or just recently having become a member of one of the local churches, was formally not free. Such persons were never forced to work for another individual, per se, but their movements were carefully observed, and if they veered from the Puritanical ideal, they were asked to leave the colony. If they stayed or later returned to the colony, they were put to death.

There was an unstated probationary period that the prospective "freeman" needed to go through, and if he did pass this probationary period of time – usually one to two years – he was allowed his freedom.

A Freeman was said to be free of all debt, owing nothing to anyone except God Himself – which "debt" the churches of the times made certain was paid on a daily basis.

Free planter

A "free planter" as opposed to a "freeman", was any one singular land holder, who possessed land outright that was usually given to him by the colony after he had finished his probationary period – except of course in those cases where the land owner had inherited his property; but if he was deemed legally incompetent, didn't pass his probationary period, or again lost his freedom through some irresponsibility of his own, he would have had his land and property confiscated from him and redistributed amongst the remaining freemen even if the inheritor was a well respected citizen. [James Savage, "Winthrop's Journal 'The History of New England' 1630-1649" (1825–26 edition) ]

Oath of a freeman

Initially, all persons seeking to be free needed to take the "Oath of a Freeman", in which they vowed to defend the Commonwealth and not to conspire to overthrow the government. The first handwritten version of the "Freeman's Oath" was made in 1634; it was printed by Stephen Daye in 1639 in the form of a broadside or single sheet of paper intended for posting in public places.

Further reading

* Nathaniel Bradstreet Shurtleff, M.D., editor "Records of the Governor and Company of the Massachusetts Bay in New England" (1853-54, 5 volumes) [especially volumes 1–3, and lists of "freemen"]
* James Truslow Adams, LLD, "The Founding of New England" (1927)
* James Hammond Trumbull, "The True-Blue Laws of Connecticut and New Haven and the False Blue-Laws Invented by the Reverend Samuel Peters" (1876)
* Theophilus Eaton, et al, "New-Haven's Settling in New-England and Some Laws for Government Published for the Use of That Colony" (1656) [or any reasonable facimile edition of the "Blue Laws" of New Haven or Connecticut]
* Silas Andrus, "The Code of 1650 [of Conn.] to which is added some Extracts from the Laws and Judicial Proceedings of New-Haven Colony. Commonly called Blue Laws" (1822)
* John Fiske, "The Beginnings of New England or the Puritan Theocracy in its Relations to Civil and Religious Liberty" (1889, 1898 edition)
* Francis J. Bremer, "The Puritan Experiment" (1976)
* Lucias R. Paige, "List of Freemen of Massachusetts 1631–1691" (1849, 1988 edition)

External links

References