THE FIRST REPUBLICAN FORM OF GOVERN-
MENT IN AMERICA
BY EX-JUDGE DAVID DAVIS
Mr. William M. Pettit in the Archaeological
and His-
torical Quarterly of July, 1931, has written an able
article setting forth that Rev. John
Wheelwright of Bos-
ton, and later of Exeter,
Massachusetts, was the first
man to form a Republican Government in
America. The
records and history of the Colonies, by
many authors,
attribute that honor to Rev. Roger
Williams.
Rev. Wheelwright came to the Colonies
in the latter
part of 1636 and became a pastor of a
Boston Church
immediately upon his arrival. Rev.
Wheelwright was
a Puritan. Rev. Roger Williams was a
Pilgrim and
Separatist.
Rev. Wheelwright was tried by the
General Courts
in Boston, in January, 1637, and he was
banished by
order of the Court. In 1638, he formed
a settlement at
Exeter, Massachusetts. After a residence of a few
years, the town was declared to be
within the limits of
Massachusetts.
Taylor's History of the United
States gives the fol-
lowing account, and so much as is
necessary to indicate
what was done by Rev. Wheelwright in
Exeter is here
given.
1638 was the beginning of the towns of
Exeter and Hampton
* * * Settlers mostly from Boston. * * *
As they judged their
settlement to be without the
jurisdiction of Massachusetts, they
formed themselves into a body politic,
chose rulers and assistants,
(108)
First Republican Form of Government
in America 109
who were sworn to a proper execution of
their respective offices,
and a correspondent oath of obedience
was taken by the people.
In this compact, we have an instance of
civil government in its
simplest, perhaps its purest form. The
magistrates, who were
few, were vested with legislative,
judicial and executive authority.
It is clear from the wording of the
"Combination or
Compact," formed by him and his
adherents, that the
Magistrates of said Community were
vested with legis-
lative, judicial and executive
authority. The three vital
branches of the Government rested in
one body, which
plainly shows that it was not a
republican form of gov-
ernment. It is further to be noted that after Rev.
Wheelwright and his associates had
lived in the town of
Exeter for a few years, his sentence of
banishment was
revoked, in consequence of some
acknowledgment on his
part. He therefore returned and became
a part of the
Government of Massachusetts, as he had
made ample
apology for what he had done.
Roger Williams came to Boston and
arrived at Nan-
tasket on February 5, 1631. He was
known as a Sep-
aratist of the strongest character and
therefore, a Pil-
grim. While the Pilgrims and the
Puritans in some
measure or conduct were alike, the
Puritans still adhered
to the established Church in certain
measures. The
Separatists believed in complete
separation of the estab-
lished Church and civil government. In
other words,
Roger Williams believed with all of his
power and with
all of his good sense in
"Separation of the Church and
State."
As soon as he had landed in Boston, he
came in con-
tact with the established Church and
civil authorities;
he did not remain there long, but went
to Plymouth and
110 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
remained there teaching on Sundays, and
doing man-
ual labor through the week for nearly
two years.
He was called during that period to the
Church at Salem,
as he was recognized as a high
authority and his doc-
trines were in full accord with the
Salem Church. This
church, however, was within the
territorial district of
the Boston Colony, and at every turn,
while at Salem, he
found himself in conflict with the
Clergy and the Court
of Massachusetts.
In October, 1635, he was tried before
the General
Court, and was found guilty. The church
convicted and
sentenced him to banishment. In
January, 1636, he left
Salem to escape arrest, and to seek a
refuge from the
tyranny of the church brethren and the
court. He
went first to Seekonk, and afterwards,
with four of his
companions, embarked in a canoe to a
spot beyond the
jurisdiction of the Massachusetts and
Plymouth Col-
onies. The site selected by him was
called Providence,
so named by him in gratitude for God's
mercy to him in
his distress.
He had learned the Indian language
while at Ply-
mouth, so that he could speak
intelligibly, and he had be-
come a great favorite with the Indians.
They in turn, for
his kindness to them, deeded him a
large tract of land,
which was the beginning of what is now
Providence,
Rhode Island. He remained at Providence
until the day
of his death, which occurred in 1684,
and there formed
the future government of Rhode Island.
He attempted at
first to form a pure democracy, having
in it, a separation
of Church and State, but he and his
associates soon
found out that it would be better to
form a represent-
ative form of government, which worked
so well that it
First Republican Form of Government
in America 111
was adopted by the towns of Providence,
Portsmouth,
Newport and Warwick. These towns were
free and
independent in worldly affairs, and
yet, to a certain ex-
tent, bound by the Federal Union for
the benefit of all.
The first outline or sketch of the
proposed forma-
tion of the Union reads as
follows:
We whose names are underwritten, being
desirous to inhabit
the town of Providence, do promise to
submit ourselves, in active
or passive obedience, to all such orders
or agreements as may be
made for the public good of the body, in
an orderly way, by the
major consent of the inhabitants,
masters of families, incorpo-
rated together into a township and such
others whom they admit
into the same, only in things Civil.
Under the guidance of Roger Williams
and his asso-
ciates Rhode Island became the pattern
after which this
great republic was subsequently
fashioned, and the gov-
ernment of Rhode Island, being a
republican form of
Government, pure and simple, was the
forerunner of
the Declaration of Independence and the
Constitution of
the United States. So perfect a type of
our Government
was Rhode Island Colony, that it had
both independent
and federal conditions within its
little territory. The
oldest sovereign state in this union
today, she is also the
smallest. Truly, this man, Roger
Williams, was a
prophet in legislation and, like most
prophets of God,
was called to suffer the common penalty
meted out to
those who stood for right, and rebuked
the wrong. He
fought for and founded religious
liberty; he fought for
the doctrine of separation of Church
and State; and suc-
ceeded in both endeavors. He was the
first man in the
Colonies who declared in favor of
public schools.
He was the first Welshman or Englishman
to pro-
112
Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
test against colonial slavery in
America, which he did in
1637. Southey's estimate was not
extravagant when he
said, "Roger Williams was one of
the best men that ever
set foot in the New World."
He was a great preacher. He was a
statesman, and
if any man deserved credit for any one
great act of his
life, he deserved it for his conduct
towards Massachu-
setts Colony. When he learned that the
Indians were
going to massacre the Colony, he
immediately set to
work to prevent such a thing from
happening. If he
had desired power over and destruction
of his enemies,
here was his opportunity, but on the
contrary, he re-
turned good for evil, and saved the
Boston Colony from
destruction. For this, and the conduct
of his whole life,
his fame and name will stand forth to
enlighten the
world as long as there are human beings
in existence.
Unlike Rev. Wheelwright, he actually
carried out his
purpose, and was the founder of Rhode Island.
Rev.
Wheelwright, after three or four years
at Exeter, simply
formed a Church, and then returned to
the old estab-
lished church, at least in part. We
therefore think that
to Roger Williams belongs the credit of
Republican Gov-
ernment in the American Colonies.
It is not out of place to observe that
credit is due Rev.
Wheelwright for what he did, but much
more credit
should be given to Rev. Roger Williams
for his work.
Both were ministers and for that reason
preachers of the
gospel are entitled to leadership of
one of the greatest
movements that was presented in the
early colonies for
the advancement and government in the
new world.
Roger Williams was purely a Welshman,
and was
First Republican Form, of Government
in America 113
only 24 years of age when he landed in
Boston. The
records of his history show that he was
a highly edu-
cated man. It is not plain, however,
how he came to fol-
low the course taken by him earlier in
London, and later,
in the American Colonies. When,
however, you look
into Welsh history, you will ascertain
that this small
nation held festivals in early times
under the great
oaks in England and in Wales, and held
what is known as
the Eisteddfod. That association or
festival bore the
same relation to the Celtic people of
the Welsh blood,
that the Sangerfest does to the Germans
of Teutonic
blood; however, the Eisteddfod is far
older than the Ger-
man Sangerfest, and not only that, it
was literary,
musical, and political in its nature
and conduct. In
reality, it was a festival of the
ancient Druids, partic-
ularly in the Island, and also in
France. Caesar in his
Commentaries refers to it slightly.
One thing is to be observed, that the
people from
whence Roger Williams came, though few
in numbers,
have the highest motto of any country
in the world
from the days of Adam to the present
time, as follows:
"Y GWYER YN ERBIN
Y BYDD" -- "THE
TRUTH AGAINST THE WORLD." This
motto in
Welsh appears among the mottoes of the
great nations
of the earth, on the inside of the
Washington Monu-
ment, and when any man or nation adopts
that motto
as a guide, it can not help but be
useful and prosperous.
When Roger Williams declared that every
man should
worship God according to the dictates
of his own
conscience, and that there should be a
separate Church
and State, he was true to the meaning
of the great Welsh
motto.
Vol. XLI--8.
114 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications In the 13th Verse of the 13th Chapter of First Cor- inthians, we read, "And now abideth faith, hope, char- ity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity." We close by saying that truth is greater than faith, hope and charity, and is the greatest virtue in the world. |
|
THE FIRST REPUBLICAN FORM OF GOVERN-
MENT IN AMERICA
BY EX-JUDGE DAVID DAVIS
Mr. William M. Pettit in the Archaeological
and His-
torical Quarterly of July, 1931, has written an able
article setting forth that Rev. John
Wheelwright of Bos-
ton, and later of Exeter,
Massachusetts, was the first
man to form a Republican Government in
America. The
records and history of the Colonies, by
many authors,
attribute that honor to Rev. Roger
Williams.
Rev. Wheelwright came to the Colonies
in the latter
part of 1636 and became a pastor of a
Boston Church
immediately upon his arrival. Rev.
Wheelwright was
a Puritan. Rev. Roger Williams was a
Pilgrim and
Separatist.
Rev. Wheelwright was tried by the
General Courts
in Boston, in January, 1637, and he was
banished by
order of the Court. In 1638, he formed
a settlement at
Exeter, Massachusetts. After a residence of a few
years, the town was declared to be
within the limits of
Massachusetts.
Taylor's History of the United
States gives the fol-
lowing account, and so much as is
necessary to indicate
what was done by Rev. Wheelwright in
Exeter is here
given.
1638 was the beginning of the towns of
Exeter and Hampton
* * * Settlers mostly from Boston. * * *
As they judged their
settlement to be without the
jurisdiction of Massachusetts, they
formed themselves into a body politic,
chose rulers and assistants,
(108)