As Precious as Silver

Working communally - also known as the “common course of labor” - was a key part of the business model planned for Plymouth Colony. In the original terms and conditions for funding and planting the colony, all the colonists agreed to work together for seven years at commercial fishing, trading, and farming “making such commodities as shall be most useful for the colony.”¹ At the end of the seven years, the terms and conditions dictated that the colonists would receive a share of the common stock including land and livestock. After three years, Plymouth Colony’s governor William Bradford ended communal work as related to farming, because it caused too much internal conflict and resulted in poor corn harvests. Without a good corn harvest to feed the colony and without regular supplies from England, the colony would not survive. It is interesting to note, however, that this injunction affected only grain and other field production. All other group work - hunting, fishing, trading and defense - continued as before and seemingly without tension.

This excerpt from William Bradford’s Of Plimoth Plantation reveals how the men and women of Plymouth felt about growing corn communally and the steps leadership took to address the problem.

Transcription

All this while no [English ship] supply was heard of, neither knew they when they might expect any. So, they began to think how they might raise as much corn as they could, and obtain a better crop than they had done; that they might not still thus languish in misery. At length after much debate of things, the Governor (with the advice of the chiefest amongst them) gave way that they should set corn every man for his own particular, and in that regard trust to themselves; in all other things to go on in the general way as before. And so assigned to every family a parcel of land, according to the proportion of their number, for that end, only for present use (but made no division for inheritance) and ranged all boys, and& youths under some family. This had very good success; for it made all hands very industrious, so as much more corn was planted, than otherwise would have been… the women now went willingly into the field, and took their little ones with them to set corn…

For this community, (so far as it was) was found to breed much confusion, & discontent, and retard much employment, that would have been to their benefit, and comfort. For the young men that were most able and fit for labor, & service; did repine that they should spend their time, & strength to work for other men’s wives, and children, without any recompense. The strong…had no more in division of victuals, & clothes, then he that was weak, and not able to do a quarter the other could, this was thought injustice. The aged and graver men to be ranked, and equalized in labors, and victuals, clothes etc., with the meaner and younger sort, thought it some indignity & disrespect unto them. And for men’s wives to be commanded, to do service for other men, as dressing their meat, washing their clothes, etc., they deemed it a kind of slavery, neither could many husbands well brook it.²

• What were the young men’s complaints about the common course of labor? What were the older men’s complaints? What were the women’s complaints? Does the community have any joint concerns?
• The stronger men called the “common course” an “injustice.” Do you agree? Why or why not?
  
• How did the Governor resolve to “raise as much corn as they could and obtain a better crop then they had done”? In his opinion, was it successful? What other factors may have contributed to the community’s inability to farm collectively?
• How are the English ideas about work and economics different from the Wampanoag?
  

• ¹ William Bradford, Of Plimoth Plantation. (Boston: Conserved and digitized by the State Library of Massachusetts, 2014), 28
• ² William Bradford, Of Plimoth Plantation. (Boston: Conserved and digitized by the State Library of Massachusetts, 2014), 96
• ³ Ibid.