Thomas Morton (l. c. 1579-1647 CE) was an English lawyer, poet, writer, and an early colonist of North America who established the utopian community of Merrymount, sparking conflict with his separatist neighbors at Plymouth Colony and the Puritans of Massachusetts Bay Colony between c. 1626-1645 CE. He is best known for his three-volume work New English Canaan, published in 1637 CE, which criticized Puritan colonization of North America, praised Native American culture, and satirized some of the best-known figures of Plymouth Colony, notably Captain Myles Standish (l. c. 1584-1656 CE) whom he refers to as “Captain Shrimp” throughout. Morton's work, controversial in its time, is considered the first book banned in what would become the United States of America.
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Definition
Timeline
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c. 1579 - 1647Life of poet, writer, lawyer, and colonist Thomas Morton, founder of Merrymount Colony in North America.
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1617 - 1622Thomas Morton marries Alice Miller; is engaged in lawsuit brought by her son.
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1622 - 1623Thomas Morton abandons his wife and his life in accepting a mission from Sir Ferdinando Gorges to go to North America.
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1624Thomas Morton leaves England to found a colony in North America along with Captain Richard Wollaston at the direction of Sir Ferdinando Gorges.
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1626Thomas Morton drives Captain Wollaston from the colony of Mount Wollaston; founds new colony of Merrymount.
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1626 - 1628Merrymount Colony, under Thomas Morton, becomes the most lucrative and fastest-growing settlement in New England.
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1628Thomas Morton is arrested by Myles Standish of Plymouth Colony and marooned on an island; he later makes his way back to England.
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1629Thomas Morton returns to North America as a clerk for Isaac Allerton of Plymouth Colony; he is arrested and sent back to England.
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1630 - 1633Thomas Morton sues Plymouth Colony and Massachusetts Bay Colony to have their charters revoked; legal briefs of the lawsuit become the drafts of his book New English Canaan.
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1637Publication of Thomas Morton's 3-Volume work New English Canaan.
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1642 - 1644Thomas Morton returns to the English colonies of North America; is arrested and jailed at Boston.
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1645Thomas Morton is released from prison owing to declining health.
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1645 - 1647Thomas Morton lives among friends in York, Maine until his death.
