EPISODE 96: The Wildest Man You Have Never Heard Of: Thomas Morton

“The Puritans feared that which was undomesticated.” — Jeff Hendricks

“Our earliest American heroes were Morton’s oppressors, Endicott, Bradford, Miles Standish. Merry Mount’s been expunged from the official version because it’s the story not of a virtuous utopia but of a utopia of candor. Yet it’s Morton whose face should be carved in Mount Rushmore.” — Philip Roth 

“He held out the promise of America as an earthly paradise, a pagan, not a protestant prospect, a zone of pleasure, not salvation through suffering.” — John Seelye 

“Drink and be merry, merry, merry boys;
Let all your delight be in the Hymens joys…
Or make green garlands, bring bottles out
And fill sweet nectar freely about.
Uncover thy head and fear no harm;
For here’s good liquor to keep it warm.
Then drink and be merry, 
Or yet, lasses in beaver coats come away, 
Yee hall be welcome to us night and day.
To drink and be merry.” — Thomas Morton 

Today we are going to play with one of the greatest stories you probably have never heard of. Even in U.S. very little known about this story and it’s a crime. If you have even a superficial knowledge of American history, you have almost certainly heard about the settlers who came to Plymouth in 1620. What you may not have heard about is that shortly thereafter a gentleman named Thomas Morton set up a different colony just down the road from Plymouth. At a time when most people arrived to Plymouth in chains, as indentured servants, Morton abolished servitude in his settlement he called Merrymount. At a time when his neighbors in Plymouth were brutally squashing religious dissent, Morton encouraged religious freedom. And on top of it all, he and his friends entertained extremely friendly relations with Native tribes even openly intermarrying. What makes the story even crazier is that Merrymount was well on its way to be more successful than Plymouth. When new settlers arrived on American shores, many took one look at ultra-strict Plymouth, another look at the freedom to be enjoyed at Merrymount and didn’t need to be told twice which way to go. The only reason why Merrymount didn’t make it in the history books you may have read is because the pilgrims turned to violence to destroy a community whose existence was a challenge to all of their beliefs. 

From that day forward, the name of Thomas Morton has largely been erased from history. Some people could refer to Morton as a victim of the Puritan brand of cancel culture. The Puritan story became mainstream, and Morton’s name disappeared. This episode fixes this mistake. 

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