Governor Winthrop's Garden Crop
The Significance of Agriculture in the Early Commerce of Massachusetts Bay
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 3457409 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Darrett B Rutman (corresponding author) |
| Year | 1963 |
| Volume | 20 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 396 |
| Publication date | 1963-07-01 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | The William and Mary Quarterly (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0043-5597 • E-ISSN: 1933-7698 |
| Publisher | JSTOR (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.2307/1918954 |
| OpenAlex | W2326038169 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 6 |
HERE is a paradox in the history of early Massachusetts-indeed, one applicable to all of New England in the first decades. It is that of an agricultural land in which the trades of the sea are dominant; a land largely devoted to crops where-if the tenor of historical writing is to be accepted-profits are made in other endeavors. On the one hand, there is the frequent description of New England's cold climate and rocky soil and the conclusion that agriculture was not an encouraging business. The New Englanders simply made a good thing of a bad bargain during the first years of settlement, building a short-term prosperity by selling their agricultural surplus to new arrivals. But when the tide of newcomers ebbed and depression broke upon them in i640, they turned to trade, shipbuilding, fish. In the words of a recent writer, they abandoned the plow the rising star of ocean commerce.' On the other hand, there is the unavoidable fact that the land dominates town and commonwealth records both before and after i640. The General Court of Massachussetts Bay regularly appointed land for new towns in the interior-away from the sea and ships. The towns themselves are always in the throes of a new distribution of land. Court records indicate farm after farm being leased, with the owner receiving agricultural products as rent; probate records show land passing from father to sons, while estate inventories list page on page of farm equipment.? Contempo
Agricultural economics · Agriculture · Archaeology · Bay · Crop · Economics · Geography · Governor · Political science · American Environmental and Regional History · Engineering · Forestry
| Citations per year | 0.12 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 1975 - 2013 (39) |
| Highly cited | No |