Bromfield High School - Beacon Yearbook (Harvard, MA)

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E Z:lBrom9iel.cl BG3.iCOT1'm3 AN HISTORICAL SKETCH OF MASSACHUSETTS As far back as the year 1000 legend has it that Eric the Red and his Norsemen touched what is now known as Massachusetts, calling it Vinland or Wineland. Explorers came to our coast from time to time over a period of six hundred years. Discontented English farmers read with enthusiasm John Smith's ac- counts of his New England journeyings written in 1614, as he wrote of Many iles all planted with corne: groves, mulberries, salvage gardens, and good harbors. The landing of the Pilgrims in 1620 established democratic govern- ment on the continent in accordance with their Mayflower Compact . Dissatisfaction caused the Puritans to come to New England seeking religious freedom. In the year 1629 a royal charter was granted to the Massachusetts Bay Company to govern land granted to the Puritans. This charter was the foundation of our democratic government. It provided for two general courts to carry on the afairs of state: the first was to consist of all freemen and was to elect the constituents of the second court, which was made up of the governor, deputy-governor, and eighteen assistants. When John Winthrop brought to Salem the prized charter, democratic government was assured. More immigrants came in the years following. ln 1640 the twenty-year-old colony numbered about 16,000 settlers. Con- stant growth with democratic form of government formed our present background. Towns lying around a central green developed the township so characteristic of New England. Individual families dependent entirely upon themselves for the necessities of life developed that Yankee ingenu- ity which has resulted in the rugged individualism of New Englanders. The town meeting was practiced, which so greatly contributed to the present national government. About 1660, when the Stuarts were restored to the throne in England, there came stricter c-ontrol, which New Englanders strongly resisted. Losing their charter in 1684 they fell under the Dominion of New England and the rule of Sir Edmund Andros. Continued resistance to the will of the crown led to their being placed under a provisional government when James II fied in 1688. They became a royal colony in 1691 under a governor appointed by the crown with, how- ever, the right to two legislative houses and the abolishment of the require- ment that a voter be a church member. Due to the series of wars between France and England during much of the eighteenth century the pressure of English control let up. Yet inas- much as the colony traded with the mother country's foes and did not pay a part of the war expenses, the Sugar Act and the Stamp Act of 1764 and 1765 were put into effect. Resistance in many forms brought about the repeal of the Sugar Act in 1766. This by no means eased matters as other suppressive moves caused constant unrest in the form of defiance of each new ruling. The Boston Massacre of March fifth, 1770, was a strong and vivid forerunner of the Revolutionary War. The Tea Act, the Boston Tea Page Twenty-two

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Brrnmiijzel.-gl BG acon of obscurity to heights of recognition. After many months of rejection by editors, he sold his first article, To the Man on the Trail to the Oncrlanrl Monthly for the meager sum of five dollars. The beginning of a new century marked the beginning of Jack Lon- don's successful writing career. He set for himself a daily quota of a thousand words which he wrote early each morning. One of Jack's many hindrances in life was his unceasing craving for liquor. From early childhood the shadow of John Barleycorn had followed Jack London, first tormenting him, then delighting him. It took almost his whole lifetime for Jack to free himself from his thirst for alcohol. He told of these experiences in his book, John Barleycorn. After Jack's unsuccessful marriage to Bess Madden, he left her and their two daughters and began lecturing in Chicago. Once again Jack married. This time he chose Charmain, a girl who, like himself, loved adventure. The happy couple bought a ranch which Jack named The Valley of the Moon. By 1905 Jack London, the vagrant-the drunk -was the most fam-ous and highest paid author in America. Even with fame, Jack was lonely for the call of the sea gulls and the smell of the ocean, so again he followed the beckoning finger of adventure. After many months of discouraging defeats in the building of his newest craft, The Snark, Jack and Charmain set out for a cruise around the world. Just twenty-seven days out of San Francisco, Jack sighted Pearl Harbor. The happy couple were greeted by throngs of Hawaiians, who were shouting and singing. They spent months cruising the South Seas, having what Jack called his first vacation . The trip got no further for Jack became ill with a tropical disease and returned home to his ranch. Following his recovery he turned out two books which were greeted with little enthusiasm by the public: the Iron Heel and a biographical novel, Martin Eden. His next venture was to build a stone mansion. The cost was tremen- dous, but after many, many weeks of impatient waiting, the marvelous structure was finished. The night after its completion the mansion was gutted by fire. In 1916 Jack and Charmain wintered in Hawaii hoping that there Jack could regain his failing health. Upon his return to America Jack began living in a world of semi-realism, refusing to do anything to prolong his life of forty-one years. No one can ever know whether it was by accident that Jack took a fatal dose of medicine on the morning of November 22nd, 1916. The story of Jack London's remarkable life and climb to fame will live forever in the minds of the millions who loved and admired his courage and genius. Barbara C. Benjamin Pcrqe Twenty-one

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Br-om?ieLcl Beacon Party in 1773, the closing of Boston Harbor, and other infringing acts by the British added greatly to the starting of the Revolution. After the Revolutionary War, came social and economic problems which were remedied by a constitution, supplementing the Provincial Con- gress. This constitution, drawn up mainly by John Adams, was ratified by the people on June seventh, 1780. To this very day the original frame of this masterpiece is used here and was used as a model for the nation. Next came the Federal Constitution and Washington's presidency. General prosperity followed the economic depression that came as a result of the war. In Jefferson's second term came the Embargo Act to stop France and England from interfering with American shipping. Massa- chusetts suffered heavily, and Mr. Madison's War made things worse by stopping all trade from Boston until 1815. As a result of the embargo, industries were started to supplement pre- vious imports. The year 1816 gave us a protective tariff to shield the infant industries from foreign competition. Abundance of water power, other natural resources, and money aided in the rapid growth of textiles and other enterprises. The Erie Canal in 1825 turned much of the farming population to industry as competition from the West grew. The growth of the West necessitated a general liberalizing of the Constitutiong thus re- forms were carried out in 1820 to hold the people from westward migration. Then in 1833 church and state were completely separated. Universal education led by Horace Mann and a movement to aid the insane led by Dorothea L. Dix portrayed the start of social progress made in the early nineteenth century. William Lloyd Garrison in 1831 started His weekly The Liberator which under him was directed to inform the pub- lic about slave conditions. The Anti-Slavery Society and the Underground Railways show a reforming intent prior to the Civil War. Industrial expansion, increased volume of imported raw materials, and considerably larger income from Boston and Gloucester fishing indus- tries made the state prosperous following the Civil War. Out of the major industries grew demands for others, and in 1937 an industrial survey showed Massachusetts to be first in twenty-five manu- factures. The state has kept abreast of the nation in its legislation improv- ing labor conditions concerning w-omen and minors in industry. The state has greatly improved its public school system and is noted for its colleges and universities. Now in the years following World War 11, Massachusetts is faced with many serious problems. Many of her industries are migrating to other parts of the country because of unfavorable tax conditions hereg her penal system has long since been outmoded by those of her sister statesg her land suffers from erosion and unscrupulous removal of top soil, her rivers are polluted by industrial waste, and her system of roads leaves much to be desired. The future of our state can be what we make it. We, as her citi- zens, must do our part in solving these problems. Francis Lennihan, Jr. Pccre Tvle-nty-three