Bromfield High School - Beacon Yearbook (Harvard, MA)

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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

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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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arnmsaeta Beacon THE SHAKERS The Shakers, a religious sect, came from England to America on August 7, 1774, to seek religious freedom. Their founder, Ann Lee, came from Manchester, England. She believed she had received special spiri- tual gifts from God and that the Lord Jesus had become one with her in form and spirit. The Shakers are a peculiar people, as they will themselves admit, but their habits and ways, although they may be amusing and interesting, certainly are far better than many of the ordinary living habits of the world , as the non-Shakers were called. The Shakers worked earnestly from dawn to dusk. They rose at 4:30 a.m. and proceeded to work until six when they ate breakfast. At the table they stood behind their chairs and said a few silent prayers. After break- fast they toiled at their tasks until the lunch bell rang at 11 130. This meal and the evening meal, eaten at six, were conducted in the same manner as the breakfast. The Shaker religion forbids the eating of any flesh meat or fish. It is believed that their long and healthy life is due to the absence of meat and rich foods from their diet. Their plain customs are carried through to their meals. The work the Shakers did is most amazing. We find that they depended largely upon the goods they produced and made themselves. It is indeed striking to find that all the clothing, food, utensils, and furniture used by the colony were made by the Shakers themselves. Their simplicity is evi- dent in all their manners, clothing, and furniture. This simplicity is part of their religion. They believed that simplicity and suiering brought them closer to God. Their industry was also a part of their belief. They thought that if one worked all the time he would have no time to do or think evil. This, if one stops to think, is quite logical. The men in the Shaker Village attended to all the heavy work such as the farming, building of the houses, and manufacturing their machinery and tools. The w-omen did all the house-hold chores and made the clothes worn by the Shakers. The young boys made the door mats and did other little chores about the house, but, like all young boys, they would much rather have been out in the fields with the men driving the oxen. The Sha- ker men went out to the surrounding towns to build for the people of the world . They built many houses and barns around Shirley and Harvard. The women made and sold capes, baskets, brooms, mats, and other articles that any housekeeper would need. The Shakers living in Harvard were treated very cruelly - merely because they were not understood by the people. I will relate a few in- stances where the mobs of t-ownspeople attacked the Shakers. When the Shakers were driven out of Harvard, they were usually driven away to Lancaster. Upon one occasion the townspeople broke in upon the Shaker meeting. The Shakers were whipped and pushed about and were made to walk, at a lively pace, to Still River and then to Lancas- ter. The mob, because they rode on horses, were able to keep the pace, but the walking Shakers often lagged behind. Page Twenty-four