Thomas Morton (1579?1642?); first sailed to New England in 1622.

In 1626 became the head

of a trading post at Passonagessit, which he renamed Ma-re Mount. Offended the Puritans at
Plymouth by erecting a maypole, cavorting with the Indians, to whom, according to Bradford,
he sold guns. Arrested and sent back to England in 1628. The most dangerous threat to
Bradfords colony.
New English Canaan, (1637)
.His only literary work. A satire of Puritans in general and the Separatists in particular.
.A counter-narrative to the dominant Puritan version of the New England settlements. Provides
his own personal account of how he came to set up Ma-re Mount, how he was arrested and
then banished.
Divided into three parts.
In the first part he praises the happy life of the Salvages; sympathetic portrayal of the native
inhabitants. Celebrates their humanity and civility, their respect for ordinary pleasures.
In the second section he describes the natural wealth of the region. As its title suggests, a
promotional (political) work: his aim was to show New England as a Canaan or Promised Land,
a naturally abundant world inhabited by friendly and even noble savages.
The third part is a satire on the Plymouth Puritans. Distrust of natural pleasure, intolerance, lack
of hospitality and humanity, lack of loyalty to the king and the Anglican church (Morton as
cavalier). Undermining Englands colonial effort.
-Mock-heroic style
Bibliography
Augustyn, Adam. American Literature from 1600 through 1850s. New York: Britannica
Educational Publishing, 2011.
Gray, Richard. A History of American Literature. Oxford: Blackwell, 2004
Lauter, Paul ed. A Companion to American Literature and Culture. Malden MA: WileyBlackwell, 2010.
Meyers, Karen. Colonialism and the Revolutionary Road. New York: Facts on File, 2006