Contentment: A Novel of New England's Birth

"I always consider the settlement of America with reverence and wonder as the opening of a grand scene and design in Providence, for the illumination of the ignorant and the emancipation of the slavish part of mankind all over the Earth "
-John Adams, a fragmentary draft of A Dissertation on Canon and Feudal Law

Such were the sentiments of John Adams, the second president of the United States, written over one hundred fifty years after a brave and ill-supplied group of emigrants attempted to escape religious persecution and excessive taxation in their homeland of England. They settled in a place called Massachusetts Bay under the leadership of Governor John Winthrop.

Some returned to England, while others succumbed to the harsh conditions they encountered. A minority persevered and had the courage to stand up to the theocratic oligarchy of their leaders, who lacked tolerance for any other form of religious worship different from their own. Ultimately, the government that was established became a model for democracies throughout the world.

Among these stalwart individuals stood a young, simple family named Alcocke, who overcame innumerable, extraordinary difficulties. They would help to shape the new colony into "the grand scene and design in Providence". These were the true and unsung founders of America!