Idealism and Compromise - "the beginninge of the world": The Plantation of Hampton, 1639-1644

Barbara MacAllan

This paper looks at the founding process of one New England town in 1639--Hampton, New Hampshire. In particular it examines the creation of a landscape and the social implications of land distribution over a five-year period from 1639 to 1644. Responsibility for town planning and land distribution rested with Commissioners appointed by the General Court and then the freemen of the new town. Did these founders have a vision of an ideal settlement and society in mind when they began their enterprise, similar to that suggested by several modern historians looking at other early New England towns, and if so, did it survive?

[WP #96028]