Sweet land of liberty, old times in the colony, Charles Carleton Coffin

I have a tendency to know how our world was shaped as well as the life of our ancestor. So I decided to read the book titled "The sweet land of Liberty, old times in the colony" written by Charles Carleton Coffin. The writer was an American journalist, Civil War correspondent, author and politician. In the preface, the writer said: "When the emigrants sailed across the Atlantic to rear their homes in Virginia and New England, it was the transplanting of Liberty to a continent where everything was new, and where the conditions that surrounded them were wholly unlike those of the Old World". Throughout 36 chapters in the book, the author described how the England (The Pilgrims, the Quakers, the merchants) went to  different states of America after the North America discovery of Christopher Columbus to settle down, exchange trade with the Indian. In the book, I also found some interesting facts. For example, the word "chapeau" (it means hat in France) means cat skin. Because at that time the demand for fur was high. Or the tobacco used to be a currency exchange in Virginia before the  money invention. In this book, the author also describe the harsh process of living in the America. Many man had to bid farewell with their beloved ones or how difficult they felt to fight against the harsh winter condition, lack of provision. The book also mentions how the England white men treat the native people in the America (The  Indians). The book also tells the lectures about: "How the Old World laws, habits, and custom were gradually changed; how the grand ideas of Freedom and the Rights of Man took root and flourished". Indeed, " A code of laws printed in England was sent out. The governor had all power, and could inflict severe punishment”. If a colonist used an oath against the king, he was to be put to death" ."No one likes to be plundered. In civilized society robbers are put into prison, but the Indian knows nothing of courts of law or jails". " The Pilgrims saw that they must organize themselves into a State, make their own laws and execute them. They met in the cabin of the Mayflower, signed their names to a paper, organizing as a body politic, agreeing to obey the laws which they might make and the governor whom they might elect. The world never before had seen such a paper. It was a constitution formed by the people- the beginning of popular government".

Isaac Newton used to say:" If I can see further than the others, it is just because I am standing on the shoulder of the giant". Through this book and previous books that I have read before, I can learn something new. This book also tells us two school of the sea 's theories: Mare clausum and Mare Liberum: "After awhile the question arose as to who owned the fishing- ground. England claimed it because John and Sebastian Cabot had discovered it. France claimed that the ocean was free, and that England could not set up any boundaries on the water; that fishermen of France had just as much right as Englishmen to catch the codfish on the Banks of Newfoundland" . Through this phrase, if readers used to read the book "Democracy in America" written by Alexis Tocqueville, "The Prince" by Machiavelli or if they have the basic understand of Comparative Politics, they will understand it thoroughly :"The right of the many; the other of the Feudal Ages- the privilege of the few, and the right of the none. In England the people are questioning the privileges of the king, in France the King is  absolute. In the great struggle between these two diverse civilizations, which will most likely go down? Which, for the well- being happiness and advancement of the human race" .  Through this phrase readers can once again see the same idea in the book "Utilitarianism" by John Stuart Mill: "Conscience is ever a good angel, warning us whenever we set ourselves to do wrong”. In chapter 5 of the book called “ Utilitarianism” , John Stuart Mill mentioned one of the strongest objections to the doctrine that utility or happiness is the criterion of right and wrong has been based on the idea of justice. Just must have an existence in nature as something absolute. "Terra Nullius", the ancient way that leads to the acquisition of the territory was applied in setting down the New States in America. This book also mentions John Locke, the author of the book: "Two treatise of the government", the nature right as well as the civil one. This was the basic ideal of how the govern was form in the first days in the Newfoundland. “They organized themselves into a Church with Christ as their head. All were equal. They elected their deacons who were to be their servants. It was a Church in which the rights of every person was respected. They believed that Christ and the apostles organized just such churches; that a bishop, instead of having any authority to rule them, should only be their minister or servant; that they had authority from Christ to rule themselves. When men rule themselves there will be the largest freedom; they will respect the rights of their fellow men, for only by so doing can they have their own rights”.In the era of the book was the emerge and flourishing of Mercantilism so many Englishmen rushed to Newfoundland in the rush of gold in California or Virginia. The idea of absolute advantage was also applied in the trading process between the Englishmen and the native Indian. “The West India Company did not wish, however, to carry on war, but to purchase furs of the Indians. The beads, bits of looking-glass and tin, the bright-colored blankets and knives which the India wanted, cost but little, while the furs obtained for them were of great value”

"We sow what we reap" is the message that I can learn through the book to tell us to think profoundly before action. 

If you are interested in American events or ideology, you should read this book for further understanding. Therefore, you can know why how could the American come up with "The Declaration of America" or "Bill of Rights".