Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Carter Joins Left Wing Racist Apologists - Still Can't Accept 30 year old Defeat

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Jimmy Carter was the nice guy who never should have been president. To this day he still is clueless how a conservative named Ronald Reagan could have defeated him when he and all liberal Democrats, one might assume, are above politics.




Well Ronnie kicked him out because Carter was totally out of touch with Mainstream America where people still believe in Constitutions, where people still believe government should not spend what it does not have, and where government should only do what can't be done by people and states.

Yesterday Carter reminded us how he remains locked in a past when he claimed all the dissenters of President Obama are racists. Unfortunately Carter has just joined the cadre of liberal race-baiting personalities trying to explain away the opposition to Obama programs and policies.





When are people like Carter going to finally figure out that people oppose you because you are out of touch, you forget you were elected to serve all the people, and maybe you aren't qualified to be in the position you sought.

Most people aren't ready to be president, but most somehow adjust to the demands of the job and the need to serve all the people. If not they get thrown out. Carter's election closed the door on a horrible time in America when an unpopular war had been fought, a president had been disgraced and tossed out, and people were fed up with politicians.

Along comes a new face to national politics and people give him a try. It took little time to realize he was not qualified. We face the same circumstance again. It is too early to determine if Obama can overcome his lack of experience and his eagerness to please Goldman Sachs, the labor unions and the left wing of the liberals, whose goals are in constant conflict. He still has time to repair the damage.





But opposition to his policies has nothing to do with racism. Oh there are still elements of racism in America and they will remain until all races stop hating. However, civilization has long ago learned to adapt to subtle prejudice. Just ask the Jewish race.

Left wing liberals in America expected to throw out the capitalist system and take a fast track to big government, socialized programs and suppression of individual rights. They attempt this foolish idea every few decades and each time reality has knocked them across the side of the head and they wake up and move to the center or get thrown out.

They easily confuse political victory with policy empowerment and suddenly a bare seven percent margin of victory like Obama received becomes a "political mandate" for change. Nonsense. It just means the last guy was not popular. So you throw a radical new agenda at the people believing they will do what you demand because you are the voice of change, and the people decide maybe you aren't the right person for the job and slap down your agenda.





If you are smart you move to the center and the people's agenda like Bill Clinton. By the way Clinton also won his first presidential election by seven percent. He put forward an aggressive liberal agenda including comprehensive health care reform, was stopped by the public, moved to the center and thereafter enjoyed a reasonably good presidency. It was a lesson Carter never understood.

Carter's era might still harbor racist views but the newer generations put racism behind them long ago. If racism was dominant in America Obama would never have been elected. He was given a chance to show us how he could reform the mess in Washington and so far he has misunderstood what reforming the political process means.




Fix the problems, throw out the crooks, prosecute the violators and protect the people. We need systematic fixes, not a philosophical overhaul. If we wanted flaming liberals or flaming conservatives running the country we would have voted for revolution, not reform. America is not about the lunatic fringes but about finding the center and serving all the people. Most important, America is about individual freedom, Christian principles and equal justice for all.

When your policies threaten to block any of those principles guiding most Americans you will fail and it won't be from racism but from intellectual constipation on your part. There is time for all politicians to wake up but that time is running out.




Give us the reforms you promised. Fix the financial system. Put the crooks in jail that stole from the American public. Lower the deficit. Get us out of wars we cannot win. Stop trying to drive God out of government because government needs God more than ever. Stop campaign corruption. And most of all stop telling us what we need, just give us what we want.

Monday, September 14, 2009

Kayne West the Idiot - Obama's Buddy - Ruins Taylor Swift Award

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After strutting the red carpet at the MTV Video Music Awards this weekend with a bottle of booze in his paws Kayne West demonstrated once again why he is a fool and idiot beyond compare and Obama should stop patronizing him by inviting him to perform at the Presidential inaugural and other presidential events.






When Taylor Swift, the 17 year old country music queen took the stage to accept her first MTV Video Music Award for female video of the year Kayne interrupted her and jerked the microphone out of her hands leaving her stunned.

West and his bionic tongue then said Swift did not deserve to win the award and it should have been given to his friend Beyonce whose video was the best in the world. The debacle left Swift in tears as her time to thank people ran out.





If a white person had jumped on stage on national television and Beyonce had won the award and the intruder had said a white singer had the best video in the world the liberals and Black leaders would have been up in arms screaming racial bias, much like Obama did when police ticketed his good friend from Harvard earlier this summer.





Reverse discrimination and racial bias are real problems but actions like that of our president and entertainers like Kayne West only serve to further polarize the nation. Perhaps they should try setting an example for a change rather than rushing to judgment.

First there was the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright, Obama's preacher of 20 years and mentor to the president who was a raving racist. Then came the Cambridge, Massachusetts police who Obama said, "acted stupidly" for bringing disorderly conduct charges against Henry Louis Gates, Jr. The incident, Obama said, shows "how race remains a factor in this society."

Van Jones was next, close friend and key advisor who was an avowed racist and communist on the staff in the White House when the press caught up with him and forced him to resign. The latest person is Kayne. stealing the microphone from Taylor Swift on national teleivsion. There seems to be a pattern here.

Of course West is not new to such displays of gutter class as he twice before interrupted award shows to protest the winners when he was left out. MYV should ban the fool from all future shows if they were more interested in class than ratings.

To her credit, Beyonce demonstrated class and maturity whenn she won an award later and called Taylor up to finish the speech motor mouth had interrupted. Now Beyonce showed what real class is all a bout.





Shame on you Kayne, and please Obama stop giving this little person more publicity than he deserves. At least take him off your Christmas Card list if you have one.

Where is the Main Stream Media - Hiding Behind Obama?

On September 12 protectors descended on Washington, DC to express outrage against many of the new policies of President Obama and the mainstream media chose to totally ignore the event, drawing perhaps the largest crowds of the past year.

First reports from liberal media said about 15,00 to 25,000 attended but the turth is in the pictures that the media refused to air. As you can see from the videos in this story the crowd was most likely well over a million, as some newspapers estimated 1.5 to 2 million.

How can America learn the truth about voter outrage and how this outrage covers many topics, not just health care, when the media decides over 1 million people are not important? Do they really fear people like Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh so much that they can ignore the largest gathering since Obama was elected president?

People need to demand fair news coverage by our mainstream news services and what we got this past weekend was indicative how the media could care less about America and the concerns of people from throughout the nation.

Spot interviews by the Coltons Point Times with participants at the gathering found former Obama supporters who traveled thousands of miles to protect the direction of the person they elected president. Many were registered Democrats. A lot more than Glenn Beck supporters were there as you can see from the time lapsed video of the crowd marching toward the Capitol.

Wake up media and wake up Obama or the revolution will take place without you.

The following was reported in the Baltimore Examiner.

The Baltimore Examiner

The 9/12/09 Taxpayer March on Washington not being reported by the main stream media

There have not been any official estimates released yet for the number of attendees to the Taxpayer March on Washington yesterday, September 12, 2009, but there are many suggested estimates ranging from the tens of thousands up into the millions.

What is extremely disappointing is the fact that the main stream media has continued to turn their backs on reality by not reporting on the event. Americans from every walk of life showed up to express their overwhelming disapproval of how government officials are misrepresenting them, not just on the health care issue, but all around.








Tell your favorite news source to start reporting the news.

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Friday, September 11, 2009

One Year since Financial Meltdown - Still no Regulatory Reform, Transparency, Prosecutions or Control of Lobbyists and Special Interests

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Obama got the unexpected campaign gift a year ago Saturday, September 12, 2008, that powered him to the presidency when the US economy collapsed under the weight of fraud, greed and lack of government regulation. In spite of the fact Wall Street King Goldman Sachs was one of his strongest supporters, this economic debacle was the defining moment when it became obvious Obama would win the presidency.




Suddenly his promises for real change in federal policy, transparency in government, regulatory reform to get those crooks on Wall Street and campaign reform to stop the lobbyists who seem to control congress with their campaign contributions caught the attention of a public worn out by government.

Obama was an unknown and in the end in spite of all the political carnage left by the Bush years which should have given Obama a 15-18% victory margin Obama was only able to win by 6%, but he did win. Then came an endless series of appearances by the new president reiterating his campaign pledges to the people.

One year later Obama has bailed out the crooks on Wall Street, banks, insurance companies, investment houses, auto makers, even labor unions whose contracts brought down the auto industry. His first year as president has brought us the largest deficit in history, about $1.58 trillion, while he has driven the national debt to over $12 trillion, yet another record.




What about those high and lofty campaign promises? Since the economic collapse a year ago we have spent $2 trillion trying to dig out from under the hole left to us by Wall Street and Detroit yet there has not been a single regulatory reform passed by congress to control or stop any of the illegal, unethical and immoral practices that got us here in the first place.




The administration has agreed to look into the CIA to see if they can prosecute them for using torture tactics on terrorists but the investment houses and bankers whose greed nearly destroyed the world's economy and most certainly destroyed millions of American's 401 and other retirement accounts not only remain in business as usual but have even gotten billions of dollars in bonuses.

Obama also promised transparency yet his own White House personnel vetting system has no transparency, nor does his Treasury efforts with TARP, Federal Reserve efforts with many bailouts, his allocation of stimulus money, even millions of dollars in his campaign contributions.




The new Administration is even more secretive when it comes to reporting on personnel and spending than the Bush administration. More lobbyists than ever now prowl the halls of Congress looking for the next elected official to buy off and they are spending tens of millions of dollars buying up congress. Even Obama has hired a handful of lobbyists on his staff though he trashed the lobbyists when a candidate for president.

As for special interest money, the money Obama blames for most everything that goes wrong in America, nothing has been done to stop the flood of money to elected officials. Campaign reform has been all but forgotten and Obama cannot afford to address it when he may need all the money possible to save the Democrats in next year's elections.




So he has failed to fix anything that contributed to the mess we are in and maybe that is what we should expect from our elected officials. His many lofty campaign promises were just more of the same political rhetoric, intended to get votes so he could control the special interests. Yet some special interests, the chosen ones smart enough to contribute to Obama along the way, not only avoid punishment but thrive under his watch.

How about no new programs until he gives us what he promised? Real change. Transparency. Regulatory Reform. Prosecution of crooks. Restrictions on lobbyists. Stop special interest money from owning politicians. Progress to date - none.

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9-11-2001 World Trade Center

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REMEMBER





































Click to see tribute to victims

http://inmemoriamonline.net/List_WTC-A.html

Thursday, September 10, 2009

Melanie Oudin Back to Earth after US Open Run

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America's new Cinderella of tennis 17 year old Melanie Oudin finally had her quest for instant fame and glory come to a premature end with her defeat to Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark. With a height advantage of 5' 10" to 5' 6" Wozniacki patiently allowed the young American to beat herself.




Amazingly, Wozniacki hit only five winners. Of the 69 points she won, 43 were because of Oudin’s unforced errors. The Dane artfully allowed each point to develop; she played the ball to the right spot, and forced Oudin to earn every point.




Wozniacki was all class facing crowd favorite Oudin and charming the American audience. She even waited patiently after the match for ESPN reporter Pam Shriver to break all precedence and interview the loser, Oudin before interviewing the winner. It was a crazy move by Shriver that stunned fellow sports commentators and the thousands in the crowd waiting to hear from the winner. Even Oudin was shocked when Shriver shoved the mike in front of her protesting she was not prepared and they are not supposed to interview the losers.




In the day before the match Melanie seemed to get caught up in the hype about herself and made it a point to practice twice a day while scheduling photo ops and interviews with the international media. That was probably a big mistake. She appeared confused, impatient and frustrated on the court as the fiery determination from previous matches was nowhere to be found.




Perhaps a lesson for the aspiring star, not even the mighty Super Bowl or World Series professionals are allowed to give endless interviews, photo ops and go out on the town until after they have won. Someone let Melanie read and believe not in herself, but in the media hype, as she noted in one interview that when she arrived at the Open no one knew her and by the quarter final everyone in the world knew her. Maybe it wasn't everyone in the world that really knew her.




If she matures and learns from the experience she may one day become a star. In the meantime, Caroline Wozniacki, just 19 years old, has earned her shot at super stardom. As you can see from the photos, she is well on her way to becoming an endorsement favorite of the big corporations.

Obama on Health Care - Above the Bickering but What About the Facts

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Long on hyperbole and short on specifics, did the president connect to the public on his health care speech? Well, he spent 10% of the speech glorifying America's most liberal former Senator Ted Kennedy, a man who spent 46 years in the Senate accomplishing just about nothing on health care. I'm sure the liberal left in Boston was pleased but middle America was probably left wondering why far more time was spent on Kennedy than on financing health care.

Obama did promise he would consider tort reform to stop the proliferation of legal fees to his trial lawyers supporters but considering is hardly endorsing. He did wallow around on the public option but in the end who knows if he does or does not want it in the final bill. It would seem at a minimum he will have some trigger mechanism to implement it when the opposition dies down.




Of course if I was talking and the evil eye of Nancy Pelosi was burning holes in my back I might dance around the subject she declared essential to any bill coming out of Her House. If he does compromise with the concern of the people and drops the public option he will spend the rest of his presidency fighting her and not the Republicans.

There have been many presidential addresses to a joint Congress in our nation's history. This was just the third on health care. Yet the only time health care reform has been approved was when presidents did not address a joint session of congress on the subject, under Franklin Roosevelt and Lyndon Johnson.




Some lingering questions:

How will it be financed? He acknowledged it will cost at least $900 billion over ten years. Government has never even been close to accurate on projected spending and when it comes to health care government projections have been a joke. So it will most likely cost far more.

Obama says he will not sign any bill that raises the national debt by one dollar. The Obama gang was quite shrewd in crafting a bill and identifying the cost over ten years, long after he has left the presidency. But in truth the explosive cost will be at the front end of the time period when he thinks he can add millions of uninsured people and build 54 new governmental agencies without increasing the deficit. America is so broke already they can't even give a pay raise to congress without adding to the deficit so this language is deceptive at best, dishonest at worst.

Obama says there is nearly $500 billion in fraud in our current health care system. If that is true then why is the Obama government not prosecuting the crooks stealing billions of dollars from the public treasury right now? Why not prosecute the crooks first, save the $500 billion and then fund health care reform?




How are we ever going to stop the insurance companies, stop the trial lawyers and stop the medical industry from overcharging us and restricting competition when those very industries and their lobbyists already own the president and congress? Nearly every politician in Washington is dependent on those very same bad guys to fund their upcoming reelection campaigns. Are they really going to slap the hands that feed their insatiable appetite for campaign money?

More importantly, how in the world can we spend any more money on anything when the economy is teetering, unemployment is still rising, China holds the mortgage on America, our wars have become an endless pit of money and deaths, the annual debt has hit astounding new records, the national deficit has hit staggering new levels and nothing has been done to stop Wall Street, the banks, the credit card companies and Heaven knows who else from ripping off the unsuspecting American consumer?




As long as the foxes remain in the hen house of our nation's capitol the American public does not have a chance. Obama, Pelosi, the Democrats and the Republicans have created an green environment alright, one that lines their pockets and the pockets of their lawyers, lobbyists, accountants, advisors, stock brokers and bankers with greenbacks sucked right out of your very own pockets. Reform Washington style sucks.

Tuesday, September 01, 2009

The People's Palin is Back Barack -To Slay the Liberal Dragons

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Almost one year ago today (August 29, 2008) a young woman stepped from the backwoods of Alaska to the forefront of American politics when John McCain nominated Sarah Palin to be his candidate for Vice President. For the past year the liberal media and Obama gang have undertaken the most brutal campaign of character assassination, smear tactics and fear mongering ever launched against any candidate in America political history unleashing the powerful network media, MSNBC campaign office, late night talk show hosts and Hollywood celebrities to destroy the credibility of Sarah.





It seems none of the nation's elite could stand a woman, hockey mom, mother of a soldier in Iraq, keeper of family values, avid hunter and fisherman, someone not afraid to stand up for Christian morals and a fighter for the rights of the forgotten with a rock star following. It was a brutal massacre but Sarah Palin never lost sight of those she was fighting for along the way.





Well they blew it. Just a couple of weeks ago Palin, long thought dead by the liberal media, single handedly might have slammed the door shut on Obama's effort to stampede Congress into a radical socialized health program. Suddenly the president and vice president of the United States were stuck responding to the voice of the people and make no mistake, Sarah Palin has legions of people behind her in spite of everything the Obama machine and far left Liberals have done to annihilate her.





Now, as the 1st anniversary has just passed since she was thrust into the international spotlight and promptly mauled by the elitists, liberals and socialists behind Obama, their worst nightmare has come true. Free of the hassles of the governor's office Palin has a received over 1,000 invitations to speak around the world before she was even available to speak and she has now retained one of the most powerful speaking bureaus in America, the Washington Speaker's Bureau, to chart out her new course of winning back America for Americans.





Left for dead in the Alaska tundra, Palin quietly took to the Internet and used Facebook to build an organization of over 800,000 people hungry to set the record straight. Obama took great pains to diminish Palin's experience as governor and mayor but after 7 months as president, it appears he has demonstrated that he was the one lacking in experience. Those 800,000 Palin fans are a drop in the bucket in terms of her support as a recent poll showed Palin behind Obama just 48-42% and she was never even a candidate for president.

Those women trapped in the liberal causes will always hate Palin because she is not one of them but those women represent a very small but vocal group in America. Many more millions of women and men still believe in our Constitution, still believe our nation was founded on Christian principles, still believe politicians must be stopped before they destroy America, and are not afraid to fight for the people in America with no voice in Washington.





The only thing worse for Obama and the liberal elitists than Palin hitting the international speaking circuit would be if Roger Ailes, the genius behind the Fox News rating machine, decides she deserves to host her own national TV show for the millions of Americans dissatisfied with the Obama gang and their efforts to hijack the American government.

I have worked with Roger on campaigns in the past and his record of introducing the Mike Douglas Show, Rush Limbaugh, Bill O'Reilly, and Glen Beck over the years has demonstrated his insight and ability to be far more in touch with mainstream America than the liberal left dominating the TV airways. The People's Palin would be a natural fit for those seeking truth and standing on principle.





Now that we have seen what the Obama experience has brought to the presidency, maybe it is about time we join the millions of others and give a fair chance to someone who really had the strength of conviction and resistance to distortion to speak up for the forgotten Americans. I suspect the newly resurrected Palin will be swinging a sword every bit as powerful as St. Michael as she continues her odyssey to slay the dragons of lies and distortion and restore truth to America. Go Sarah Go!!!

If you want to read more about Sarah Palin the following are links to previous Coltons Point Times articles. Click and enjoy.

http://coltonspointtimes.blogspot.com/2009/07/polls-palin-drops-14-and-gets-impaled.html

http://coltonspointtimes.blogspot.com/2009/07/sarah-palin-free-at-last.html

http://coltonspointtimes.blogspot.com/2009/06/letterman-cannot-stop-sucking-up-to.html

http://coltonspointtimes.blogspot.com/2009/03/palin-proposal.html

http://coltonspointtimes.blogspot.com/2008/12/election-wrap-up-republicans-gop-stars.html

http://coltonspointtimes.blogspot.com/2008/11/choose-or-lose-november-4.html

http://coltonspointtimes.blogspot.com/2008/10/campaign-2008-may-last-person-standing.html

http://coltonspointtimes.blogspot.com/2008/10/obamas-got-wailin-palin-blues_3701.html

http://coltonspointtimes.blogspot.com/2008/10/obama-president-palin-vice-president.html

http://coltonspointtimes.blogspot.com/2008/10/campaign-2008-defining-issues-abortion.html

http://coltonspointtimes.blogspot.com/2008/10/palin-must-see-tv-great-debate.html

http://coltonspointtimes.blogspot.com/2008/09/liberal-medias-code-of-omert-fails-to.html

http://coltonspointtimes.blogspot.com/2008/09/could-palin-invasion-of-privacy-be.html

http://coltonspointtimes.blogspot.com/2008/09/liberal-elitists-of-world-unite.html

http://coltonspointtimes.blogspot.com/2008/09/abc-news-continues-media-efforts-to.html

http://coltonspointtimes.blogspot.com/2008/09/obama-says-governor-palin-not.html

http://coltonspointtimes.blogspot.com/2008/09/major-historical-milestones-reached-by.html

http://coltonspointtimes.blogspot.com/2008/09/palin-stops-obamas-bridge-to-nowhere.html

http://coltonspointtimes.blogspot.com/2008/09/something-about-sarah-our-radical.html

http://coltonspointtimes.blogspot.com/2008/09/sarah-palin-new-media-star.html

http://coltonspointtimes.blogspot.com/2008/09/gop-convention-stuns-democrats-and.html

http://coltonspointtimes.blogspot.com/2008/09/sarah-palin-governor.html


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Histories Mysteries - The Journey of the Ark and the Dove

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For the past 376 years, ever since the Ark and the Dove sailed from England to the New World (1633-34) bringing the first Catholics and others to settle the Mary Land colony of Lord Baltimore, there has been confusion in the historical accounts on the timing of the departure, the number of passengers, and how did Catholics on board manage to leave England when they were being persecuted?





The Ark and the Dove were two ships owned by Lord George Calvert, whose son Cecil inherited his property, ships and grant from the King of England to the Mary Land colony in America. On the voyage to America the Ark, a merchantman, was under the command of Richard Lowe while the Dove was under the command of Captain Winter.

A full-rigged ship, the Ark of London was about 350 tons with a crew of forty. It was to carry the first settlers and supplies to the new colony. (Tons refers to tons burden, a measure of space available for cargo unless said to be weight). The Ark was a merchantman armed to repel pirates or enemy ships and "Kingbuilt" to serve as a warship if commandeered by the navy. For her first and second voyages from London to Maryland in 1633-35 the Ark had fifteen large carriage-mounted cast-iron cannon and other guns, probably some combination of demiculverins, cutts, sakars, and perhaps minions or falcons.





To repel boarders she would have had small swivel mounted antipersonnel guns called "murderers." In August 1635 before her third voyage she added eight sakars and two cutts. Guns of the seventeenth century were not standardized. Demiculverins might weigh 3,000 to 3,500 pounds, be nine to ten feet long, have a 4 to 4 ¾ inch bore and throw an 8 to 9 1/2-pound ball more than a mile. Sakers commonly weighed 2,000 to 2,500 pounds, were seven to nine feet long, had a 3.5 to 4 inch bore and a 5 to 6 pound shot. Cutts were demiculverins, with the barrel shortened by about six feet with little loss in range. They might throw a 9-pound ball about a mile but had extremely violent recoil and, as was the case with the sakers, were not accurate enough to have an effective range of more than about 500 yards. Minions could weigh 1,000 to 1,200 pounds, be 6 feet long and throw a 4 to 5 pound ball. Falcons weighed 600 to 800 pounds and used a 4 to 5 pound ball.

The armament of the Ark was important. Spain considered it her right to seize or sink any English ship found south of the "tropike" (of Cancer) and west of the "Grave Meridian" (probably considered by the Spanish to be by 18 degrees west longitude). The Ark was headed for the West Indies and would be in that area for weeks. Another danger was piracy. In 1631, the most dreaded of all pirates, those of Sallee, a port on the Atlantic coast of Morocco, held as slaves some 2,000 captives from English ships and the coasts of England and Ireland. In 1634-35 pirates captured some 2,000 people from English ships and towns.

Richard Lowe, the Ark's master, had reason to be wary of pirates. In March 1628, he was captured at sea by "Frenchmen" while master of the 130-ton Anne of London. In November 1630 he was master of the 160-ton Charity of London when she fought two Dunkirk pirate ships in the Narrow Seas for "two hours but quitted herself with some hurte."

The Dove was a small vessel, "of the burthen of fortie tons." On the first voyage to Maryland, it accompanied the Ark as its pinnace, a tender and scout, and carried some baggage and supplies. No precise information about the rig, dimensions, or layout of the Dove is known. Some representations show her with three masts, some with two. She is variously reported to be of forty to fifty tons burden. For the voyage with the Ark she had a crew of seven.





Over the past four centuries historians have estimated the number of passengers at between 123 to over 300 with the number of Catholics being most difficult to determine. It was not a surprise as Catholics were being persecuted in England at the time and it was only because George Calvert had faithfully served the King of England, James I, that an avowed Catholic like Calvert could get a land grant in the first place. He had previously invested in the East India Trading Company, the settlement of Avalon in Newfoundland, and the Jamestown settlement.

Maryland was to be the first English colony in America guaranteeing religious freedom by virtue of the failure to mention in the Maryland Charter loyalty to the Church of England. It was the only way Lord Calvert and his spiritual advisor Father Andrew White could devise to get around the English laws persecuting the Catholics, Puritans and other denominations not part of the Church of England.





As the journey to America neared preparations intensified and in mid-October 1633 after fitting out at Blackwall, England the Ark and the Dove dropped down the Thames to anchor off Gravesend where they were to take on stores and passengers. Gravesend was the main harbor for sailing to foreign lands as it sat just down the Thames River from London and was protected from the open seas. It was also where Pocahontas, the Indian princess, died a few years earlier as she was about to return to America. Pocahontas had a role in the colonization of America by saving John Smith, Governor of Jamestown, two times. It was Smith's exploration of the Potomac River that convinced George Calvert to land at St. Clements and settle along the river rather than the Chesapeake Bay.






The two ships then set sail for America. Soon after that, John Coke, the English Secretary of State, sent an urgent dispatch to Admiral John Pennington: "The Ark of London, Richard Lowe, master, carrying men for Lord Baltimore to his new plantation sailed from Gravesend contrary to orders" and those aboard had "not taken the oath of allegiance to the Crown" as they were required to do by a warrant from Whitehall dated July 31.

The Ark was intercepted by Pennington's ships and taken back under guard to Tilbury Hope across from Gravesend harbor. The oath was administered by October 29 at Gravesend to 123 people listed on the ship manifest and the ships received permission to leave England on October 30, "Provided there be no other person or persons aboard the said shippe or pinnace but such as have or shall have taken the oath of allegiance as aforesaid."





From Gravesend the colonists had to sail along the English coast for several days before reaching the Isle of Wight where they docked at Cowes to secretly pick up passengers who avoided the customs house in Gravesend and to await favorable weather before setting out to sea.

It was at Cowes that the Catholics who refused to take the oath boarded the two vessels, including Father Andrew White. As they waited at Cowes for weather to clear rumors spread through the docks that Catholics were on board the ships and were attempting to sail from England without taking the required oath. There was a fear among the colonists that English ships would again be sent to stop them if they did not get on their way.

From this point let Father White tell the story from his acclaimed journal of the voyage to America.

"On the 22d of the month of November, 1633, on St. Cecilia's day, the east wind blowing gently, we weighed anchor from Cowes, situated in the isle of Wight. When we had first placed the principal parts of the ship under the protection of God, the most holy Mother, St. Ignatius, and all the other guardian angels of Maryland, being carried a short distance between the two headlands, for want of wind we came to anchor off the Castle of Yarmouth, which is a port on the west of the same island. Here we were saluted by the festal thunders of the cannon.

We were not free from fear, however; for the sailors began to murmur among themselves that they expected a messenger from London with letters, and so appeared to frame causes of delay. But God interrupted their wicked designs, for the same night a favorable, but strong wind blowing, a French barque, which had lain in the same port with us, being compelled to weigh anchor, nearly drove against our pinnace.

Therefore, to prevent being run down, one anchor being cut loose and lost, she hastened to make sail as quick as possible, and since it is dangerous to be tossed by the waves in that place, she put out to sea. Therefore, lest we should lose sight of our pinnace, we determined to follow; so that whatever designs the sailors contemplated against us, were frustrated.






This happened on the 23d of November, St. Clement's day, on which he, being bound to an anchor and cast into the sea, obtained a crown of martyrdom, and afforded to his people a way to land, as the miracles of God declare."

So the next day, at ten o'clock in the morning, being honored again by a salute from the Castle of Hurst, we were carried beyond the breakers at the extremity of the Isle of Wight, which from their form, they call the Needles. But these are a terror to sailors on account of the double tide of the sea; on this side hurrying and dashing the ships upon the rocks, and on the other side against the neighboring shore.

To say nothing of the other imminent danger which we escaped at the Castle of Yarmouth, here the wind and tide raging while we remained, the anchor not yet being weighed and secured, the ship was almost dashed on shore, unless on a sudden, by great exertion, having tacked, and shipping a sea, we escaped the danger, by a propitious God, who vouchsafed to us this pledge of his future protection, through the merits of St. Clements."


As for the number of people aboard the two ships after the passengers were boarded at Gravesend and Cowes, Cecil Calvert, Lord Baltimore, in a letter to Lord Wentworth, afterwards the Earl of Strafford, says :

" By the help of some of your Lordship's good friends and mine, I have sent a hopeful colony into Maryland, with a fair and favorable expectation of good success, without any danger of any great prejudice to myself, in respect that many others are joined with me in the adventure. There are two of my brothers with very near twenty other gentlemen of very good fashion, and three hundred laboring men."

In other words there were 2 Calverts, near 20 gentlemen and 300 laboring men, approximately 322 total colonists. Of these twelve died at sea, ten Protestants and 2 Catholics. Included among the passengers were two Jesuit priests and two Councillors of the Colony who were adherents of the Church of England. Approximately 310 passengers plus any additional people picked up in the Caribbean Islands and Virginia would have arrived at St. Clements Island.

Thus we have the answers to several historical puzzles regarding this most significant voyage to America including the background on the ships, the attempt to sail that was stopped by the English, the reason the passenger manifest was only a partial listing, the various ports involved in the first voyage, the reason everyone did not sign the oath of loyalty and other interesting facts.

Future postings of Histories Mysteries will investigate many other aspects of the colonizing of Maryland and the birth of religious freedom in America.

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