Family History Project

亚伯拉罕·林肯,美国的第16任总统,以重要的角色在领导美国人民经历南北战争维护欧盟的公民,解放奴隶。林肯是著名的为他的决心,领导,和他的勇气去承受苦难。然而,林肯的性格是由他的第一个祖先,1637年是从英国的塞缪尔·林肯来到新大陆的开拓移民。在这篇文章中,作者打算把塞缪尔·林肯作为一个例子来说明林肯总统的家族历史。

Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president of the United States, known for significant role in leading the American people to go through the civil war to preserve the union of the citizens, emancipating the slaves. Lincoln was famous for his determination, leadership, and his courage to withstand hardships. However, Lincoln’s character was portended by his first ancestor, Samuel Lincoln, who came to the new continent as one of the pioneering immigrants from Britain in 1637. In this essay, I intend to take Samuel Lincoln’s as an example to exemplify President Lincoln’s family history.

It is said that “Samuel Lincoln was born in 1622, at in Hingham, Norfolk, England” (Wikipedia). However, since information about Samuel Lincoln is vague, actually we don’t know exactly the year that he was born. Historians seem to infer his birthday basing on the record when he embarked the ship to the New World—it is said that he was 15 at 1637. However, some record shows that he might misrepresent his age so as to be eligible to join the team. “Although most accounts indicate that he was 15 years old at the time, it has been suggested that he misrepresented his age in order to be permitted to make the voyage” (Wikipedia).

Though Samuel Lincoln grandfather was wealthy, he disinherited his fortune to Samuel Lincoln’s father. As a result, Samuel Lincoln was an impoverished apprentice weaver. Thus, it seems that it was poverty which drove him to set forth his journey to the new continent. However, since information about Samuel Lincoln’s private life is limited now, in order to have a further understanding of his motivation to begin his journey, we have to resort to a better understanding of the background of the England society in which he lived. Firstly, the notorious “Enclosure Movement” had wiped out the tenants from the land on which they depended for their livelihoods. As a result, they had to find job in the cities or become hired labors on the farmland. However, their drudgery did not make them able to earn their livings. A clergyman wrote in 1622 that “people rose early, worked all day and went late to bed, yet were scarce able to put bread in their mouth…or cloths on their backs” (Bedford, 37). Thus, it seems that Samuel Lincoln was one of the folks who were victimized by the Enclosure Movement, since, just as what has been mentioned previously, he was a poor apprentice weaver. Secondly, religious conflicts might be one of the reasons which drove him to the new world, since puritans were repressed or persecuted by the government at that time. “puritans, especially, distrusted the policies of the Stuart kings JamesⅠand CharlesⅠand faced a measure of prosecution”(Bedford, 43). We have no idea of Samuel Lincoln’s faith. Nonetheless, it’s possible that he might be one of the puritans and it is religious persecution that forced him to find a free world. Thirdly, the development of the English colonies in the new continent had matured, to some extent, in 1630s. Compared to the failure of the exploitation of James town in 1607, after twenty years military management, the English colonies had been much matured and profitable and many poor people in the New World were better off. “Poor people migrating to towns in search of world encounter promoters who offer passage to New World in exchange for a few years’ labor.”(Bedford,38) This might be a plausible reason which drove Samuel to the new world, since previously, his brother, Thomas, had settled in 1635 in Hingham, Massachusetts. Thus, it is quite possible that his brother and other immigrants had told him through letters that the New World would bring him a better life.

Thus, basing on the above reasons, Samuel Lincoln embarked a ship named John & Dorothy on 1637. He might have gone through many hardships on the ship, since at that time the sanitary conditions on ships for long journey was bad. Food and water were limited. What’s worst, many of the passengers and sailors suffered from scurvy because of the lack of vitamin and some of them died halfway. Nonetheless, Samuel Lincoln did survive in these hardships.

It seems that Samuel Lincoln fared well in the New World, after he arrived at Massachusetts, his brother left him with a great deal of property, including houses. He married a woman named Martha Lyford of Ireland at 1449, giving birth to 11 children, three of them died in infancy, and his fourth son was Mordecai Lincoln, who became a blacksmith and who was the ancestor of Abraham Lincoln.

Year in review of 1637:

On November 7th of 1637, Anne Hutchinson, a female radical puritan, was exiled from Massachusetts Bay Colony. It is said that she was “charged with heresy for initiated the woman suffrage movement in America” (Gorton Carruth, 16-17). Even though herself, her followers, and relatives didn’t fare well in the end, Hutchinson seems to be the first feminist in the New World, which served as a pioneer for the women suffrage movement. In addition, she challenged the authority of the government and orthodox religion, which laid foundation for the religion freedom and tolerance of the American people.

“In 1637, long-standing tensions between the Puritan English of Connecticut and Massachusetts Bay colonies and the Pequot escalated into open warfare”(Wekipedia). At the beginning, Pequots traded fur to the colonists. But eventually, the colonists threatened their existence and the Pequots allied with other tribes to resist the colonists. However, colonists allied with Pequots’ rivalry tribes and slaughtered the Puqotes’ village in 1637. As a result, it is said that “1,500 Pequot were killed in battles or hunted down” (Wekipedia). However, according to another record, only, more than four hundred Pequot men, women, and children died in the attack. This attack exemplified the colonists’ encroachment of the native people and the decline of those tribes. It is only after more than two hundred years that the tribes were equally concerned and respected legally.

Qing dynasty attacked Joseon dynasty in 1637. Though the emperor Huang Tiji had conquered China before 1637, the upper class of the Joseon dynasty didn’t recognized the Qing Dynasty. Thus, Huang Taiji launched his second invasion to Korea. However, “the King of the Joseon fled to a remote castle While Taiji waited to make a move on the exiled King, he concentrated on getting the general population of Korea to accept Machu rule” (Wikipedia). He also held several members of the Joseon Dynasty captives.  Eventually, King Injo and his men left their fortress due to the shortage of food. And the war was ended with the victory of Huang Tiji. The Korean King was forced to declare that he and members of his family recognize the Qing dynasty and stop diplomatic communication with the Ming Dynasty. The victory of this war laid foundation for the Qing Dynasty to wipe out all of the Ming Dynasty’s forces in China.

At June 27th of 1637, it was the first direct contact between British and Chinese. Four heavily armed ships arrived at Macao in an attempt to open trade between England and China. They are opposed by the Portuguese authorities in Macao (as their agreements with China require) and quickly infuriated the Ming authorities. “Later in the summer they easily captured one of the Bogue forts, and spent several weeks engaged in low-level fighting and smuggling” (Wikipedia). After being forced to seek Portuguese help in the release of three hostages, they leave the Pearl River on 27 December. This event was ironic, when we compare it with the First Opium War and its ending in 1839.

March of 1637 was the peak of tulip mania in Dutch. Some single tulip bulbs sold for more than 10 times the annual income of a skilled craftsman. It is generally considered the first recorded speculative bubble (or economic bubble).Since tulip was exotic flower for European people at that time and had unique flagrance, it was quite popular among the upper class after it was imported. It indicated elegance and wealth at that time. As a result, many people bought it as a financial product in Dutch. The price of it rocketed and suddenly collapsed at 1637.

Works Cited

Gorton Carruth, The Encyclopedia of American Facts and Dates, Harper Collins Publishers, ninth edition, 16-17

Bedford /St.Martin’s, Who Built America? Working People and the Nation’s History,37-43

East Asia, http://p2eastasia.weebly.com/mark3.html

Tulip Manis, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tulip_mania

China–United Kingdom relations,