but with isaac robinson's support, the magistrates tried a different idea. they authorized robinson and several other men to attend quaker meetings. and to try to then convince them of the error of their ways. unfortunately the plan backfired. robinson went to quaker meetings, listened to them, i'm sure he already knew something about their teachings, and he wrote a letter to colonial leaders telling them their treatment was cruel and unwarranted. for that, robinson lost his right to vote at meetings of the colonies' general court. he was labeled a manifest opposer of the laws of this government. that is one of the things that caused him to leave the town and to become one of the first settlers that later became the town of falmouth. i noticed that a good number of historians have written about this episode and have suggested that through attending quaker meetings, robinson became a quaker, which actually isn't. church records in barnstable document that he remained a member of the church there. he just thought that the quakers deserved liberty of conscience.

isaac robinson was one of those rare 17th century englishmen concerned not just with his own liberty, but with the liberty of others. and i wanted to begin with him partly because he is a local story but also his life connected to the theme of liberty. so what do we make of the pilgrims and the colony they founded after 400 years. when americans really first started to lionize the pilgrims, many americans have credited the pilgrims with bringing religious and political liberty. they weren't like the nasty intolerate purr tants around massachusetts bay. those were the folks that hanked quakers and killed suspected witches, and they weren't like the greedy selfish gold hungry settlers. . maybe they didn't have the best fashion sense, but they were solid men and women that came to new england for religious victory. they had a big feast with the locals. it is really easy to poke holes in that story. big holes. as soon as some americans started telling this version of the pilgrim story other americans responded that it was bunk. for native new englanders, such as the 19th century minister