EPISODE 96: The Wildest Man You Have Never Heard Of: Thomas Morton

“The Puritans feared that which was undomesticated.” Jeff Hendricks “Our earliest American heroes were Morton’s oppressors, Endicott, Bradford, Miles Standish. Merry Mount’s been expunged from the official version because it’s the story not of a virtuous utopia but of a utopia of candor. Yet it’s Morton whose face should be carved in Mount Rushmore.” Philip Roth “He held out the promise of America as an earthly paradise, a pagan, not a protestant prospect, a zone of pleasure, not salvation through suffering.” John Seelye “Drink and be merry, merry, merry boys; Let all your delight be in the Hymens joys… Or make green garlands, bring bottles out And fill sweet nectar freely about. Uncover thy head and fear no harm; For here’s good liquor to keep it warm. Then drink and be merry, Or yet, lasses in beaver coats come away, Yee hall be welcome to us night and day. To drink and be merry.” Thomas Morton Today we are going to play with one of the greatest stories you probably have never heard of. Even in U.S. very little known about this story and it’s a crime. If you have even a superficial knowledge of American history, you have almost certainly heard about the settlers who came to Plymo…