Calvert and Penn: Or the Growth of Civil and Religious Liberty in America, as Disclosed in the Planting of Maryland and Pennsylvania

In Short

Brantz Mayer delivers an erudite historical discourse comparing the original settlement of Maryland under the Calverts with the founding of Pennsylvania under William Penn. Tracing the long lineage of religious persecution from European monarchies to the American frontier, Mayer contrasts George Calvert’s feudal, Catholic-led model of protected toleration with Penn’s expansive Quaker vision of absolute democracy and universal civil liberty. By examining primary documents, colonial charters, and early legislative records, the text illustrates how competing colonial experiments gradually transformed isolated refuges for persecuted believers into the enduring foundations of American constitutional liberty.

The Story

The narrative opens with an examination of the ancestral impulse to remember the past, framing historical inquiry as a moral duty that binds consecutive generations. Mayer establishes the backdrop of European turmoil, detailing how the English Reformation and the rise of a national church created a rigid system of penal laws, forcing both Roman Catholics and ultra-Puritan dissenters to choose between compliance, rebellion, or exile. Initial colonial attempts, such as the sixteenth-century Huguenot refuge at Port Royal, met with brutal destruction at the hands of rival European powers, proving that European animosities would readily cross the Atlantic unless governed by a new spirit of law.

Amidst these imperial and religious conflicts, George Calvert, the first Lord Baltimore, envisions a new path. A former Protestant statesman who converted to Catholicism, Calvert secures a royal charter for Maryland, intending to found a prosperous agricultural estate while offering a sanctuary for his persecuted co-religionists. Following his death, his son Cecilius and brother Leonard carry out the plan, landing in the Chesapeake and establishing St. Mary's. Mayer analyzes the original Maryland charter, arguing that its foundational guarantee of "God's holy rights" established an early form of religious freedom. The colony enforces this principle through early judicial rulings and legislative statutes, shielding both Catholic and Protestant worship from sectarian interference. However, Mayer demonstrates the limits of Calvert’s vision: it remained a top-down, feudal structure that granted broad toleration to Christians while leaving traditional political hierarchies intact and excluding non-Christian groups.

Half a century later, William Penn initiates his "holy experiment" in Pennsylvania, introducing a radical departure from Calvert’s feudal blueprint. Where Calvert sought to preserve baronial privileges, Penn intentionally strips himself of autocratic authority to prevent future tyranny. Drawing on a broader, multi-ethnic vision, Penn invites settlers from across Europe, establishing peaceful relations with native inhabitants at Shackamaxon and framing a government rooted in absolute freedom of conscience and civil equality.

Mayer concludes by evaluating the comparative legacy of both founders. While acknowledging Calvert’s pioneer role in establishing legal toleration, he elevates Penn as the true architect of modern democratic liberty. Maryland’s early experiment, though progressive for its day, eventually suffered reversals under later political shifts and Puritan dominance. Pennsylvania’s framework, by contrast, demonstrated that total liberty of conscience and popular self-governance could sustain a flourishing state, leaving an indelible imprint on the political trajectory of the American republic.

How It Unfolds

Persecution drives the early Atlantic crossings The English Reformation establishes a state church that penalizes both Catholic loyalists and extreme Puritans, forcing religious minorities to seek refuge beyond Europe. Early French Huguenot efforts to establish a settlement in the American South end in a violent massacre by Spanish forces, revealing the harsh perils facing early exiles.

Calvert drafts a sanctuary for conscience George Calvert negotiates a royal charter for Maryland to build a private estate while securing a safe haven for Catholics. Though Calvert dies before the charter passes the royal seals, his vision guarantees protection for Christian worship within a proprietary feudal framework.

Maryland tests its tolerant charter Under Cecilius and Leonard Calvert, the first Maryland settlers land in the Chesapeake and establish St. Mary's, maintaining peaceful terms with local native tribes. Early colonial courts and assemblies uphold liberty of conscience, punishing religious disputes and formalizing church protections into statutory law.

Penn constructs a democratic wilderness state Decades later, William Penn receives the charter for Pennsylvania and uses his broad authority to construct a self-governing, democratic society. He establishes peaceful treaties at Shackamaxon, rejects feudal privileges, and invites diverse European populations to join a state built on unconditional religious liberty.

Two visions shape the American legacy Mayer balances Calvert's pioneer model of feudal toleration against Penn's expanded structure of absolute liberty and civil equality. Penn's democratic framework ultimately succeeds as the fuller realization of human freedom, setting the precedent for future American constitutional governance.

The People

• George Calvert (Lord Baltimore): A former English Secretary of State whose conversion to Catholicism prompts him to seek an American charter. He wants to secure a wealthy estate for his large family while providing a safe refuge for persecuted Catholics; his efforts end in a feudal charter that offers pioneer Christian toleration.
• Cecilius Calvert: The second Lord Baltimore, who inherits his father's grant and executes the founding of Maryland from afar. He aims to preserve his proprietary prerogatives while fostering economic prosperity; his governance successfully establishes early statutory protections for colonial churches.
• Leonard Calvert: The brother of Cecilius, who leads the initial expedition to the Chesapeake as Maryland’s first governor. He enforces religious harmony, using his executive authority to penalize sectarian disputes and maintain peaceful trade with indigenous leaders.
• William Penn: A Quaker leader and son of an English admiral, who rejects high-society privileges to found Pennsylvania. Guided by a desire to eliminate autocratic power, he constructs a democratic state grounded in universal civil rights and complete liberty of conscience.
• Admiral de Coligny: A French Protestant leader who attempts to establish an early Huguenot sanctuary in the Americas, setting an early precedent for religious emigration that ends in tragic Spanish retaliation.

In Its Own Voice

"The achieved action never perishes. That which was wrought, in innocence or wrong, is eternal in its results or influences."

Mayer reflects on the enduring historical weight of early colonial decisions, framing human history as a continuous chain of moral cause and effect.

"Calvert mitigated man's lot by toleration;—Penn expanded the germ of toleration into unconditional freedom."

In summarizing his central thesis, Mayer explicitly contrasts the bounded legal protections of Maryland with the complete civil and spiritual liberty planted in Pennsylvania.

"He had not turned his back on America."

Describing George Calvert's persistent ambition after initial setbacks in northern climates, Mayer highlights the determination that eventually directed Calvert to the Chesapeake.

What It's Really About

At its core, the text investigates how human freedom evolves from fragile, top-down concessions into broad constitutional rights. Mayer compares two distinct methodologies of state-building: the aristocratic model, which grants religious tolerance as a protective privilege while retaining feudal control, and the democratic model, which views liberty of conscience as an inherent right requiring the surrender of autocratic power.

The work argues that true civil liberty cannot exist without complete spiritual independence. By detailing the vulnerabilities of Maryland’s early laws—which protected broad Christian sects while excluding non-Christians—against Pennsylvania’s inclusive, multi-ethnic democracy, Mayer illustrates that partial toleration is merely a stepping stone toward the absolute equality required for a durable republic.

Why Read It Today

This text offers a clear, primary-text-driven window into nineteenth-century historical analysis, making it an essential read for readers interested in colonial history, constitutional origins, and religious liberty. Mayer writes with mid-nineteenth-century oratorical elegance, combining legal scrutiny of early charters with a sweeping narrative of transatlantic migration.

Readers must navigate the era's formal, highly elevated prose, which features long, periodic sentences, classical references, and unpunctuated Latin charter citations. The discourse also reflects nineteenth-century historiographical habits, occasionally adopting grand moral generalizations and period-specific perspectives on European colonization.

What stays with the reader is Mayer's precise dissection of how political structures shape human freedom. By placing Calvert and Penn side by side, the text moves beyond simple historical praise to offer a nuanced study of how policy, belief, and institutional design determine whether a society merely tolerates its people or truly sets them free.