The Legend of John Howland

The Legend of John Howland

Karl W. Lux

Kaplan University

HU200: Critical Evaluation in the Humanities

Under the instruction of

Professor Ken Caron

Most people take their religious freedom for granted, as if the right to choose is just how it has always been. What most people don’t really get is the mass oppression that started the migration of pilgrims to flee the British Isles and come to what was then to them the new land. The oppression was so severe that it included death at the hands of the King James Catholic Church.

In 1620 the Mayflower landed at Plymouth Rock on that ship was one of my descendants. A pilgrim named John Howland. (Landis J.1922) His name can be found on the ships list of sudforescribed names. This man can best be described as a hero by many; for what he went through is a whole other story. During that time many people that didn’t follow the rule of King James and Catholic Church doctrine were being persecuted in some of the most horrible, and un-imaginable ways. The list of ways that they were dealt with included, but were not limited to: castration, burning to death, hanging, and beheading.

During that time people were also starting to look for other places to live outside of the rule of King James and the Catholic Church. The idea of leaving the British Isles had come to a young man named John Howland. He was young and strong of back as well as mind. He knew that there had to be a better way of life elsewhere. Where a man could raise his family in a more conventional manor. Very similar to what Goffman describes (Lemert, 1997): a young, married, white, urban, northern, heterosexual, Protestant, father, of college education, fully employed, of good complexion, weight, and height; everything but a recent record in sports.

(Janaro, R. P., & Altshuler, T. C. 2012 Ch.10) Janaro and Altshuler talk about religion as being a part of so many people’s lives. How it was and still is used as guidance, and also through...