An illustration of George Alsop from 1666 by an unknown artist.

George Alsop (c. 1636-c. 1673)

George Alsop grew up in England during the English Civil War, which greatly divided the country. The English Civil War lasted from August 1642 until September 1651. Alsop strongly supported King Charles I and was unhappy when the Puritan leader Oliver Cromwell rose to power. In response, Alsop immigrated to Maryland in 1658.

lsop's training in London included a "handicraft apprenticeship."¹ He was a tradesman of humble origins. To get to Maryland, Alsop signed a four-year indenture contract with Thomas Stockett. This meant that Mr. Stockett would pay for Alsop’s trip to Maryland if Alsop agreed to be his servant for four years after arriving in Maryland.

Alsop enjoyed living in Maryland, but became very ill while living there. His illness most likely began before he finished his four years of service.² This was very common for settlers who came to Maryland. The colonists had never encountered the diseases of the New World before. Alsop returned to England to receive better medical care. While he recovered from his illness, he wrote a book about life in Maryland called A Character of the Province of Maryland.

Alsop lived in Maryland during a period of peace following the religious conflicts of the English Civil War. Cecil Calvert had restored his power and installed his own son, Charles, as governor. Alsop’s book presented an idealistic view of life in Maryland. He wrote that servants received good treatment from their masters, which was not always true.

Alsop also did not witness hostilities between Indigenous tribes and the English, which were fairly common. For example, he admired the Susquehannock people, who had been enemies of the Maryland settlers years before he arrived. He said the Susquehannocks were "lookt [looked] upon by the Christian Inhabitants, as the most Noble and Heroick [heroic] Nation of Indians that dwell upon the confines of America."³

Alsop also recorded how indentured servants lived and worked, and how tobacco was produced and used in Maryland. He hoped people who read the book would want to come to Maryland to live. Today, Alsop's book provides us with important information about 17th-century life and activities in Maryland.

¹Alsop, G. (1902). A character of the province of Maryland (N. D. Mereness, Ed.). The Burrows Brothers Company. (Original work published 1666). p. 55
²Shea, J. G. (1869). Introduction. In G. Alsop, A character of the province of Maryland (pp. 5–10). William Gowans.
³Alsop, G. (1902). A character of the province of Maryland (N. D. Mereness, Ed.). The Burrows Brothers Company. (Original work published 1666). p. 76.

Vocabulary

Apprenticeship: An apprenticeship is a form of job training which, in the 17th century, included a contract where a young person lived and worked under a master craftsman to learn a specific trade, art, or profession over a span of time.
Indenture: An indenture is a formal legal contract or deed between two or more parties, historically often indented (notched) for authentication, frequently used for long-term service agreements or financial debt obligations.
Indentured Servant: An indentured servant is an individual, commonly in the 17th–19th centuries, who signed a contract (indenture) to work without wages for a master for a fixed period—typically four to seven years—in exchange for passage to a new country (usually American colonies), food, clothing, and shelter.
Puritan: A Puritan is a 16th- and 17th-century English Protestant who sought to "purify" the Church of England of Roman Catholic practices, advocating for strict moral codes, piety, and reduced ceremonial worship.
Susquehannock: The Susquehannock are an Indigenous tribe located in Central Maryland and the Eastern Shore.

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Sources:

Alsop, G. (1902). A character of the province of Maryland (N. D. Mereness, Ed.). The Burrows Brothers Company. (Original work published 1666). p. 55

Lauter, P. (Ed.). (4th ed.). George Alsop. In The Heath anthology of American literature [4th ed.]. Houghton Mifflin Company.