Here is a documentary clip about Thomas Morton that Tetra posted with the following commentary:
Here’s an interesting low-budget film on Thomas Morton and his prosperous Bacchic colony that flourished right here in Massachusetts until those Puritan bastards decided to make a nuisance of themselves yet again. It’s a shame the education system of the United States doesn’t teach about this wonderful man who embodied the American spirit of camaraderie and freedom more than dour Protestant rejects ever could.
Couldn’t agree more.
It’s especially cool to see what Merrymount looks like today.
And note that Morton wasn’t the only early American Dionysian. There was also Ephraim Lyon who in 1820 founded the Church of Bacchus in Eastford, Connecticut as well as his contemporary John Chapman, better known to history as “Johnny Appleseed.”