Chapter Three (The Faraway Kingdom)

Afterglow - 1646 to 1648​

By mid-September, the bounty hunting for Charles had mostly stopped, which allowed him to expand his reach much wider than before. On October 1st of 1646, he moved out of his small house in Jamestown, heading towards the small city of Charleston. He ordered the construction of the Manor of Stuart, a large house which would act as his place of governance until his death. The newly formed city of Charleston was quite an undertaking for the small population that was present there before Charles’ arrival, the amount of work required overwhelming them. The continuously growing city was located on the small peninsula where the Chesapeake Bay and the Atlantic met. Supplies were easily delivered to the fledgling city via the Potomac River. Such easy access soon proved to be both a blessing, and a hindrance, as Royalists fleeing the tyranny of Cromwell began to flood the city, overstretching her meager capacity. The swamp lands surrounding the city, were wild, untamed, but the Royalists did not care, even mother nature would bow before the King. Thus began the process of “de-swamping” the region, and Charles was in no shortage of manpower with the constant stream of loyal citizens or colonists wanting to find a better life in the colonies. In addition to this massive undertaking, Charles and his main associates began the construction of a primitive parliament building in Charleston. They figured with a population of roughly 25,000 people in Carolina (both Virginia and Maryland), that 1 seat per every 500 people would be sufficient enough to represent the people. When the small parliamentary building was finally constructed along with the manor that would house the royal family, Charles requested the stitching of a new flag that would fly over the entirety of the nation, from Royalist vessels surfing the waves, to military ranks, the newly created Parliament building, to even the Manor of the King himself. Multiple designs were brought forth to Charles, the King had eyes for only one. A flag similar to England’s, except with a crown in the center representing the king’s new home and green on the cross instead of the red. Charles loved the color green on the flag, and spoke frequent praise about the specific color that was used.

“It’s a beautiful color, as it represents how fresh this land is. It also reminds me how this land has so many trees that bless its soil. Something England was sorely lacking, and I’m glad we can find it here.” - Excerpt from the meeting of Charles I and his advisors on the final design of his new flag.

The first flag of the English Kingdom of Carolina.

New England was quite a touchy subject in Carolina, during the 1640's especially. Charles had designs to capture New England, then perpetrate a purge of the Puritans living there. He wanted to either kill them or exile them, back to England and Ireland. The English and the Dutch had very different plans. however. Prince Rupert of the Netherlands was very afraid that Carolina would attack the colonies in New Netherland, and asked for Cromwell’s help to send more settlers. This was very beneficial for both nations; soon afterwards, Willem Kieft (director of New Netherland at the time) extended an alliance and trade agreement to the Massachusetts Bay colony. It was accepted soon afterwards, and began an age of cooperation between England and the colony of New Netherland. While this mostly squashed Charles’ plan, it gave him a new place to dump his “undesirables”. Many of the people who didn’t follow his faith, such as the Lutherans or the Puritans, were sent northwards to the outlandish locations of New Haven or Maine. New England itself was thriving, however. While Carolina constantly plotted against it, it did little to deter the large influx of German and non-Anglican English. New Netherland was doing just as well as the English colonies. Under the guidance of Willem Kieft, and later on Peter Stuyvesant, New Amsterdam grew into a large port city with an abundance of English and Scottish citizens. Kieft was described as a “motivating leading man, but a little off his rocker”. His attempts at deporting the Native Americans were quickly turned around by his successors, and turned New Netherland into a bit of a melting pot of cultures. The population of New Amsterdam itself spiked, from 700 in 1645 to 1050 by 1648. In North America, much like in Europe, the peoples of the colonies began to settle down. An afterglow of a series of events no one would forget in the near future.

A Puritan ship arriving in an uninhabited region of Maine.