The 1600's:
1607:
It was nice to have someone there with him, even though he was used to being on his own, and the man with fuzzy eyebrows and a bad temper was fun, a welcome change. People were coming to his shores, people with pale skin, pale hair, pale eyes, so unlike the native people who had cared for him until this point, until the presence of a people called 'England' arrived. Colonies were built and settled, some prospered, some failed, most just existed. And he grew.
He grew tall and stringy, much like the reeds that grew on the shores of 'Jamestown', the swampy, ugly place that was a permanent hub now, filled with infection and insects that carried sickness. England did not come here much to visit, so Alfred moved, moved from place to place, hoping that he would be raised in the eyes of his caregiver. 'Jamestown' moved with him too, until he decided that it was not worth moving the town any longer. It was set down, permanently, on the 'James River', in 'Virginia'. All these names were so strange, so…English. These were not his names.
1620:
His was a land of religious freedom, he was coming to realize as he grew older and wiser, even if it was only a few inches added to his height and years to a number. Alfred poked his head out from behind a tree, watching England help people carry their things to dry land, even though there was not much: the Puritans traveled light, to be sure.
The Anglicans over in England were making it difficult for these poor people to practice their religion to the extent that they desired it; to be rid of such persecution, they had come here, to his shores and to settle on his land. England thought that some religion would be good for him, on account of his 'heathen' upbringing. Alfred thought that this was ridiculous, as they had a perfectly fine 'religion' in which everything and everyone was respected. These Puritans looked down their noses at him, tolerating his existence but never trusting him. He could not even play with their children, for their strict parents felt that they would become like him: the Puritans had migrated from the Netherlands, had moved to his shores because they thought their children were becoming too Dutch; they needed a place where they could practice their religion and still be 'English'.
The Virginia Company was up to the task and took forty-one willing pilgrims, making the number on board the large (in Alfred's young eyes) Mayflower one-oh-two.
That was when Alfred's first concepts of European government were introduced: the Mayflower Compact bound these meager settlers together, the government bending and submitting to the will of the majority.
1680
No one went back. They all stayed on his land, things went well, and the English began to populate the new land, getting along for the most part. The Salem Witch Trials spotted that clean record.
Women who had no children or husbands were tried as witches, those with a low social position, those widows who had not remarried…Alfred was present at all the hangings, twenty women, many of whom had taken care of him in the winter, when he found it pleasing to be in a warm home, and two dogs.
"Why are they doing this? Surely this is not what the Lord desires His people to do: kill other followers of Him." He had whispered at one hanging, this one of a girl a few years older than himself.
A solemn old woman, hardened by years without a husband, coughed beside him.
"The Lord has ways, unknown to His flock. It is His will. And," she sighed. "I may be next. So, pray thee for mine own soul."
Sure enough, Alfred watched with young and horrified eyes as the undesired or useless individuals in society were disposed of, accused of witchcraft, the poor resenting the rich: he wept bitter tears that his land be stained with such a horror, not knowing what lay in his future.