Why did people move to the Massachusetts Bay Colony
Massachusetts Bay Colony
The Massachusetts Bay Colony was an English settlement on the east coast of North America in the 17th century around the Massachusetts Bay, the northernmost of the several colonies later reorganized as the Province of Massachusetts Bay. The lands of the settlement were located in …
Puritans
The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to purify the Church of England of Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and needed to become more Protestant. Puritanism played a significant role in English history, especially during the Protectorate.
Full Answer
Why did the colonists move to Massachusetts?
A grant issued by King Charles I empowered the group to create a colony in Massachusetts. While the company was intended to transfer the wealth of the New World to stockholders in England, the settlers themselves transferred the charter to Massachusetts.
Why was the Massachusetts Bay Colony a successful colony?
The Massachusetts Bay Colony became the first English chartered colony whose board of governors did not reside in England. This independence helped the settlers to maintain their Puritan religious practices without interference from the king, Archbishop Laud, or the Anglican Church.
Who settled in the Massachusetts Bay Colony?
The Massachusetts Bay Colony was settled in 1630 by a group of about 1,000 Puritan refugees from England. It was one of the original English settlements in present-day Massachusetts. The leader of the colony was John Winthrop.
What was life like in the Massachusetts Bay Colony?
Massachusetts Bay Colony Facts: Growth. By 1640 Massachusetts Bay Colony had grown to more than 20,000 people who were easily the most successful colony of the New England Colonies. Quaint cabins were replaced with well-built homes with animals grazing.
When was the Massachusetts Bay Colony founded, and how long did it last?
In 1629 King Charles I of England granted the Massachusetts Bay Company a charter to trade in and colonize the part of New England that lay approxi...
What was the purpose of the Massachusetts Bay Colony?
The Puritans who settled the Massachusetts Bay Colony intended to set up a society that would accord with what they believed to be God’s wishes. On...
What is the importance of the Massachusetts Bay Colony?
By moving the Massachusetts Bay Company’s General Court from England to America, the Puritans converted it from an instrument of the company to a l...
Which colony was a part of the Massachusetts Bay?
A new charter was issued in 1691 that joined the Massachusetts Bay Colony, the Plymouth Colony, and the Maine Colony as the Province of Massachusetts Bay and placed it under a royal governor. Charles I. Learn more about Charles I.
When was Massachusetts Bay colony established?
See Article History. Massachusetts Bay Colony, one of the original English settlements in present-day Massachusetts, settled in 1630 by a group of about 1,000 Puritan refugees from England under Gov. John Winthrop and Deputy Gov. Thomas Dudley.
What was the purpose of the Massachusetts Bay Company?
Thomas Dudley. In 1629 the Massachusetts Bay Company had obtained from King Charles I a charter empowering the company to trade and colonize in New England between the Charles and Merrimack rivers. The grant was similar to that of the Virginia Company in 1609, the patentees being joint proprietors with rights of ownership and government. The intention of the crown was evidently to create merely a commercial company with what, in modern parlance, would be called stockholders, officers, and directors. By a shrewd and legally questionable move, however, the patentees decided to transfer the management and the charter itself to Massachusetts. By this move, they not only paved the way for local management, but they established the assumption that the charter for a commercial company was in reality a political constitution for a new government with only indefinable dependence upon the imperial one in England. Among the communities that the Puritans established were Boston, Charlestown, Dorchester, Medford, Watertown, Roxbury, and Lynn.
What was the name of the river that the Massachusetts Bay Company landed on?
In 1629 the Massachusetts Bay Company had obtained from King Charles I a charter empowering the company to trade and colonize in New England between the Charles and Merrimack rivers.
How many people were in Massachusetts Bay in the 1640s?
By the mid-1640s Massachusetts Bay Colony had grown to more than 20,000 inhabitants. Increasing estrangement between the colony and England resulted in the annulment of the company’s charter in 1684 and the substitution of royal government under a new charter granted in 1691.
What colony was merged with Maine in 1691?
The charter of 1691 merged the Plymouth colony and Maine into the Massachusetts Bay Colony. See also Plymouth. This article was most recently revised and updated by Jeff Wallenfeldt, Manager, Geography and History. History at your fingertips.
Why did the Puritans emigrate to the New World?
While they emigrated to the New World to be able to freely practice their religion, they did not espouse freedom of religion for other settlers.
Where did the Winthrop fleet sail?
In 1629, a fleet of 12 ships known as the Winthrop Fleet left England and headed for Massachusetts. It reached Salem, Massachusetts, on June 12th. Winthrop himself sailed aboard the Arbella. It was while he was still aboard the Arbella that Winthrop gave a famous speech in which he said:
What did Eliot set up in the colony?
Eliot set up "praying towns" in the colony, isolated settlements such as Natick (established 1651), where newly converted people could live separated from both English settlers and independent Indigenous peoples. The settlements were organized and laid out like an English village, and the residents were subject to a legal code that required that traditional practices be replaced by those proscribed in the Bible.
What was the role of Massachusetts in the American Revolution?
Massachusetts played a key role in the American Revolution. In December 1773, Boston was the site of the famous Boston Tea Party in reaction to the Tea Act that had been passed by the British. Parliament reacted by passing acts to control the colony, including a naval blockade of the harbor.
What were the praying towns?
King Philip's War broke out in 1675, an armed conflict between English colonists and the Indigenous people led by Metacomet (1638–1676), the Wampanoag chief who had adopted the name "Philip." Some of the Massachusetts Bay Indigenous converts supported the colonial militia as scouts and were crucial to the eventual colonial victory in 1678. However, by 1677, the converts who had not been killed, sold into enslavement, or driven northward, found themselves restricted to praying towns that were essentially reservations for people reduced to live as servants and tenant farmers.
What was the first major political crisis in Massachusetts Bay?
One of those is known as the "Antinomian Crisis" which resulted in the departure of Anne Hutchinson (1591–1643) from Massachusetts Bay.
What was the purpose of the grant issued by King Charles I to the colonists?
A grant issued by King Charles I empowered the group to create a colony in Massachusetts. While the company was intended to transfer the wealth of the New World to stockholders in England, the settlers themselves transferred the charter to Massachusetts. By so doing, they turned a commercial venture into a political one.
How far was the Merrimack River from the colony?
The colonial charter specified that the boundaries were to be from three miles (4.8 km) north of the Merrimack River to three miles south of the southernmost point of the Charles River and thence westward to the "South Sea" (i.e., the Pacific Ocean ). At the time, the course of neither of the rivers was known for any significant length, which eventually led to boundary disputes with the colony's neighbors. The colony's claims were large, but the practicalities of the time meant that they never actually controlled any land further west than the Connecticut River valley. The colony also claimed additional lands by conquest and purchase, further extending the territory that it administered.
Why did the Massachusetts Bay colonists see themselves as something apart from their mother country?
The colony also did not keep its headquarters and oversight in London but moved them to the colony. The Massachusetts Bay colonists viewed themselves as something apart from their "mother country" of England because of this tradition of self-rule, coupled with the theocratic nature of New England Puritan society. The Puritan founders of Massachusetts and Plymouth saw themselves as having been divinely given their lands in the New World with a duty to implement and observe religious law.
Why did the Pilgrims establish Plymouth?
In December 1620, a group of Pilgrims established Plymouth Colony just to the south of Massachusetts Bay, seeking to preserve their cultural identity and attain religious freedom. Plymouth's colonists faced great hardships and earned few profits for their investors, who sold their interests to them in 1627. Edward Winslow and William Bradford were two of the colony's leaders and were likely the authors of a work published in England in 1622 called Mourt's Relation. This book in some ways resembles a promotional tract intended to encourage further immigration. There were other short-lived colonial settlements in 1623 and 1624 at Weymouth, Massachusetts; Thomas Weston's Wessagusset Colony failed, as did an effort by Robert Gorges to establish an overarching colonial structure.
Why did the Crown want to include non-Puritans in the leadership of the colony?
The Crown learned of these divisions and sought to include non-Puritans in the leadership in the hope of managing the colony.
What countries did the Massachusetts Bay colony trade with?
The Massachusetts Bay Colony was economically successful, trading with England, Mexico and the West Indies. In addition to barter, transactions were done in English pounds, Spanish "pieces of eight", and wampum in the 1640s.
How did the colonists get land?
Seeking land of their own, groups of families would petition the government for land on which to establish a new town; the government would typically allow the group's leaders to select the land. These grants were typically about 40 square miles (10,000 ha), and were located sufficiently near other towns to facilitate defense and social support. The group leaders would also be responsible for acquiring native title to the lands that they selected. By this means, the colony expanded into the interior, spawning settlements in adjacent territories as well.
What is the name of the colony in Massachusetts?
Massachusetts. Maine. New Hampshire. The Massachusetts Bay Colony (1628–1691), more formally The Colony of Massachusetts Bay, was an English settlement on the east coast of America around the Massachusetts Bay, the northernmost of the several colonies later reorganized as the Province of Massachusetts Bay. The lands of the settlement were in ...
Why did the Massachusetts Bay colony become independent?
It had become a successful independent commonwealth largely due to the internal strife within England. That changed during the reign of King Charles II.
Who founded the Massachusetts Bay colony?
The man often credited as the founder of Massachusetts Bay Colony was John Winthrop. Winthrop was a well-learned man who had acquired a substantial amount of wealth.
Why did the Puritans leave England?
The exodus of Puritans from England began once the Massachusetts Bay Company received a royal charter from King Charles I. This caused congregations to pick up their possessions and leave for the New World away from the persecution of England.
How did the Plymouth colony differ from the Massachusetts Bay colony?
Plymouth Colony was successful but only succeeded throughout tremendous hardship. Massachusetts Bay was well-organized which led to the population exploding and absorbing Plymouth as its own.
Why did the freemen of Massachusetts Bay Colony elect representatives?
The freemen of Massachusetts Bay Colony eventually found it inconvenient to all meet in one place and chose to elect representatives to represent their interests. It was apparent that even at the beginning there was a democratic tendency to the government.
What were the Puritans' forms of government?
The Puritans form of government would go on to influence the forms of government in Connecticut colony, Rhode Island Colony, and the Province of New Hampshire since those three colonies were offshoots of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. They would eventually be called the New England Colonies. The second step to fusing the colonists and ...
What was the largest colony in New England?
It quickly became the largest colony in New England and was the mother colony of Rhode Island and Connecticut. By the time of the Revolution, the colony of Plymouth had been absorbed and the city of Boston was the largest port in the colonies.