Massachusetts Bay Colony

The Pilgrims Arrive

Puritans and the Development of the Massachusetts Bay Colony

The Pilgrims Arrive• The Pilgrims (separatists) are escaping religious

persecution under King James I. Pilgrims want to separate from the Church of England.

• On November 21, 1620 they land outside of the charter’s grant and must form their own governing body

• The Mayflower Compact, 1620, was the 1st example of self-rule in colonies. It was written for the good of all community members and supported idea of majority rule.

Mayflower

Early Troubles• Pilgrims go through their own

‘Starving Time” minus cannibalism

• Indians will help them learn about planting crops under the condition that Pilgrims protect them from their enemies

• This is why there is a famous first Thanksgiving in the fall of 1621

Thanksgiving, 1621

Pilgrim Leadership• William Bradford, 1st governor of Plymouth to

him Indians are “savage and brutish men”

• Miles Standish, a soldier will attack enemies of Wampanoag and placed Indian heads on pikes

• Pilgrims begin to live on Indian lands and live in Indian homes left empty because of diseases and warfare

Miles Standish marching to war, 1622

Puritans• Puritans are harassed by King Charles and

the Church and flee England in 1630

• They wanted to “purify” the Church of it’s Catholic practices

• Receive a royal charter to settle in New England and are a joint-stock company

• Are well prepared for any problem and do not suffer any hardships like the “Starving Time”

Puritans

Political Development of Massachusetts Bay Colony

• The Puritans hold town meetings were men meet to make laws and discussed community issues

• Only male church members could vote on issues and elect their representatives

• Those that can vote in local government are called “freemen”

• With Indians they at first learn how to agricultural techniques and learn how to farm corn, beans, pumpkins, and potatoes

• Puritans are involved in trade with Indians for items like: blankets, iron pots, metal tipped arrows and guns

• Puritans will concentrate on raising livestock which need open fields to graze and desire Indian land

Social Development of Massachusetts Bay Colony

• You were required to attend church services

• “New England Way” was a belief that you should work hard, be honest and be a good person

• Education is mandatory, every Puritan is expected to be able to read the bible

• John Winthrop, a lawyer and religious leader wants New England to be “A City Upon a Hill”

“City Upon a Hill”

• Sermon by John Winthrop that inspired Puritan colonists with a sense of “holy duty”

• Puritans would be a model of a perfect Protestant community for all the world to see

Economical Development of Massachusetts Bay Colony

• The regions is not flat like in the Chesapeake Bay region (no land to plant crops)

• Puritans adapt to region and are involved in fishing, fur trading, lumbering and farming

• They will also become the largest ship building region of the colonies due the forest areas surrounding them

• Puritans will also be heavily involved in trade with the Caribbean and Europe

Conflict with Native Americans• The Pequot War will be a war against Dutch

settlers and Indians over trade in the region

• It is a brutal war. Puritans will burn hundreds of Indians alive in a stockade

• The Pequot tribe will be almost wiped out and sold into slavery

• King Philip’s War will be mainly because of Puritan land grabs of Indian land

Indians raiding Puritan settlement