Massachusetts Bay Colony

English possession in North America between 1628 and 1684

The Massachusetts Bay Colony was a 17th-century British settlement founded by Puritans on the East Coast of North America. Later called New England, the colony included the states of Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Connecticut.[2]: 58 

Massachusetts Bay Colony
1628 –1691
Part of Dominion of New England 1686–1689
Seal of the colony: A male native, nude but for a skirt of leaves, holding a bow in one hand and an arrow, point down, in the other, with conifers either side. A speech scroll reads "Come over and help us". Surrounding it are the words "SIGILLUM GVB ET SOCIET MATTACHUSETS BAY IN NOVA ANGLIA"
Colonial seal
Map of the Massachusetts Bay Colony around 1690
Map of the Massachusetts Bay Colony around 1690
StatusDisestablished
CapitalSalem, Charlestown, Boston
Common languagesEnglish, Massachusett, Mi'kmaq
Religion
Congregationalism (official)[1] Puritanism
GovernmentSelf-governing colony
Governor 
• 1629–1631
John Endecott (first)
• 1679–1692
Simon Bradstreet (last)
LegislatureGreat and General Court or Assembly of Massachusetts Bay
• Upper House (de facto)
Council of Assistants
• Lower House (de facto)
Assembly
Historical era
• Council for New England land grant
1628
• Charter issued
1629
1643
• Revocation of the Royal Charter
1684
• Dominion of New England established
1686
• Dominion dissolved
1689
• Massachusetts Charter for the Province of Massachusetts Bay
1691
• Disestablished, reorganized as the Province of Massachusetts Bay
1691
CurrencyPound sterling
Succeeded by
Dominion of New England
Province of Massachusetts Bay
Today part of

The Massachusetts Bay Company, founded in 1628, brought around 20,000 people to the colony.[2]: 33, 47–48  It was one of two companies which brought settlers in the New World.[2]: 47–48  The other, called the Dorchester Company, was a failure.

At first the colonists had a friendly relationship with local Native American tribes. These included the Massachusett, Wampanoag, Nipmuc, Narragansett, and Pequot Mohegan tribes, among others. However, as more Europeans moved to the New World, conflicts over land borders arose. Along with differences in culture and customs, these conflicts led to the Pequot War (1636–1638) and then to King Philip's War (1675–1676). Some Native Americans moved to other places after these wars. Others remained peacefully in the Massachusetts Bay Colony.

The colony did well economically trading with England and the West Indies.

Initially the colony did well economically and made money trading with England and the West Indies. In 1692, Sir William Phips arrived and combined the Massachusetts Bay and Plymouth Colonies. The colonists helped run the government and decide how to spend its money.

Earlier times

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Map showing Native American tribal areas in southern New England, circa 1600;

From the earliest times, many Native American tribes lived in what is now New England. They farmed and hunted within their own land borders and usually did not cross each other's land.[3] Early in the 1600s, Samuel de Champlain and John Smith mapped New England and the location of various tribes.[4]

Living in the New World was very hard work for the first settlers. Many became ill and died though the cold winter. There was not enough food, and many people in the group decided to return to England after a year.[5] For awhile there was no more talk of settling people in the New World,[6] although English ships did still come to the New England area to fish and trade with Native Americans.[7]

Plymouth Colony

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In November 1620, a group of Europeans started the Plymouth Colony.[8] After nearby settlements failed, some of the group joined the Plymouth Colony or lived near it; others returned to England.[9]

The people of Plymouth faced many problems during the colony's first years, and they could not pay back their investors. In 1627 the companies left the colonists to take care of themselves.[10]

In 1622 two of the colony's leaders, Edward Winslow and William Bradford, published a booklet about the Mayflower and the colony they created. It was called Mourt's Relation (full title: A Relation or Journal of the Beginning and Proceedings of the English Plantation Settled at Plimoth in New England). Though the two men express differing opinions, the booklet's purpose was to encourage people to come and settle in the New World.[11][12][13]

References

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  1. A. Lamport, Mark (2016). Encyclopedia of Christianity in the United States. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 1939. ISBN 9781442244320. Congregationalism did became the official religion of the Massachusetts Bay Colony.
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 William Dummer Northend, A Civil, Religious and Social History of the Massachusetts Colony and its Settlements from the Landing at Cape Ann in 1649 to the Death of Governor Winthrop in 1649 (Boston: Estes and Lauriat Pub.)
  3. Hart, p. 1:129
  4. Hart, pp. 1:127–128
  5. Thayer, pp. 13–216
  6. Vaughan, p. 14
  7. Vaughan, p. 15
  8. Hart, pp. 1:67–70
  9. Adams and Nash, pp. 15–34
  10. Stratton, p. 27
  11. Heath, pp. xiii–xv
  12. Labaree, p. 26
  13. Adams and Nash, pp. 29–34

References and further reading

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