The Massachusetts Bay – The Colony Under God’s Law The colony, Massachusetts Bay was settled under God’s law in the Americas by puritans that decided to leave the church of England as a result of King Charles I’s persecution. The Puritans believed that they need to purify from the mixed doctrines between the Church of England and the Roman Catholic. Inspired by the opportunity that the Americas can offer to them, they decided to establish a community called “Massachusetts Bay” after a name of their puritan corporation “the Massachusetts Bay Company, which settled their first colony in Salem in 1629. They created a Puritan self-governing by developing a government which includes a governor and a representative assembly called the General …show more content…
He believes was to support the freedom of conscience for individuals. For example, Mr. William claimed that the authorities couldn’t enforce religious laws on everyone such as, a law against blasphemy. Dissenting with the Puritan’s doctrines, he developed a close relationship with the Wampanoag and Narragansett tribes and bought a land where he established the new colony. The first colony where the church was separated from the state, which Rhode Island became a place for those didn’t agree with the Puritans’ administration. For instance, Anne Hutchinson was one of the Puritans banished from the colony because she was preaching by saying that God delivered a direct revelation to her. She and her followers received refuge in Rhode Island. However, in 1643, she was killed in Dutch New Amsterdam by an Indian attack. In sum, Rhode Island was the first colony where the church was separated the state where Roger William supported freedom of religious …show more content…
A few years later, the colonists established a government called “the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut” offering rights to vote others men supported by authorities of Boston. As a result, in 1662, both colonies New Haven and Connecticut combined and were officially named as a colony of Connecticut. All in all, the Puritans couldn’t intervene on the results about the differences of opinions between them. The only way to cope with disagreements was to allowed others to stablish a new colony with some different concepts of religious and
In 1629, a royal charter was granted to a group of wealthy Puritans. Their enterprise was the Massachusetts Bay Company. “Future governor John Winthrop stated their purpose quite clearly: "We shall be as a city upon a hill, the eyes of all people
The colony was led by John Winthrop and was established in 1630. They were also Puritans who settled under the Massachusetts Bay Company, who dealt in trade. The colony settled in the Massachusetts Bay, with Boston becoming their largest city and capital. Unlike the Pilgrims of Plymouth they were non-separating Congregationalists for the simple fact that they believed the Church of England could be reformed. Their charter was unique because authority rested with a genral court of freeman, who were Puritan stock or property owners and later church members. They elected their governor and his assistants and later gained the power to pass their own laws and levy taxes. The freeman eventually became so large that it formed into a two-house legislature known as the House of Assistants, who were Lords, or of Royal descent, and the House of Deputies, who were Commons, or normal people not of Royal descent. Their government was a union of church and state and looked to make Puritanism the official religion with the Bible as the basis for the law. Much like the Pilgrims, they were very self-sufficient and did not have to rely on Native American help because they were able to grow many different crops of their own. This was very helpful because it ensured if one crop died, they had others they could rely on for survival. This was a very successful colony, arguably one of the most successful overall
In June 1630, John Winthrop and his fleet arrived in Salem, Massachusetts. This was not the ideal place for Winthrop’s ideal “citty”. So five days after land John and his men left Salem in search of better land. Charlestown was where the puritans set their roots. However, their start was not favorable due to disease, killing many of the settlers and making the survivors weak. They were unable to bring shipped goods to their encampment and the only resolution was to divide and conquer. Onc...
The General Court of Massachusetts Bay was the most democratic political system in place in New England in the seventeenth century. It was a representative democracy that allowed for more of the population to participate in government. It allowed for town meetings, in which citizens of the colony could express grievances to members of the government. Even though this was much more democratic than the House of Burgesses in Virginia, the two systems did share similarities. In the Massachusetts Bay Colony, only 40% of the people actually participated in government. Also, the members of government only consisted of the “elect”. The elect were people who were believed to be going to heaven, as pre-determination was a key belief of the Puritans. These people were often rich white males, similar in class rank to the planters of the Chesapeake region. This system was often referred to as the “bible commonwealth” as it favored those who were in good religious and economic standing. Another political system in New England that emerged was the Blue Laws of Connecticut. These laws restricted many freedoms and promised death for even minor infractions. These laws came from an aristocratic government in Connecticut, which was an example of the restrictive, wealth-driven governments that were in New England at the time. Despite New England having a more democratic approach to government in the seventeenth century, both the
New England was a refuge for religious separatists leaving England, while people who immigrated to the Chesapeake region had no religious motives. As a result, New England formed a much more religious society then the Chesapeake region. John Winthrop states that their goal was to form "a city upon a hill", which represented a "pure" community, where Christianity would be pursued in the most correct manner. Both the Pilgrims and the Puritans were very religious people. In both cases, the local government was controlled by the same people who controlled the church, and the bible was the basis for all laws and regulations. From the Article of Agreement, Springfield, Massachusetts it is ...
Massachusetts Bay saw all other religions as inferior to Puritanism. This doctrine of superiority caused Massachusetts to view the other colonies with disdain and created an antagonistic atmosphere.
The History of the Colony of Province of Massachusetts Bay: Volume II was created by a male author named Thomas Hutchinson. The Massachusetts Bay Colony Case against Anne Hutchinson (1637) was edited by Lawrence Shaw Mayo who attended Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The selection was reprinted by the permission of Thomas Hutchinson, but in the Table of Contents it says that John Winthrop was the author of the selection. Even though he was the governor of the year 1637, and was also included in the trial case. Maybe he could have tweaked some of the things he said to Anne Hutchinson so that he did not come off as rude. Also, since Thomas and Anne Hutchinson have the same last name they could have been related,
In 1630, the Massachusetts Bay Company set sail to the New World in hope of reforming the Church of England. While crossing the Atlantic, John Winthrop, the puritan leader of the great migration, delivered perhaps the most famous sermon aboard the Arbella, entitled “A Model of Christian Charity.” Winthrop’s sermon gave hope to puritan immigrants to reform the Church of England and set an example for future immigrants. The Puritan’s was a goal to get rid of the offensive features that Catholicism left behind when the Protestant Reformation took place. Under Puritanism, there was a constant strain to devote your life to God and your neighbors. Unlike the old England, they wanted to prove that New England was a community of love and individual worship to God. Therefore, they created a covenant with God and would live their lives according to the covenant. Because of the covenant, Puritans tried to abide by God’s law and got rid of anything that opposed their way of life. Between 1630 and the 18th century, the Puritans tried to create a new society in New England by creating a covenant with God and living your life according to God’s rule, but in the end failed to reform the Church of England. By the mid 1630’s, threats to the Puritans such as Roger Williams, Anne Hutchinson, and Thomas Hooker were being banned from the Puritan community for their divergent beliefs. 20 years later, another problem arose with the children of church members and if they were to be granted full membership to the church. Because of these children, a Halfway Covenant was developed to make them “halfway” church members. And even more of a threat to the Puritan society was their notion that they were failing God, because of the belief that witches existed in 1692.
Without a profitable export such as sugar or tobacco, New Englanders turned to fishing and lumber for products. On the contrary, the economy concentrated on family ranches supplying food for their own needs and a small commercial surplus. The government of Massachusetts mirrored the Puritans’ spiritual and social idea. Longing to govern the colony without foreign intrusion and to avoid non-Puritans from manipulating decision making, the owners of the Massachusetts Bay Company traveled to America, taking the deed with them and converting a business document into a system of government. Initially, the eight shareholders selected the men who controlled the settlement. A cluster of deputies voted by freemen was adjoined to establish the General
For starters, King Charles II had revoked Massachusetts Bay Colony’s royal charter. They needed this to be document to colonize the area. He had revoked this charter due to the fact they were not following rules. Then the new King and Queen of England issued a new anti-religious charter. The puritans had left England to escape religious persecution, and they were fearful that their religion was once again under attack. They were also afraid they were going to lose control over their colony. Historians believe that this contributed to their crisis they were having in the colony, and why they took the Salem Witch Trials as far as they did. During this time, the colony also had a small pox epidemic, they were afraid of being under attack from Native American tribes. The colonist at the time blamed the devil for all of their hardships.
During the time of 1636 a women that goes by the name Anne Hutchinson, took control of Winthrop's Boston church on an attempt to convert the whole colony to a religious view that Winthrop thought of as blasphemy.( Anne Hutchinson had weekly meetings with women of Boston and discussed recent sermons, while speaking her own theological views.) Later Winthrop led a counterattack against her after he became re-elected as governor. In his attempt to demolish her influences, he succeeded. Hutchinson was put on trial, for the charge of “traducing the ministers” and was sentenced to banishment.
The political difference between the New England and Chesapeake region was that New England government associate more with religious matter than the Chesapeake government. The New England regions included the Massachusetts Bay Colony, the Plymouth colony, the New Hampshire colony, Maine colony, Connecticut colony, and Rhode Island colony. Massachusetts colony for example was governed as a theocracy government. As the first governor of Massachusetts colony once stated in A Model of Christian Charity (Written on board the Arbella on the Atlantic Ocean, 1630),"we shall be as a city upon a hill" a holy commonwealth that could be served as an example community to the rest of the world. The Massachusetts Bay colony placed great importance on religious matters. Only the church member were allowed to vote or held office position. Those who held office position would enforce the law requiring attendance at services. Jamestown, Maryland and the Carolinas were some colonies in the Chesapeake regions. The governments in these regions were less concerned about...
Just like their religions, Massachusetts gave more power to the people and Virginia gave power to England. In the New England Handout, Mailer describes the difference further, “Unlike in Virginia where a governor is elected from a faraway company in London, and after 1624, by the Crown itself, the ‘freemen’ of Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Hampshire elect their own governors.” (1) This information describes the contrast in the way a governor gets elected. In Massachusetts, the “freemen”, men who own land, get to vote for their governor, while Virginia’s governor gets appointed by the crown. Virginia’s government also consisted of the Governing Council, rich elites controlling everything, and the House of Burgesses, upper middle-class landowners. The main reason the governments of these colonies differ is the fact that the charter of Virginia created by the Virginia Company resides in England, or in other words it is controlled by the crown. On the other hand, Massachusetts’s charter, created by the Massachusetts Bay Company, resides in the colony, so the colony self-governs itself. This brings forth another comparison of the two colonies; the reason why they were founded.
Some colonies, like Massachusetts Bay, were founded by the Puritans to have a better life in the
As a dedicated Puritan, John Winthrop believed in the necessity of following God’s rules. “God Almighty... ”, Winthrop highly uses the name of God in his “A Model of Christian Charity” from 1630. While preparing to a new life in the newfangled colony, the soon to be the first Governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony was determined to build a better life to his supporter based in God’s fundaments of living. Winthrop believe in use the power of God to create a strong and compliant colony. His vision of a unified colony was excessive reinforce in his speeches. A colony where the people work together and help each other, always following the God’s principles.