New England Colonies

The Voyage of the Mayflower• Early 1500s ACE – King Henry VIII broke

away from the Catholic Church and established the Church of England, directly under control of the Crown of England

• Separatists – Group who wanted to break away from the Church of England

• The Pilgrims were a Separatist group who fled to Holland and finally North America

• Broke a deal with the Virginia Company to settle within that company’s boundaries

• Blown off course by wind, they landed in an area charted and named “New England” by John Smith

• Onboard their ship (Mayflower), the men signed an agreement called the Mayflower Compact, in which they agreed to follow laws for the common good

The Pilgrims Found Plymouth• At Plymouth, Pilgrims endured a

starving time – By spring half of the colonists died

• Samoset (Pemaquid) and Squanto (Pawtuxet) helped the Pilgrims negotiate peace with Chief Massasoit and taught them how to fish, hunt, and grow crops

• “Welcome, Englishmen” - Samoset• Pilgrims traded with Natives to

acquire furs and lumber – Both could be shipped back to England for profit

• Fall 1621 – Plymouth celebrated a good harvest by holding a three day feast (“Thanksgiving”)

• Accounts also indicate that the Pilgrims helped Natives attack another tribe around this time

The Puritans Come to Massachusetts Bay• Between the 1630s and 1640s, the

Puritans left England to escape bad treatment from King James I

• Puritans sought to reform or “purify” the Church of England

• The Great Migration – Thousands of Puritans leave England

• 20,000 settled in New England• Puritan merchants invest in the

Massachusetts Bay Company• By 1629 ACE, the company received a

royal charter to settle in New England• 1630 ACE – 11 well-supplied ships

carrying 1,000 passengers arrived in Massachusetts Bay

• Puritans were well-prepared and did not suffer a starving time

• Led by John Winthrop• Commonwealth – a community of

people working for the common good

The New England Way• Basic unit of New England life – the

congregation, a group of people who belong to the same church

• People made laws and public decisions as a group in the meetinghouse

• In Massachusetts Bay Colony only male church members could vote and hold office

• Male members of a congregation could elect representatives to the General Court, which chose the governor

• By law everyone had to attend church services

• Sermons provided instruction to Puritans – “The New England Way”

• Emphasized duty, godliness, hard work, and honesty

• Believed vices such as dancing and playing games led to laziness

• Strong work ethic – Believed God required you to work at your vocation

• All children required to learn to read so they could read the Bible

Puritans Form New Colonies• 1636 ACE – Thomas Hooker moved his

congregation to the Connecticut Valley• They wrote and adopted the

Fundamental Orders of Connecticut in 1639 ACE

• The orders were essentially a constitution, a plan of government

• Extended voting rights to non-church members and limited the power of the governor

• 1623 ACE – village near modern-day Portsmouth, New Hampshire is founded

• 1638 ACE – John Wheelwright established the town of Exeter

• They drew up the Exeter Compact, which was based on the Mayflower Compact

Challenges to Puritan Leaders• Roger Williams, a minister from Salem,

Massachusetts, founded the first Baptist church in America

• Williams opposed mandatory church attendance and taking Native American land by force

• 1636 ACE – Williams left Massachusetts and founded the colony of Rhode Island

• Rhode Island guaranteed freedom of religion and a separation of church and state in the government

• Anne Hutchinson believed that a person could worship God without a church, minister, or Bible

• She held discussion challenging church authority in her home

• 1638 ACE – Hutchinson, after being brought to trial, is forced to flee to Rhode Island

• Quakers – believed that each person could know God directly through an “inner light”

• Believed in pacifism and treating Natives fairly

• Many left for Rhode Island to escape persecution

King Philip’s War• Growing number of colonists began

to push Natives off of their land• Europeans believed in private

property which could be owned by individuals, while Natives believed that land belonged to everyone

• 1675-6 ACE – Puritan colonists fought a war against Native Americans

• King Philip was the English name for Metacom, leader of the Wampanoag

• Metacom organized an alliance of tribes to fight the Puritans

• Wampanoag lost the war (3,000 Natives killed [including Metacom], 500 enslaved, many were forced to become laborers)

• Colonists lost around 600 settlers and 12 villages were destroyed

• Colonists took more Native land

The Salem Witchcraft Trials• Late 1600s ACE - Several Salem,

Massachusetts village girls were told stories about witches by Tituba, a slave from the West Indies

• While pretending to be “bewitched,” the girls falsely accused others of practicing witchcraft

• 1692 ACE – Witchcraft trials began with ministers acting as judges in religious courts

• “Touch test” used to test witches• Clergy viewed the witch-hunts and trials as

sign that God wanted villages to return to a strict lifestyle

• Hundreds accused, 20 were executed (19 by hanging, 1 by pressing)

• The experience showed how society can sometimes create scapegoats for its problems