Chapter 4 Section 1 Notes

1. Chapter 4 Section 1 Notes The New England Colonies

2. Setting the Scene • April and May 1630 were cold stormy months in the North Atlantic. • Colonists aboard the ship Arbella were starting to doubt this trip to America. • John Winthrop-a lawyer and devout Christian had no doubt. • Winthrop assured them that their new colony would be an example to the world—”A City upon a Hill.”

3. Setting the Scene • There were 17 ships and 1000 people who left England in 1630 to settle in North America. • They set up their colony on Massachusetts Bay (Boston) • Over the next 100 years, English settlers would build towns and farms throughout New England.

4. Puritans in Massachusetts • John Winthrop and his followers were known as Puritans. • Unlike the Pilgrims, the Puritans did not want to separate from the Anglican Church of England. • They wanted to reform “purify” the Church.

5. Puritans in Massachusetts • The Puritans wanted to do away with many practices that were similar to the Catholic Church. • Such as organ music, finely decorated churches and special clothing for priests.

6. Leaving England • Puritans were powerful in England. • New King of England, Charles I became king in 1625, did not like the Puritans and their ideas. • He had Puritans jailed and fined. • Puritans felt England was not a good place for them anymore.

7. Leaving England • The Puritans persuaded royal officials to grant them a charter to form the Massachusetts Bay Company. • The company’s plan was to build a new society in New England. • Far from the King, the Puritans would run their colony as they pleased.

8. Leaving England • Some English came to Massachusetts for financial reasons. • They were attracted to Massachusetts because of the availability of cheap land or a chance to start a business.

9. Governing the Colony • John Winthrop was chosen governor of Massachusetts Bay . • Winthrop worked hard to build a home, clear land and plant crops. • He inspired everyone to work hard.

10. Governing the Colony • Under the original charter only stockholders who had invested money in the Massachusetts Bay Company could vote. • Unfortunately, most people were not stockholders. • They resented taxes and laws passed by a government in which they had no say.

11. Governing the Colony • Winthrop realized that the colony would run more smoothly if more colonists could vote. • Winthrop granted the right to vote to all men who were Puritan Church members. • Later, male church members elected representatives to an assembly called the Massachusetts General Court.

12. Governing the Colony • Under the leadership of Winthrop, Massachusetts Bay grew and prospered. • Between 1629 and 1640, 15,000 men, women and children made the journey from England to Massachusetts. • This movement was known as the Great Migration. • Many newcomers settled in Boston—the colony’s capital.

13. Settling Connecticut • 1636-Puritan minister Thomas Hooker led 100 settlers west out of Massachusetts. • They drove their cattle, goats, and pigs along Indian trails that cut through the forests. • When they reached the Connecticut River, they built a town they called Hartford.

14. Settling Connecticut • Hooker left Mass Bay because he felt the governor and other officials had too much power. • He wanted to set up a colony in Connecticut with strict limits on government. • 1639-the settlers wrote a plan of government called the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut.

15. Settling Connecticut • The government was similar to Massachusetts’. • There were 2 differences. • 1-The Fundamental Orders gave the right to vote to ALL men who were property owners (not just church members) • 2-The Fundamental Orders limited the governor’s power. • In 1662-Connecticut became a separate colony. • By then, there were 15 towns thriving along the Connecticut River.

16. Settling Rhode Island • Another Puritan who challenged the leaders of Mass Bay was Roger Williams. • Williams was a young minister in Salem, Ma. • His ideas alarmed Puritan leaders. • Williams believed that the Puritan church had too much power in Massachusetts.

17. Settling Rhode Island • Williams felt the church should stay out of government issues and the government should stay out of church matters. • Williams said the role of government was to maintain order and peace. • Williams also believed in religious toleration—a willingness to let others practice their own beliefs.

18. Settling Rhode Island • Puritans in Mass viewed Williams as a troublemaker. • 1635-Mass General Court ordered him to leave Massachusetts. • Fearing the Court would send him back to England, Williams fled to Narragansett Bay, where he spent the winter with Indians. • In the spring, the Indians sold him land for a settlement. • After a few years, it became the colony of Rhode Island.

19. Settling Rhode Island • In Rhode Island, Williams allowed freedom of religion for all people. • He did not force people to attend church • He gave ALL white men the right to vote. • People who disliked the government of Massachusetts fled to Providence and other towns in Rhode Island.

21. Anne Hutchinson • Among those who went to Rhode Island was Anne Hutchinson. • A devout Puritan, Hutchinson regularly attended church services. • She would discuss the minister’s sermons w/her friends. • She began to express her own views and criticized the minister’s teachings.

22. Anne Hutchinson • Puritan leaders were angry at Hutchinson. • Puritan leaders also said that a woman did not have the right to explain God’s law. • 1637—Hutchinson was ordered to appear before the Mass General Court. • At her trial, Winthrop could not prove that she had broken any Puritan laws or disobeyed any religious teachings.

23. Anne Hutchinson • After 2 days of questioning, Hutchinson made a serious mistake. • She told the court that God spoke directly to her. • Members of the Mass General Court were shocked. • Puritans believed that God spoke only through the Bible, not through individuals.

24. Anne Hutchinson • The court declared that Hutchinson “deluded by the devil” and ordered her out of the colony. • 1638—Hutchinson and her family and friends went to Rhode Island. • Hutchinson became an important symbol for the struggle of religious freedom.

25. Conflict with Native Americans • In Massachusetts Bay (Boston), settlers fanned out across New England. • Some built trading and fishing villages along the coast north of Boston • Salem, Newburyport, Portsmouth, Ipswich, Kennebunk, Marblehead.

26. Conflict with Native Americans • As more colonists settled in New England, they took over Native American lands. • Fighting broke out between white settlers and Indian nations of the region. • The largest conflict came in 1675—King Philip’s War.

27. Conflict with Native Americans • Wampanoag Indians, led by their chief Metacom, attacked villages throughout New England. • Metacom was Massasoit’s son. • The colonists called Metacom King Philip. • The Indians were outfitted w/ rifles and armor. • Soon other tribes, including the Narragansett, joined the fray and the entire region fell into conflict.

28. Conflict with Native Americans • Metacom and his allies destroyed 12 towns and killed more than 600 men, women and child colonists. • In the end, Metacom was captured and beheaded. • His corpse was drawn and quartered and his severed head placed on a stake to be paraded through Plymouth Colony.

29. Conflict with Native Americans • The English colonists sold Metacom’s family and 1,000 other Indians into slavery to the Caribbean. • Many Natives died of starvation. • The pattern of English expansion caused many wars between the colonists and the natives. • It would continue for many years to come.

30. Life in New England • Puritans believed that people should worship and tend to local matters as a community. • As a result, New England became a land of tightly knit towns and villages. • The center of each village was the common-an open field where cattle grazed.

31. Life in New England • Nearby, stood the meetinghouse, where Puritans worshipped and held town meetings. • Wooden houses with steep roofs lined the town’s narrow streets.

32. Religion and Family • The Puritans took their Sabbath, or holy day of rest, very seriously. • On Sunday’s no one was allowed to play games or visit taverns to joke, talk and drink. • The law required all citizens to attend church services which lasted all day Sunday.

33. Religion and Family • During the 1600s, women sat on one side of the church and men on the other. • Blacks and Indians stood in a balcony at the back. • Children had separate pews where adults watched over them.

34. Religion and Family • The Puritans taught that children were a blessing of God. • The average family had 7-8 children. • The New Englanders lived long lives—age 70. • As a result, children grew up knowing both their parents and their grandparents.

35. Government in New England • At town meetings, settlers discussed and voted on many issues. • What roads should be built? How much should the town schoolmaster get paid? • Town meetings gave New Englanders a chance to speak their minds.

36. Government in New England • This early experience encouraged the growth of democratic ideas in New England. • Puritan laws were strict. • 15 crimes carried the death penalty. • Witchcraft was one. • 1692-Puritans in Salem village executed 20 men and women as witches.

37. New England Economy • New England was a difficult land for colonists. • The Puritans believed that daily labor honored God as much as prayer • New England’s rocky soil was poor for farming. • Settlers did learn to grow many Native American crops—corn, squash, pumpkins and beans.

38. New England Economy • Although the soil was poor, the forests were full of riches. • Settlers hunted wild turkey and deer as well as hogs they let roam free in the woods. • In the spring, colonists collected sap from sugar maple trees.

39. New England Economy • Settlers also cut down trees and floated them to sawmills near ports such as Boston, Newburyport and Portsmouth. • These cities grew into major shipbuilding centers.

40. New England Economy • Other New Englanders fished the coastal waters for cod, haddock and halibut. • Fishermen worked tirelessly, rarely taking time to eat or sleep. • Other types of fish were abundant-clams, oysters and lobsters.

41. New England Economy • In the 1600s, New Englanders also began to hunt whales. • Whales supplied oil for lamps as well as ivory and other products. • Whaling grew into a big business in the 1700s.

42. Decline of the Puritans • During the 1700s, the Puritan tradition declined. • Ministers had less influence on the way the colonies were governed. • The Puritans did stamp New England with their customs and their dream of a religious society.