Chapter 3
Settling the Northern Colonies
1619-1700
A Little Background
• Henry VIII broke away from the Catholic
Church in the 1530’s - made himself the
head of the Church of England which
stimulated Puritanism.
• Puritans: English religious reformers who
wanted a total purification of English
Christianity – to de-catholicize the Church
of England (eliminate rituals and creeds)
• A subgroup of devout Puritans formed
called Separatists. They vowed to break
away from the Church of England.
James I Encourages the Enclosure Movement
• Landlords were “enclosing” croplands for
sheep grazing, forcing many small farmers
into precarious tenancy or off the land
altogether.
• Also known as the enclosure movement
• Many of these people decided to migrate to
North America
Pilgrims
• The “Separatists,” also known as Pilgrims,
were hated by James I because he believed
they might defy his political authority.
• In 1608, many Separatists moved to
Holland to escape persecution.
• After a while, they became concerned with
the “Dutchification” of their children.
• They negotiated with the Virginia Company
to settle in the “New World.”
Pilgrims
• Intended to sail in the Mayflower to the Virginia
area but their ship went off course and arrived
on the coast of New England in 1620.
• Surveyed the land, then settled at Plymouth
Rock on Plymouth Bay as squatters.
• 102 settlers – less than half were Puritan
Separatists.
Mayflower Compact
• Document of laws to form a simple
government
• Wanted to advance the Christian Faith
• Promised all due submission and obedience
• Submit to the will of the majority.
• A promising step toward genuine selfgovernment (Self-Rule). Adult male settlers
met to make their own laws.
Colony of Plymouth
1st winter (1620-21) was harsh: of the 102 that
came only 44 survived.
• Set the tone for religious freedom, unlike
England
• William Bradford: governor elected 30
times.
• Merged with the Massachusetts Bay
Colony.
Massachusetts Bay Colony
• 1630 – Eleven ships with 1,000 settlers
started the new colony.
• 1630s: “Great Migration” about 70,000
refugees left England – 20,000 Puritans
went to Massachusetts, and about 48,000 to
the West Indies.
• More Puritans came to the Caribbean than
to all of Massachusetts.
• John Winthrop became the first governor
The Great Migration
Massachusetts Bay Colony (Cont.)
• Puritans believed in wealth through hard
work
• Maintained simple pleasures and repressed
certain instincts
• Important industries: fur trading, fishing,
and ship building.
John Winthrop: Governor
• A model of Christian Charity
• Must accept the idea of
joining in a covenant
with God
“We shall be as a city upon
a hill, the eyes of the people
are upon us.”
• Severe winter = 30% survived
Puritan Government
• Made up of male, Puritan church members
• Only those who were church members were
eligible to vote
• Government made up of: Governor,
Governor’s Council and a representative
assembly called the General Court.
• Town meetings – only male property owners
• Believed the purpose of government was to
enforce God’s laws as found in the Bible.
Puritan Covenant with God
Puritan belief: Make a covenant with God to
follow His commands.
Laws about Young People
• The town government shall take any child who is
delinquent and bad and lives without working, and
put him in a house of correction.
• A young person cannot move out of town unless
he can show the town authorities that he has a job
and a place to live in the new town.
Laws about Young People
 The town authorities shall take any children of
parents who are ill and unable to care for them and
put them to work.
 If a child of 16 or older is rebellious and stubborn
and lives in evil ways and will not obey his
parents, his father and mother may bring him to
court and testify of this and…such a son shall
be put to death!
Dissenting Puritans who flouted
authority had to…
• Pay fines
• Receive floggings
• Be Banished
Anne Hutchinson
• Banished for questioning
moral authority
• “A woman of haughty and
fierce courage, of a nimble
wit and active spirit”
• Hutchinson said: “The truly
saved need not bother to obey the
laws of God or man.”
Roger Williams and Rhode Island
• Found guilty of Heresy, he was Banished
in 1636.
• Fled to Rhode Island and established a
colony: Little Rhody
• Some considered it “The Sewer” because
it had exiles and malcontents.
• It started out as a squatter colony, but
secured a charter from Parliament in
1644.
• Established complete freedom of
religion.
• Simple manhood suffrage (later had a
property qualification)
Two Different Philosophies
• The Native Americans believed that the
land should be shared.
– Use land, but not own land
• English settlers believed in ownership of
land
– Believed Indians were wasting the land.
• Led to many Indian conflicts
Fighting Breaks Out
Metacom (King Philip)
King Philip’s War 1675-1676
•Metacom (Massasoit’s son) was able to
unite many Native tribes to fight against
the settlers.
•He was called King Philip by the
Engish.
•Native Americans were successful in
driving the settlers back into their larger
towns.
•Metacom was killed and beheaded, his
head was carried on a pike and
displayed for years at Plymouth.
•The war inflicted a lasting defeat on
the Native Americans in New England.
Native Americans
• In New England Native Americans were never
united again
• Treated as inferiors
• Heathens
• Many succumbed to diseases such as diphtheria,
measles, chicken pox, mumps, whooping cough,
and tuberculosis brought by the Europeans
• Numbers greatly reduced
Hudson paid $25 for Manhattan
New Amsterdam/New York
New Netherlands (Later New York)
• English explorer Henry Hudson sailed for
the Dutch East India Company
• Established for a quick profit by trading fur
• New Amsterdam later becomes New York
City.
• Patroonships: feudal estates (land) for
promoters who agree to settle 50 people on
them.
• Peter Stuyvesant – governor kicked out the
Swedes from the Delaware
Peter Stuyvesant
Loss of New Amsterdam
• Anglo-Dutch Wars
• 1644 - Charles II gave the New Amsterdam
area to his brother, the Duke of York
• 1664 - English squadron appeared in New
Amsterdam.
• Peter Stuyvesant forced to surrender
without a shot being fired.
• Name changed to New York.
New York Harbor, 1639
King James II wanted to
impose royal authority
King James II (Catholic)
• Wanted more authority over New England
colonies so he dissolved the governments in
1686 and created The Dominion of New
England
• On June 3, 1686, King James II of England
decreed the creation of the Dominion as a
measure to enforce the Navigation Acts and
to coordinate the mutual defense of the
colonies against French and Indian attacks.
Dominion of New England 1686
• Created by royal authority and included all New
England colonies
• Was created by the English government to
streamline the administration of its colonies
• Was designed to bolster colonial defense
• Eventually included New York and east and west
New Jersey
• To help administer the Navigation Laws – tied
American trade with countries not ruled by the
English. (control on trade)
• Smuggling became more common.
Sir Edmond Andros led the Dominion
of New England from Boston
Why was Sir Edmund Andros hated?
• He enforced Navigation
Laws which restricted
colonial trade.
• He revoked land titles.
• Suppressed smuggling.
• Taxed the people without
representation.
• Stopped town meetings.
James II Alienates Parliament
Glorious Revolution
•Bloodless take-over of English Government
-James II was dethroned and the Dutch William
III and his wife Mary were enthroned. Mary was
daughter of James II .
William and Mary dissolved the Dominion
of New England
and… relax royal grip on colonial trade
William of Orange
…and Mary II
William Penn
The “Holy Experiment”
William Penn Receiving Grant
from Charles II
Royal Land Grant to Penn
Pennsylvania
• In 1681, Charles II gave land as
payment to William Penn
• Refugee for persecuted people
• Society of Friends = Quakers
• Holy Experiment
• Land purchased, not
stolen
Society of Friends
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King glad to get rid of because Quakers
wouldn’t join the military
Detested war or violence
Advocates of passive resistance
Pennsylvania (Penn’s Woodland)
Welcomed “substantial” (wealthy) citizens
and had liberal land policy – attracted
immigrants.
No slavery
Benevolent towards Indians
Quaker Meeting
Thanksgiving?
Connecticut
Thomas Hooker established colony whose
government was ruled by the
• Fundamental Orders –
– Any white man owning property could vote
– Established a regime democratically elected
controlled by “substantial” citizens”
Massachusetts Bay Colony
• A City upon a Hill
A utopian alternative
to Old England
Education Encouraged
• Established congregations
• Old Deluder Satan Act of 1647
– Every town with 50 or more
households must appoint someone to
teach the children
– Teach to read the Bible