Chapter 3
Settling the Northern Colonies
1619-1700
Separatists
vs.
Puritans
Puritanism
Calvinism  Institutes of the Christian Religion
 Predestination.
• Good works could not save those predestined
for hell.
• No one could be certain of their spiritual
status.
• Gnawing doubts led to constantly seeking
signs of “conversion.”
Puritans:
 Want to totally reform [purify] the Church
of England.
 Grew impatient with the slow process of
Protestant Reformation back in England.
Separatists
Separatist Beliefs:
 Puritans who believed only “visible
saints” [those who could demonstrate in
front of their fellow Puritans their
elect status] should be admitted to
church membership.
 Because the Church of England enrolled
all the king’s subjects, Separatists felt
they had to share churches with the
“damned.”
 Therefore, they believed in a total
break from the Church of England.
James I (1603 - 1625)
•James I was the son of Mary, Queen of
Scots. He had become James VI of
Scotland after Mary lost her head, and he
became James I when he took over
England.
•He was the first to call himself "King of
Great Britain." James struggled with
Parliament - he thought he ruled by divine
right.
•There was a new English translation of
Bible - the "King James Bible.“
•He persecuted Pilgrims because they
would not recognize him as the religious
leader of the Church of England.
•So, they became a political risk as well.
Sources of Puritan Migration
The Mayflower
1620  a group of 102
people [half Separatists]
 Negotiated with the
Virginia Company to
settle in its
jurisdiction.
 Non-Separatists
included Captain Myles
Standish.
Plymouth Bay way
outside the domain of the Virginia Company.
 Became squatters without legal right to land &
specific authority to establish a govt.
•41 Male passengers on the
Mayflower formed into a
“civil body politic”, signed a
compact promising to write
and obey "just and equal
laws ... for the general good
of the colony."
•The compact brought an
element of democracy to
America and was an example
of the practice of selfgovernment in the colonies.
•All the colonies practiced
some form of selfgovernment…………
The Mayflower Compact
November 11, 1620
Written and signed before the
Pilgrims disembarked from the ship.
Not a constitution, but an agreement
to form a crude govt. and submit to
majority rule.
 Signed by 41 adult males.
Led to adult male settlers meeting in
assemblies to make laws in town
meetings.
•Difficult winter (44 out of 102 survived)….
•First year went through a “starving time”
•Developed friendly relations with Indian tribes
•Squanto befriended settlement
•Plymouth settlement survived under the
leadership of Gov. William Bradford
•First Thanksgiving
That First Year….
Winter of 1620-1621
 Only 44 out of the original 102 survived.
None chose to leave in 1621 when the
Mayflower sailed back.
Fall of 1621  First “Thanksgiving.”
 Colony survived with fur [especially
beaver], fish, and lumber.
Plymouth stayed small and economically
unimportant.
 1691  only 7,000 people
 Merged with Massachusetts Bay Colony.
William Bradford
Self-taught scholar.
Chosen governor of
Plymouth 30 times in
yearly elections.
Worried about
settlements of
non-Puritans
springing up nearby
and corrupting
Puritan society.
A Model of Christian
Charity
Pilgrims merge with
the Puritans to form
Massachusetts Bay
Colony
Charles I (1625 - 1649)
•Son of James I and ruled by divine right.
•Conflicts with Parliament = much
resistance to his policies.
•Forced to sign the Petition of Right
•no taxes without Parliament’s consent;
•civilians didn't have to house soldiers;
•no military law in peacetime
•Due process of law
•In 1629, Charles dissolved Parliament and ruled until 1640.
•Persecuted Puritans led to the Puritan Migration.
•1642–1651: English Civil Wars, "Cavaliers" (Anglicans,
royalists, nobility, Catholics) vs. the "Roundheads" (Puritans
and Middle Class).
•Charles I was beheaded in 1649-------Oliver Cromwell became
Lord Protector of the English Commonwealth.
The MA Bay Colony
1629  non-Separatists got a royal charter
to form the MA Bay Co.
 Wanted to escape attacks by conservatives in
the Church of England.
 They didn’t want to leave the Church, just
its “impurities.”
1630  1,000 people set off in 11 wellstocked ships
 Established a colony with Boston as its hub.
“Great Migration” of the 1630s
 Turmoil in England [leading to the English Civil
War] sent about 70,000 Puritans to America.
 Not all Puritans  20,000 came to MA.
Pilgrims merge with
the Puritans to form
Massachusetts Bay
Colony
Communities well
organized
Established towns
Protestant Work Ethic
Family values
John Winthrop
Well-off attorney
and manor lord in
England.
Became 1st governor
of Massachusetts.
 Believed that he
had a “calling” from
God to lead there.
 Served as governor
or deputy-governor
for 19 years.
We shall be as a
city on a hill..
•John Winthrop, founder of the Massachusetts Bay Colony
•Middle class settlers, educated and organized
•Successful as fur traders, fishermen and shipbuilders
•Ruled as “Bible Commonwealth” or theocracy
•New England Way
= Puritan covenant with God
•To establish holy society----”city upon a hill”
Covenant Theology
“Covenant of Grace”:
 between Puritan communities and
God.
“Social Covenant”:
 Between members of Puritan
communities with each other.
 Required mutual watchfulness.
 No toleration of deviance or
disorder.
 No privacy.
Patriarchy
Authoritarian male father figures
controlled each household.
Patriarchal ministers and magistrates
controlled
church
congregations
and household
patriarchs.
Building the Bay Colony
• Franchise (right to vote) extended to “freemen”
– adult Puritan men of Congregational church
(about 40% of men in the colony ~ higher
percentage than in England)
• However, in town government, all propertyowning males could vote in town meetings
– Direct democracy----self government
• Since idea of government was to enforce
God’s laws, religious leaders (e.g. John
Cotton) were very influential
Building the Bay Colony
• Clergy were barred from formal political office –
early “church/state separation”
• Puritan ideas: “calling” to God’s work, Protestant
work ethic, limited worldly pleasures, fear of hell
Trouble in Bible Colony
(Puritan Rebels)
•
•
•
Social harmony when only
Puritans, but that didn’t last
Quakers: fines, floggings,
banishments, executions
Anne Hutchinson: truly saved don’t
need to obey (“antinomianism”
the theological doctrine that by faith
and God's grace a Christian is
freed from all laws (including the
moral standards of the culture)
– Banished from Mass. Bay
– Travels to Rhode Island with her
children and helps organize this
settlement
Anne Hutchinson’s Trial
1638  she confounded the Puritan leaders
for days.
Eventually bragged that she had received
her beliefs DIRECTLY from God.
Direct revelation was even more serious
than the heresy of antinomianism. WHY??
Puritan leaders banished her  she & her
family traveled to RI and later to NY.
 She and all but one member of her family
were killed in an Indian attack in Westchester
County.
 John Winthrop saw God’s hand in this!
Puritan “Rebels”
Young, popular minister in
Salem.
 Argued for a full break
with the Anglican Church.
 Condemned MA Bay
Charter.
•
Did not give fair
compensation to Indians.
 Denied authority of civil
govt. to regulate religious
behavior.
Roger Williams
1635  found guilty of preaching new &
dangerous opinions and was exiled.
Rhode Island
1636  Roger Williams fled there.
 MA Bay Puritans had wanted to exile him to
England to prevent him from founding a
competing colony.
 Remarkable political freedom in Providence, RI
• Universal manhood suffrage  later restricted
by a property qualification.
•
Opposed to special privilege of any kind 
freedom of opportunity for all.
RI becomes known as the “Sewer” because
it is seen by the Puritans as a dumping
ground for unbelievers and religious
dissenters  More liberal than any other
colony!
New England Spreads Out
New England Spreads Out
• 1635: Hartford (Conn.) founded by
Dutch/English settlers. Some Puritans moved
westward to Connecticut with Rev. Thomas
Hooker
• 1639: Fundamental Orders – modern
constitution established democratic government
• 1641: New Hampshire taken over by overly
aggressive Bay Colony
• 1679: Annoyed by greed of Bay Colony, king
arbitrarily separates it, becomes royal colony
Characteristics of New England
Settlements
Low mortality  average life
expectancy was 70 years of age.
Many extended families.
Average 6 children per family.
Average age at marriage:
 Women – 22 years old
 Men – 27 years old.
New England
1.
good harbors
2.
small farms and towns
3.
trade centered around
harbors
4.
hilly, forested and shallow
soil
5.
cities: Boston
• 15,000 – 1750
6.
fishing, lumber
and trapping
7.
Family, religion and
community
Massachusetts
New Hampshire
Rhode Island
Connecticut
Population of the New England
Colonies
Puritans vs. Native Americans
Indians especially weak in New England 
epidemics wiped out ¾ of the native popul.
Wampanoags [near Plymouth] befriended
the settlers.
 Cooperation between the two
helped by Squanto.
1621  Chief Massasoit signed
treaty with the settlers.
 Autumn, 1621  both groups
celebrated the First Thanksgiving.
The Pequot Wars: 1636-1637
Pequots  very
powerful tribe
in CT river valley.
1637  Pequot
War
 Whites, with
Narragansett
Indian allies,
attacked Pequot
village on Mystic
River.
 Whites set fire
to homes & shot fleeing survivors!
 Pequot tribe virtually annihilated an uneasy
peace lasted for 40 years.
King Philip’s War (1675-1676}
Only hope for Native
Americans to resist
white settlers was to
UNITE.
Metacom [King Philip to
white settlers]
 Massasoit’s son united
Indians and staged
coordinated attacks
on white settlements throughout New England.
 Frontier settlements forced to retreat to
Boston.
Massasoit’s son,
Metacom (King
Phillip) formed Indian
alliance – attacked
throughout New
England, especially
frontier
English towns were
attacked and burned unknown numbers of
Indians died
1676: War ended,
Metacom executed,
lasting defeat for
Indians
•Charles II was the son of
Charles I.
•Because his father had been
killed, Charles II had the ravens
caged so they couldn't leave.
•He was a "Merry Monarch," a
very popular king.
•Charles II encouraged religious
toleration.
Charles II
(1660 - 1685)
•The “Restoration Colonies”
were settled during his reign.
Goal:
• Bring colonies under
England’s rule
• Defend colonies from French
& Indians
• Stop colonial smuggling
Sir Edmund Andros, King’s
Representative restricted
colonies:
• Town meetings, the press, &
schools
• Revoked land titles
• Taxed without consent of the
governed
Forced by King James I
All NE Colonies, NJ & NY
Collapses after Glorious
Revolution
Colony/Date
Person Responsible
Massachusetts
William Bradford
•1621—Pilgrims
Plymouth Colony
•1630---Puritans
Mass. Bay Colony
•Pilgrims
John Winthrop
•Puritans
•Plymouth merges
with Mass. 1691
Rhode Island
Roger Williams
•1644
•Formed from Mass.
•Exiled from Mass.
Anne Hutchison
•Exiled from Mass.
Connecticut
•1662
•Formed from Mass.
Rev. Thomas
Hooker
New Hampshire
John Mason
Sir Ferdinando
Gorges
•1679
•Formed from Mass.
Why Founded
Governed/Owner
Religious freedom,
avoid religious
persecution, to start
a “city upon a hill”,
and to begin a new
life.
Mayflower Compact
Theocracy
General Court
Royal Colony
•Dissatisfied with
Mass. Bay Colony
•Religious freedom
•Consent of the
governed
•Self-governing
colony
Religious freedom,
exploring the frontier
and settling new
areas.
Part of Mass. Bay
Colony and set up for
greater opportunity in
frontier---trade goods,
fur, fishing & lumber
industry
Fundamental Orders
of Connecticut
Self-governing
colony
Royal Colony
•James II was Charles' son, a
Catholic.
•He had a Protestant daughter,
Mary, and a Catholic son.
•Parliament didn't want his son
taking over, so they gave the
crown to Mary and her husband,
William III of Orange.
James II
(1685 - 1688)
•This was known as the
"Glorious Revolution."
(Revolution because they
overthrew the last Catholic
monarch, Glorious because
no one died.)
• Parliament put more
restrictions on the
monarch.
•The king couldn't make or
suspend laws, have an
army during peacetime,
and the king couldn't
interfere with freedom of
speech in Parliament.
•English Bill of Rights
Chart 13a
Colony/Date
Person Responsible
New Netherland
In1609--Dutch
Henry Hudson for
Netherlands
New York—1664
England
Duke of York of
England names it
New York
New Jersey---1702
Pennsylvania—1681
Indian land---Dutch
and Swedish gift
from King Charles II
to brother James--gives to his friends
Lord John Berkeley
& Sir George
Carteret
William Penn
Swedes
Delaware--1682
Maryland--1634
Lord Baltimore
Why Founded
Governed/Owner
English fleet takes
New Amsterdam from
Dutch in 1664 and
becomes New York
City---Good harbor for
trade
New Netherlands
was an autocracy
1689---English Bill of
Rights
Representative Govt
Royal Colony
Attract new settlers
for Dutch and
Swedish colonists
Royal Colony
Penn founded for
religious freedom for
the Quakers---Holy
Experiment—invited
all people
Representative govt
Religious toleration—
those who believed in
Christ---allowed
persecuted Catholics
to settle in Maryland
Representative govt
Royal Colony
Proprietary Colony
Old Netherlanders at
New Netherlands
1600s  Golden Age of Dutch
history.
 Major commercial and naval power.
 Challenging England on the seas.
 3 major Anglo-Dutch Wars
 Major colonial power [mainly in the
East Indies].
New Netherland (New
York)
• 1609: Henry Hudson sailing for Dutch East India
Company sails into Hudson river looking for
passage through continent ~ claims area for Dutch
• 1623-24: Dutch West India Company establishes
New Netherland
• Goal: quick-profit fur trade
• “Bought” Manhattan from Indians
• Company town: no religious tolerance or free
speech, harsh governors
Henry Hudson’s Voyages
New Netherland
• Colony had aristocratic influence (a
member of a ruling class or of the
nobility) with large feudal estates
(“patroonships” – one larger than
Rhode Island)
• Very diverse population: in 1640s
missionary observed 18 languages
New Netherlands
New Netherlands  founded in
the Hudson River area (16231624)
 Established by Dutch West India
Company for quick-profit fur trade.
 Company wouldn’t pay much attention
to the colony.
 Manhattan [New Amsterdam]
 Purchased by Company for pennies
per (22,000) acre.
New Amsterdam Harbor, 1639
Company town
run in interests
of the
stockholders.
No interest in
religious
toleration, free
speech, or democracy.
Governors appointed by the Company were
autocratic.
Religious dissenters against Dutch Reformed
Church [including Quakers] were persecuted.
Local assembly with limited power to make laws
established after repeated protests by colonists.
New Amsterdam, 1660
Characteristics of New Amsterdam:
 Aristocratic  patroonships [feudal estates
granted to promoters who would settle 50
people on them].
 Cosmopolitan  diverse population with many
different languages.
New York
Manors &
Land Grants
Patroonships
similar to the fedual
system
New
Netherland&
New Sweden
Swedes in New Netherlands
Mid-1600s  Sweden in Golden Age
settled small, under-funded colony
[called “New Sweden”] near New
Netherland.
1655  Dutch under
director-general
Peter Stuyvesant
attack New Sweden.
 Main fort fell after
bloodless siege.
 New Sweden absorbed
into New Netherland.
Dutch Residue in New York
Early 20c Dutch Revival
Building in NYC.
New York
City
seal.
Names  Harlem, Brooklyn
Architecture  gambrel roof
Customs  Easter eggs, Santa Claus, waffles,
bowling, sleighing, skating, kolf [golf].
Dutch Conflicts
• Dutch cruelties to Indians brought
retaliatory massacres – Dutch built
wall (Wall Street)
• Connecticut rejected Dutch settlers
Dutch in New York
An Angry Peter Stuyvesant
•
•
•
Duke of York
English immigration to New Netherland
resulted in 1/2 total population English regarded Dutch as intruders
Charles II brazenly granted area to his
brother (Duke of York)
English squadron comes, New
Netherland leader, Peter Stuyvesant,
governor of New York had no defense;
surrendered, renamed New York
• Mid-1600s: religious
dissenters named
Quakers arose in
England
• Hated by authorities
because they refused
to pay taxes to Church
of England, refused to
take oaths, refused
military service
Urban Population Growth
1650 - 1775
Penn’s
family
owed a large debt
from the British
Crown. Given a
land grant in 1681.
Pennsylvania
Penn
governs the colony, unusual for a proprietor
Advertised in Europe, promising land & freedoms
Frame of Government (guaranteed elected assembly),
Charter of Liberties (freedom of worship, open
immigration), fair treatment of Native Americans
Penn, more than any other
an example may be
individual founder or That
colonist,
set up vessel
to the nations as ... a
proved to be the chosen
holy experiment.
through which the stream
of
demand for respect for individual
rights was to flow so richlyWilliam
into Penn
our American reservoir of precious
ideals.
All men have a natural and infeasible right to worship
Almighty God according to the dictates of their own
consciences; no man can of right be compelled to attend,
erect, or support any place of worship, or to maintain any
ministry against his consent; no human authority can, in
any case whatever, control or interfere with the rights of
conscience, and no preference shall ever be given by law to
any religious establishment or modes of worship.
- William Penn, Declaration of Rights
Pennsylvania &
Neighbors
• Penn bought land from
Indians
~ treatment of
them so fair
that Quakers
went to them
unarmed and even employed Indians as
babysitters
• However, as non-Quaker immigrants came,
they were less tolerant of Indians (Scots-Irish)
• Liberal features: elected assembly, no taxsupported church, freedom of worship, only 2
capital crimes
New Jersey
Lord John Berkeley
• James gave 2 friends, Lord John Berkeley
and Sir George Carteret, the section of New
York located between the Hudson River and
Delaware Bay in 1664
– He felt the territory of New York was too
large to administer
• Both proprietors allowed religious freedom
and an assembly in addition to giving
generous land offers to attract settlers
Delaware
William Penn
• Penn granted the lower 3 counties of
Pennsylvania their own assembly
• Governor was the same as
Pennsylvania’s until the American
Revolution
Middle Colonies
1.
River systems
2.
Valleys – fertile soil
3.
."bread basket"
large farms surplus food
4.
diverse population
5.
manufacturing
6.
iron mines, glass,
shipyards, and
paper
7.
Cities: New York
and Philadelphia
New York
Pennsylvania
New Jersey
Delaware
New York
Settling the Middle
[or “Restoration”] Colonies
New Netherlands Becomes a British Royal
Colony
Charles II granted New Netherland’s land
to his brother, the Duke of York, [before
he controlled the area!]
1664  English soldiers arrived.
 Dutch had little ammunition and poor
defenses.
 Stuyvesant forced to surrender without
firing a shot.
Renamed “New York”
 England gained strategic harbor between
her northern & southern colonies.
 England now controlled the Atlantic coast!
Duke of York’s Original Charter
Pennsylvania
The Quakers
Called Quakers because they “quaked” during
intense religious practices.
They offended religious & secular leaders in
England.
 Refused to pay taxes to support the Church
of England.
 They met without paid clergy
 Believed all were children of God refused
to treat the upper classes with deference.
 Keep hats on.
 Addressed them as commoners  ”thees”/“thous.”
 Wouldn’t take oaths.
 Pacifists.
William Penn
Aristocratic Englishman.
1660 – attracted to
the Quaker faith.
Embraced Quakerism
after military service.
1681  he received a
grant from king to
establish a colony.
 This settled a debt the king owed his father.
 Named Pennsylvania [“Penn’s Woodland”].
He sent out paid agents and advertised for
settlers  his pamphlets were pretty honest.
 Liberal land policy attracted many immigrants.
Penn & Native Americans
Bought [didn’t simply take]
land from Indians.
Quakers went among the
Indians unarmed.
BUT…….. non-Quaker
Europeans flooded PA
 Treated native peoples poorly.
 This undermined the actions
of the Quakers!
Government of Pennsylvania
Representative assembly elected by
landowners.
No tax-supported church.
Freedom of worship guaranteed to all.
Forced to deny right to vote & hold
office to Catholics & Jews by English
govt.
Death penalty only for treason &
murder.
 Compared to 200 capital crimes in
England!
Pennsylvanian Society
Attracted many different people
 Religious misfits from other colonies.
 Many different ethnic groups.
No provision for military defense.
No restrictions on immigration.
No slavery!!
“Blue Laws” [sumptuary laws]  against
stage plays, cards, dice, excessive
hilarity, etc.
A society that gave its citizens economic
opportunity, civil liberty, & religious freedom!!
New Jersey
New Jersey — PA’s Neighbor
1664  aristocratic
proprietors rcvd. the
area from the Duke of
York.
Many New Englanders
[because of worn out
soil] moved to NJ.
 1674  West NJ sold
to Quakers.
 East NJ eventually
acquired by Quakers.
1702  E & W NJ
combined into NJ and
created one colony.
Delaware
Delaware — PA’s Neighbor
Named after Lord De
La Warr [harsh
military governor of
VA in 1610].
Closely associated with
Penn’s colony.
1703  granted its
own assembly.
Remained under the
control of PA until the
American Revolution.