(GA: SSUSH 1b, 1e)

• 1629- a land-development company was formed to colonize the territory occupied by the Pilgrims:
The Massachusetts
Bay Company
The Seal of the Mass. Bay Company

• Church of England (Anglicanism)
– Created during the Reformation as a
“middle-way” between Protestantism and
Catholicism
Thomas Cranmer (1489–1556),archbishop of Canterbury and principal author of the first two Books of Common Prayer
• Calvinism
– A Protestant form of Christian theology by John Calvin
– Argues for an omnipotent (all-powerful)
God
– God chooses who goes to “Heaven” and who goes to “Hell”
Sixteenth-century portrait of John Calvin
(1509- 1564) by an unknown artist

• Primitivism (primitive + ism)
– A consequence of the Protestant Reformation
– The idea that the earliest
(most primitive) form of
Christianity is the correct form
Mural painting from the catacomb of Commodilla, Rome. Bust of Christ, c. 4 th
Century.
Anglicanism + Calvinism + Primitivism = Puritans
“John Winthrop,” Oil on Canvas,
Unknown Artist, c. 17 th century

• Covenant Theology
– The idea that God’s relationship to humankind and the world through “covenants,” or sacred agreements
Pictured: At the conclusion of the story of Noah’s Ark, the
Rainbow was a sign of the covenant between Noah and God to not flood the whole world.
“Noah’s Sacrifice,” Painting by Daniel McLise, 1847-53.

• Mass. Bay Co. launched voyage to New
World
– Gave Puritans a chance to escape hostile religious environment of England
– Provided a clause for self-government
• The first self-governing colony in the New World
• Puritans had the freedom to construct a truly
Puritan society

“John Winthrop,” Oil on Canvas,
Unknown Artist, c. 17 th century
• Mass. Bay Co. chose John Winthrop to serve as Governor of new colony

• March 1630: Puritans head for Mass. Territory
– 11 Ships
– 300 passengers
• Puritans envision colony as a “City on a Hill”
– A model of purity for England

• John Winthrop’s Sermon
“[We have] entered into a covenant with
God…We must be knit together as one
[person]…We must delight in each other, make each others’ conditions our own, rejoice together, mourn together, labor together, and suffer together.
“We must consider that we shall be as a city upon a hill. They eyes of all people are upon us.”

Religion Shaped the Mass. Bay Colony as profoundly as Tobacco Shaped the
Virginia Colonies.

• The Puritans first year in Mass. was especially hard
– 200+ people died in the first year
– 200+ people returned to England (including
Winthrop’s son and 11 servants)
• Winthrop was an optimistic leader
– By 1640: 20,000 new settlers had come to
Mass. Bay

• Immigrants largely came as families
– Unlike Jamestown, that were solely men
• Mass. Colonies were majority women and children
• Whereas VA was guided by economics and slavery, Mass. Bay was guided by covenants of family and religion

Visible Saint = someone passing religious tests of conversion and piety

• Religion deeply shaped the social structure of
Mass. Bay Life
– Being “chosen by God” meant living a pious life
– No Easter
– No Christmas
– No Religious Weddings
– No Lace or Short Sleeves
• Mostly restrictions geared toward vilifying women
– No Gambling (cards, dice, etc.)
– No Dancing or Music
– Observance of “Sabbath” mandatory

• Authoritarian male father figures controlled each household.
• Patriarchal ministers and magistrates controlled church congregations and household patriarchs.

• Puritans attempted to separate the Church from the Government
– Preachers were not allowed to hold office
• Religious beliefs, however, permeated political decisions
– Religious dissent and/or disobedience was considered a political problem

• The Mass. Bay colony was governed by a
“General Court”
– Membership determined by gender and church membership (called “freemen”)
– Leadership by “godly” men would make a “godly” civilization
– These individuals selected leadership through representatives
• All other men were classified as “inhabitants”

• Town Meetings
– Comprised of Freemen and Inhabitants
– Was the method of making local political decisions
– Did not allow “contrary-minded” Freemen or
Inhabitants to remain
– Largely handled the distribution and acquisition of land

• Half-way Covenant
– 2 nd Generation Puritans were not led by the same religious zeal
– They were not full Church members
• Therefore, their children could not be baptized and even have the opportunity to be come church members (i.e., full citizens)
– Halfway Covenant allowed children of non-members be baptized- to become “half-way” Church members
(and thereby saved the political structure of the society)

• Revocation of Mass. Bay Charter
– 1691 Mass Bay Colony looses its charter and becomes a “Royal Colony”
– Voting rights no longer attached to church membership
– Unified all the New England colonies from
Plymouth Bay north: “Province of Mass. Bay”

Roger Williams
• 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
• 1635: found guilty of preaching “ newe & dangerous opinions” and was exiled

• 1636: Roger Williams fled to Rhode Island
 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!

Anne Hutchinson
• Intelligent, resolute, well-spoken woman
• Threatened patriarchal control
• Antinomianism
 Means “against the law”
 Carried to logical extremes
Puritan doctrine of predestination
 Holy life was no sure sign of salvation
 The truly saved didn’t need to obey the law of either God or man

• 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
• Puritan leaders banished Hutchinson
– 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 "Anne Hutchinson on Trial" by Edwin Austin
Abbey, 1901

Salem Witch Trials
• 17 th Century- Belief in demons/
Devil/ evil forces was common
• 1692: 100 individuals in Salem were accused of “witchcraft”
• 19 were executed
• Many historians believe that this was a result of social, political, and religious stresses on this community.

• Pequots: very powerful native 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.

Art Depicting the Destruction of A Pequot Village

• Only hope for Native Americans to resist white settlers was to UNITE
• Metacom (“King Philip”)
 Massasoit’s son united Indians and staged coordinated attacks on white settlements throughout
New England
 Frontier settlements forced to retreat to Boston

• The war ended in failure for the
Indians
 Metacom beheaded and drawn and quartered.
 His son and wife sold into slavery.
 Never a serious threat in New
England again!!

• Majority of Immigrants were:
– Farmers
– Tradespersons
• Carpenters
• Tailors
• Textile Workers
• Fishing Became the Chief method of Sustenance
• Indentured Servants only accounted for 20%
– Large difference from VA colonies
– No need for servants when you fish for a living

Detail of sounding board, Old Ship Church, Hingham, Massachusetts, oldest
Puritan meetinghouse in Massachusetts

• New England Settlement
• Representative Government
• Half-way Covenant
• King Philip’s War
• Salem Witch Trials