Bellwork
• Who were the Pilgrims and why did they come
to America?
• Did other groups come to America for the
same reason?
American History
Section 5, Unit 1
New England Colonies
Objectives
• Explain why the Pilgrims came to America and
their relation to other religious groups
• Identify how the Mayflower Contract set a
precedence for the modern United States
• Identify the problems afflicting the
Massachusetts Bay Colony
• Discuss the culture of New England lifeincluding growing discontent
• Map where the colonies were settled.
Quick Review
• What colony was formed in Virginia?
• How did the colonists there interact with the
Natives?
• What was the effect of the Protestant
Reformation and the Spanish Armada on the
colonization of America?
Section 5
• We are now in a new section of American
history and we will be covering English
colonies along the eastern seaboard and
discuss westward expansion.
Religious Freedom
• The prospect of religious freedom drew many
English to North America.
– Not everyone came for religious reasons, however,
as poverty plagued 17th century England and
drove many to seek a better life somewhere else.
– Religion, however, would still prove to be a vital
part of life for New England colonists and they
would organize their communities based on
shared religious beliefs.
Pilgrims
• In 1620, the men and
women of the Mayflower
reached Cape Cod Bay,
near what is now
Provincetown, Mass. and
founded the Plymouth
Colony.
• Known as the Pilgrims,
they had left England
because of religious
conflict. They saw
themselves as wanderers
and, like the pilgrims of
the Bible, they searched
for a place to worship
God in their own way.
Background: Protestant Reformation
• When Henry VIII broke away from the Catholic
Church in 1534, he created several conflicts in
religious doctrine in England.
• Henry’s motives were personal- he simply
wanted to divorce his wife.
– However, in the formation of the Church of
England, he had made it largely Catholic in it’s
design (it still had Catholic customs and practices).
Separatists
• The Church of England was not enough for
some Protestants, who longed for a truly
Protestant church.
• The Pilgrims were Separatists– people who
had broken away from the Church of England.
– For example, Separatists objected to the clergy’s
elaborate robes, kneeling, and some extravagant
practices that the Church of England engaged in.
Many Separatists would have believed that those
practices were “too Catholic” or went against the
idea that those who run the church be “pure of
mind.”
Puritans
• Similarly to the Pilgrims, the Puritans also
opposed the Church of England, but rather
than leave, they wanted to “purify” the
Church of England of all Catholic rituals and
traditions.
– Puritans would not have referred to themselves as
“Puritan”, but in some cases as “the godly”.
– The word “Puritan” would have been used as a
derogatory word to describe them as “extremist”.
We will discuss the Puritans later.
Separatists (cont.)
• Some Separatists, including the Pilgrims, left England
for the more religiously tolerant Netherlands after the
English crown threated them harm.
• However, the Netherlands were not much better for
the Pilgrims, who were forced into low-paid, unskilled
work and they feared losing control of their children
who were (1) adopting Dutch ways and (2) being led
“by evil examples into extravagant and dangerous
courses, getting the reins off their necks and departing
from their parents”.
– Seeking a better place, the Pilgrims obtained permission to
settle in Virginia.
Plymouth Colony
• The Pilgrims never
reached Virginia. Their
ship was blown off course
and instead landed in the
Massachusetts Cape Cod
Bay. Rather than risk
traveling further, they
decided to stay.
• Because Cape Cod Bay
was outside the charter
of the London Company,
the Mayflower’s
passengers had no legal
government.
Mayflower Compact
• In an effort to maintain order, Pilgrim leaders drew
up an agreement and asked all men to sign it.
• This document, the Mayflower Compact, established
a self-governing colony based on the majority rule of
male church members.
• The Mayflower Compact was important because it
created a precedent for local governments to form in
the United States at the consent of the governed.
Mayflower Compact
In the name of God, Amen. We, whose names are underwritten, the loyal
subjects of our dread Sovereign Lord King James, by the Grace of God, of
Great Britain, France, and Ireland, King, defender of the Faith, etc.
Having undertaken, for the Glory of God, and advancements of the
Christian faith and honor of our King and Country, a voyage to plant the first
colony in the Northern parts of Virginia, do by these presents, solemnly and
mutually, in the presence of God, and one another, covenant and combine
ourselves together into a civil body politic; for our better ordering, and
preservation and furtherance of the ends aforesaid; and by virtue hereof to
enact, constitute, and frame, such just and equal laws, ordinances, acts,
constitutions, and offices, from time to time, as shall be thought most meet
and convenient for the general good of the colony; unto which we promise
all due submission and obedience.
In witness whereof we have hereunto subscribed our names at Cape Cod
the 11th of November, in the year of the reign of our Sovereign Lord King
James, of England, France, and Ireland, the eighteenth, and of Scotland the
fifty-fourth, 1620
William Bradford
• Once the compact was
signed, the colonists
elected William Bradford
as their governor and
turned to the challenge of
surviving the winter.
• The winter proved to be
too much for many
colonists, and half of the
colony died after the first
winter.
Native Americans
• Like Jamestown,
Plymouth owed its’
survival to the Native
Americans.
• The settlers received
much help from Squanto,
a member of the Patuxet
band of Wampanoags
(wam-puh-no-ags). He
taught them how to fish,
and how to plant corn.
– Squanto also spoke English
due to having been
kidnapped in 1614 and
returned in 1619.
Thanksgiving
• The Pilgrims viewed Squanto as “a special
instrument sent of God for their good beyond
their expectation”, according to Bradford.
• With Squanto’s aid, autumn brought a bountiful
harvest.
• The Pilgrims invited the Indians to a harvest
feast– the first Thanksgiving.
– This Thanksgiving was most likely a religious service
initially and then would become a civil tradition over
time.
Question
• So far, what are the differences and
similarities between Jamestown and Plymouth
in relation to:
– How many people survived the first years
– Who helped them survive
– Treatment of Natives
– Why they settled in America
The Puritans
• Unlike the Pilgrims, the Puritans remained in
England and did not leave the Church of
England.
• They hoped to reform the church from within.
– However, they were viewed as dissenters and a
danger to the church.
James I
• The crown opposed
reform. James I feared
that Puritan demands
would lead to political
upheaval.
• He declared that
religious dissent was as
dangerous as dealing
with the devil.
Charles I
• When King James died,
his son Charles I was
even more determined
to stop dissent and
suppress Protestant
ministers and practices.
• He did engage in
prosecuting and
horribly punishing those
who opposed him and
the Church.
Great Migration
• To escape religious persecution and economic
ruin, Puritans decided to move to the
colonies.
• Beginning in 1630, some 60,000 people left
England for the Americas, called the Great
Migration.
– Most went to the West Indies, but some 10,00020,000 settled in Massachusetts.
Oliver Cromwell
• However, most Puritans did
not leave England. In 1642,
a conflict between the
Protestants and Royalists
(those who supported King
Charles I), erupted into the
English Civil War.
• Led by Oliver Cromwell, the
Puritans won and during
Cromwells rule (1653-1658),
Puritan emigration almost
ceased.
Massachusetts Bay Colony
• The year before the Puritan exodus began, a
group of Puritans secured a royal charter for
the Massachusetts Bay Colony, allowing them
to establish a colony.
• In 1630, the company’s fleet of 11 ships
carried 1,000 settlers to Massachusetts.
• These Puritans did not wish to cut all ties with
England or the Church of England.
Covenant
• The colonists, lead by John Withrop, believed
that they were to find a new home that God
would want them to find.
• They believed that they formed a covenant, or
contract, with God to build a society based on
the Scriptures and a covenant with one
another to “walk together in all His ways”.
Commonwealth
• The charter allowed
Winthrop and other
stockholders to govern
the colony however
they wished, so long as
they did not violate
English law.
• The Puritans’ had a plan
for governing their
communities.
John Winthrop
“City Upon a Hill”-- 1630
• Inspired by a sense of mission, the Puritans
hoped to provide other Christians with an
example of a model community.
• In 1630, John Winthrop gave the sermon,
“City upon a Hill”, which revealed the belief
that the Puritans believed they were there by
God’s will to show others how to live a model
life.
“City Upon a Hill”
• Now the onely way to avoyde this shipwracke and to provide for our posterity is
to followe the Counsell of Micah, to doe Justly, to love mercy, to walke humbly
with our God, for this end, wee must be knitt together in this worke as one man,
wee must entertaine each other in brotherly Affeccion, wee must be willing to
abridge our selves of our superfluities, for the supply of others necessities, wee
must uphold a familiar Commerce together in all meekenes, gentlenes, patience
and liberallity, wee must delight in eache other, make others Condicions our
owne rejoyce together, mourne together, labour, and suffer together, allwayes
haveing before our eyes our Commission and Community in the worke, our
Community as members of the same body, soe shall wee keepe the unitie of the
spirit in the bond of peace, the Lord will be our God and delight to dwell among
us, as his owne people and will commaund a blessing upon us in all our wayes,
soe that wee shall see much more of his wisdome power goodnes and truthe
then formerly wee have beene acquainted with, wee shall finde that the God of
Israell is among us, when tenn of us shall be able to resist a thousand of our
enemies, when hee shall make us a prayse and glory, that men shall say of
succeeding plantacions: the lord make it like that of New England: for wee must
Consider that wee shall be as a Citty upon a Hill, the eies of all people are uppon
us;
Impact of the Sermon
• John Winthrop’s sermon (we did not read the
full version) served several purposes:
– To tell his people why they were there
– Describe their community
– Explain their covenant with God (and how they
will go about fulfilling that Covenant).
Impact of the Sermon
• However, “City Upon a
Hill” had an unintended
consequence: creating
the idea of American
Exceptionalism.
• The belief that America
is “God’s country” and
that America is (or
should be) an
exceptional nation.
Fulfilling Promises
• With his sermon in place, the congregation
had to fulfill their covenant with God.
• To do this, the Puritans established their
colony as a Bible commonwealth, in which
everyone is expected to work together for
the common good as guided by both English
law and the Bible.
– “…Commission and Community in the worke, our Community
as members of the same body, soe shall wee keepe the unitie
of the spirit in the bond of peace…”– John Winthrop’s Sermon
Voting rights
• The stock-holders granted voting rights to all
freemen– adult men who were church
members and property owners.
• The freemen in each town then elected
representatives to the General Court–
legislature that passes laws for the colony.
New England Way
• The Puritan commonwealth was based on
cooperation between church and state. The
colonists referred to this as the New England
Way.
– To symbolize this unity between the two, Puritans
even held their meetings and church services in
the same building- the meetinghouse.
Meetinghouse
• A Puritan meeting house
symbolized the unity
between government and
religion.
– The building was plain and
simple and sermons were
held on Sundays and on
important occasions.
– The congregation would meet
to discuss the meaning of
Biblical text and apply the
lesson to their spiritual and
earthly lives.
– Puritans believed that
everyone in the community
had to live a moral life or God
would punish them.
New England Way
• The New England Way depended on educated
people who could understand the scriptures.
• The General Court required parents to teach
their children to read and, by 1647, required
communities to maintain schools.
– To the Puritans, education was a way to escape
being deluded or tricked by Satan.
New England Life
• By the time Massachusetts Bay Colony created
schools, it had more than 20,000 settlers. The
men who immigrated were primarily educated
artisans or farmers. Three out of four people
had paid their way into the colony.
Differences from Jamestown
• Unlike the Jamestown colonists, the Puritans
brought with them their families.
• They believed that orderly families to be
essential to a stable society.
– Women were expected to defer to their fathers or
husbands in most aspects of life.
– Single people had to live with a family and
children could be removed from “disorderly”
families.
• Town officials inspect families on a regular basis so that
disorders may be prevented and “ill weeds” be nipped.
Environment
• New England’s environment also encouraged
growth of large families: food was plentiful
and the cold climate prevented diseases that
nearly wiped out Jamestown.
• As a result of the environment, 80% of New
England’s children lived to adulthood.
• Some families were so large that having
hundreds of descendants was not entirely
unusual.
• Married in their early 20s,
most women had at least
six children and families
of 9 or more were
common.
– Most women would have
children into their 40s.
• As well, women usually
did not work in the fields.
Instead, they took on
many other tasks
including making: soap,
candles, yarn, clothes,
butter, and cheese.
– Women could sell their
surplus in town to help
support their families.
Women
Labor and Economy
• New Englanders, having such large families,
did not need indentured servants like the
colonies in Virginia, who mostly only had
young single men.
• However, due to the long winters and poor
soil, New England did not engage in much
trade with outside entities.
Labor and the Economy
• To pay for supplies and
luxury items from
England, some New
Englanders turned to
fishing, trade, and
business.
• They distilled rum and
built ships and sold fish,
grain, meat, naval stores
(turpentine, pitch, and
rosin) and lumber to
England.
– New England, over time,
became quite prosperous
by selling shipping
services.
Discontent Grows
• However, despite a strong economy,
discontent soon began to grow in the colonies.
• As the Massachusetts Bay Colony prospered
and grew, some colonists began new
settlements.
– This was mostly due to religious conflict.
Discontent grows
• Thomas Hooker and his
congregation left
Massachusetts because
they wanted more
farmland. His group
moved southwest,
establishing a colony in
the Connecticut Valley.
• In 1639, Hooker’s settlers
adopted the Fundamental
Orders of Connecticut,
which may have been the
first written constitution
of the Colonies.
Discontent Grows
• Other colonists left
Massachusetts Bay
Colony because they
questioned Puritan
ways.
• Roger Williams (to the
right) and Anne
Hutchinson were some
of those people.
Roger Williams
• Roger Williams was a
Puritan minister who
believed in strict
separation of church
and state. He also
challenged the king’s
right to give Native
American land to
English colonists.
Roger Williams
• His beliefs angered Puritan leaders, so him and his
colonists moved south and purchased land from
the Narragansets (a Native group) and established
the settlement of Providence, Rhode Island (after
securing a charter to form the colony).
• His new settlement promoted religious
freedom and attracted those who also held
unpopular beliefs.
Anne Hutchinson
• Hutchinson- born in
Massachusetts Bay
Colony- overtime began
to express ideas to a
small following of
women and wealthy
merchants that were
critical of the clergy’s
teachings.
Anne Hutchinson (cont.)
– In these meetings, Hutchinson often argued that
(1) doing good did not mean that one would
receive the grace of God, and (2) that ones soul is
not tied to their outward behavior.
– This directly defied Puritan beliefs, which pushed
for proper behavior and the believe that souls
were predetermined to be saved, but could
possibly earn salvation through good deeds.
Anne Hutchinson (cont.)
• In 1637, Hutchinson was
charged with weakening
the authority of the
church.
– The fact that she was a
woman also added to
people’s displeasure.
• The Puritans viewed her
as dangerous and even
Governor Winthrop
declared that she is “not
tolerable”.
• Her claims were viewed
even more dangerous
when she claimed that
her claims were from
God.
Anne Hutchinson (cont.)
• To the Puritans, Hutchinson’s claims made it
seem as if the individual was greater than the
community and in 1638, she was banished to
Providence.
• When she died in an Native attack in 1643, the
Puritan ministers declared her death a “just
vengeance of God”.
Legacy
• Anne Hutchinson impacted New England in
several ways:
1. She stepped beyond the gender role considered
appropriate for women--- speaking her mind in a
male-dominated society.
2. She taught that people could sin freely without
endangering their salvation, which opposed the
Puritan belief system.
3. She argued against the authority of ministers
and opposed the intolerance of Puritans in
regards to other religious beliefs.
Other Women
• Hutchinson was not the only woman whose
beliefs put her at odds with the Puritan
church.
• For example, in 1643, Deborah Moody and her
followers left Massachusetts because of
disagreements over religion. They left and
received permission to form a new colony on
Long Island.
Problems continue
• Issues regarding religion would continue for
many years in the New England areas.
• Between religious upheaval, conflict over
gender roles, economic issues that would arise
overtime, and early issues in the colonies
(such as disease and starvation) would stir
fears in Puritan communities.
Problems continue
• Such fears would
continue to create
schisms in the
community and even
cause widespread
panic and hysteria in
communities, such as
the Salem Witch
Trials.
Review Objectives
• Explain why the Pilgrims came to America and
their relation to other religious groups
• Identify how the Mayflower Contract set a
precedence for the modern United States
• Identify the problems afflicting the
Massachusetts Bay Colony
• Discuss the culture of New England lifeincluding growing discontent
• Map where the colonies were settled.
Questions
• If you have any questions, please ask now.
Next Lesson
• In the next lesson, we are going to talk about
the southern colonies.
Review
1. Why did the Pilgrims and Puritans leave England?
2. Why did the Puritans leave England after the Pilgrims
(why did they stay initially)? What event caused them to
cease immigrating to America?
3. How was Plymouth similar or different than Jamestown
(ex: Native American interaction and demographics of
population)? Give at least 2 comparisons between the
two.
4. What was a major difference between the Massachusetts
Bay Colony and Providence, Rhode Island in terms of
religious tolerance?
5. Why was education important in Puritan colonies (think
religious purpose for being able to read and what benefit
it might have for their colony)?
6. Why didn’t the New England settlers require as many
indentured servants as those in Virginia?
7. What began to happen to the Puritan communities when
they began to deal with religious upheaval and other
conflicts?