Download The New England Colonies

The New England Colonies
Ch. 4
• What might make you and your whole
family move to another country?
Which reasons might have applied to
people living in the 1600s and 1700s?
As the colonies grew in the 1600’s and 1700’s,
they became the home to people of many lands.
These people brought their own customs and
traditions. In time, they shaped these old ways
into a new American Culture.
Who were the Puritans?
• The Puritans were a religious group that
wanted to reform the church in England. They
were different from the Pilgrims, who wanted to
separate entirely from the English church. The
Puritans wanted a simpler form of worship.
Why did they leave England?
• The king disapproved of
Puritans and their
ideas, canceled Puritan
business charters, and had
some Puritans jailed.
• They believed that
England had fallen on
“evil and declining
times.”
• They wanted to build a
new society based on
biblical laws and
teachings
John Winthrop and the Puritans
The Puritans were convinced that the English church
was not moving with modern times asked for a charter
to set up the Massachusetts Bay Company in New
England.
The Puritans sailed to New England and arrived in
1630 and set up their colony in Massachusetts.
• John Winthrop was elected the first
governor of the colony. As the new
governor he passed laws without the
people’s say and heavily taxed the
colonists.
People must have say in their
government
•Winthrop quickly realized that people must have say in their
government if things were to run smoothly.
•Under the leadership of Winthrop and other Puritans:
• Changed right to vote to all men who were church members
This was done to keep non-Puritans out of government
•Elected representative assembly called the General Court
General Court - elected representatives
comprised of male church members
Under the leadership of Winthrop the
town grew and later was called
Boston.
Results of Winthrop’s Leadership
Great Migration
• Massachusetts Bay Colony prospered
• Bet. 1629-1640 over 15,000 men, women, and
children journeyed to Mass.
• Became known as the Great Migration movement from England to Mass. Many settled
in Boston; became colony’s largest town
Connecticut
• Thomas Hooker left
Massachusetts to live in
Connecticut because he
didn’t like the way the
Puritans lived.
• IN 1639,Connecticut
adopted a rudimentary
constitution called the
Fundamental Orders of
Connecticut.
Fundamental Orders of
Connecticut
• 2 Important
differences:
• It gave the right to
vote to all men who
were property
owners (even if not
church members)
• It limited the
governor’s power.
Roger Williams
• Roger Williams
believed you
should tolerate
other people’s
beliefs in God
(religious
tolerance) .
• He left
Massachusetts and
started a colony,
Providence.
Picture Credit: www.nuwc.navy.mil/hq/ history/0003.html
Roger Williams
• Williams believed the business of church and state
should be separated. A state should not support a
particular church.
• He believed that the Puritan leaders did not have
the right to force people to attend religious
services.
• Puritan leaders ordered him to leave
Massachusetts. Indians sold him land and the
settlement became the English colony of Rhode
Island.
• Settlers who disliked the strict Puritan rule of
Massachusetts flocked to Providence and other
towns of Rhode Island.
Anne Hutchinson
• Anne Hutchinson was a
woman who believed you
could go directly to God so
you could pray to God
without going through a
priest.
• She was ordered to appear
before the Massachusetts
General Court. She told the
court that God spoke
directly to her. The court
ordered her out of the
colony.
Picture Credit: www.pbs.org/.../kids/civilrights/
features_hutchison.htm
• .
Anne Hutchinson
• She moved to Rhode Island
with Roger Williams.
• Anne Hutchinson became an
important symbol of the
struggle for religious freedom.
A Life of Hard Work –
New England was a difficult land for the colonists.
• The soil was rocky and poor for farming. After some time
colonists learned how to grow Native American crops such as
corn, beans and squash. The woods were full of deer, hogs and
turkeys for hunting. New Englanders fished in coastal waters for
cod and halibut. In the 1600’s many New Englanders began
hunting whales. In the 1700 to1800’s whaling grew into a big
business.
Life in New England
(Economy)
• During the 1600’s, Puritan
people were very religious.
They took the Sabbath
(Sunday) very seriously. No
one could work or play games
on that day. Women had to sit
on the other side of the men
in the church. Many crimes
were punished by the death
penalty.
Government
• At town meetings, settlers
discussed and voted on many
issues.
• Town meetings gave New
Englanders a chance to speak their
minds.
• Puritans laws were strict. About 15
crimes carried the death penalty.
Life in New England
• One crime punished by death was witchcraft. In 1692,
Puritans executed 20 men and women as witches in the
Salem village, Massachusetts.
• The average Puritan family had 7-8 children. They saw
children as a blessing of God. As a result of the climate
many people reached the age of 70.