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Essay Outline

Compare and contrast the Massachusetts Bay Colony and the Virginia Colony from the beginning to
1690.

Thesis: The Massachusetts Bay Colony was founded as a haven for the Puritans, while the Virginia
Colony was founded for financial reasons and was fueled by tobacco.

A.c ounding of Virginia Colony

1.c The Virginia Colony was founded in 1607 at Jamestown by the London Company, becoming
the first permanent settlement in the New World.
2.c Jamestown was originally founded from a desire to gain wealth and a belief in an easy
lifestyle. There was also a lesser push to convert the Native Americans to Christianity.
3.c Most settlers were not prepared for the harsh life of the New World and many died from
disease and famine. After two years only 61 of the original 500 were left.
B.c lourish of Jamestown
1.c Colonist John Rolfe introduced a strain of tobacco which was successfully exported in 1612,
and the financial outlook for the colony soon became much more favorable as colonists
developed a profitable tobacco monoculture.
2.c Two years later, Rolfe married the young Indian woman Pocahontas, daughter of
Wahunsenacawh, Chief of the Powhatan Confederacy, and a period of relative peace with the
Natives followed, until 1622 when Opchanacanough lead a rebellion against the settlers in
which over 300 were killed.
C.c ounding of Massachusetts Bay Colony
1.c In 1620, the Plymouth Colony was established in Massachusetts by the Pilgrims who were
seeking religious freedom.
2.c Land grants issuedin 1628 for an area in Massachusetts bay,with more than 10,000
immigrating in the 1630s to the area between Boston and Salem.
3.c The population was strongly Puritan, who immigrated due to religious intolerance in
England, and believed they could build a ³city upon a hill´ and be ³the light for the world´ in
Christian morals.
D.c Native Relations in Massachusetts
1.c In the beginning, there was a decent relationship with the Natives.
2.c riction from religious and land tensions later escalated to Pequot War (1636 - 1638), in
which the Pequot tribe was virtually wiped out and removed from their native land.
3.c King Philips War (1675 ± 1676), began due to progressive gains and claims on Native
American lands. The Natives killed over 600 colonists and had 3,000 losses, while most of
New England was ravaged by the war.
4.c ollowing the restoration of King Charles II in 1660, crises began in the 1660s and late 1670s
in which steps were first planned, and then executed in England to vacate the colonial charter.
The colony was never vacated, and the writ was annulled.
E.c Governments
1.c The Massachusetts Colony government was dominated by a small group of leaders, who
carried out Puritan ideals.
i.c Its governors were elected, but the elections were limited to those who had been
examined for their religious views and formally admitted.
ii.c John Winthrop governed the colony for 12 of its first 20 years, and maintained tight
Puritan morals.
iii.c As a consequence, the colonial leadership exhibited intolerance to other religious
views, including Anglican, Quaker, and Baptist theologies.
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2.c The Virginia Colony was highly republic, the colony was allowed to governor itself, within
the English law.
i.c The governor was appointed by the king, and the governor chose the council
members.
3.c In 1624, Virginia was founded as a royal colony that included Jamestown.
.c Conclusion
1.c The Massachusetts Bay Colony was inhabited by the Puritans and was ran based on their
ideology. The community was very tight knit and held to their morals.
2.c The Virginia Colony was founded as a way to make quick money, and tobacco unfolded to be
a huge cash crop for the colony.