The 13 English

Colonies

Chapter 4
Section 1
 New England
Colonies
• Puritans leave England for
Massachusetts
– Wanted to separate from Roman
Catholic Church
– Mainly well educated
– Persecuted by Charles I
– Given the charter to form Mass.
Bay Company
– Non-first sons wanted to go in
hopes of a better future
• Governing a Colony
– 1629 John Winthrop and 1000
colonists arrive
– Winthrop chosen as first
governor
– Originally only stockholders
had the right to vote
– Colonists resented taxes and
laws passed without their
input
– Eventually any male church
– General Court formed and
used elected officials
– 1629-1640 colony grew to
15,000

– This movement of people

became known as the Great
migration

– Boston grew into the colony’s

 Problems in
Massachusetts

The questioning of authority was

frowned upon
• Unhappy colonists were forced
to leave

• This lead to the formation of

new colonies in New England
• Thomas Hooker Founds
Connecticut
– 1636- Hooker a minister leaves
M.Bay
– Settled along the Connecticut
River
– Believed officials in Mass. Bay
had too much power
– Wanted a colony with strict limits
on govt.
– Gets its own charter in 1662
• Fundamental Orders of
• Roger Williams Settles Rhode
Island
– Also left Mass. Bay due to
disagreements
– Minister
– Good ideas but alarming to
Puritan leaders
– Church had too much power in
Mass. Bay
– Believed in separation of church
and state
– Religious Tolerance- willingness
• Anne Hutchinson Speaks Out
– Devout Puritan
– Began to question Puritan
authority privately
– Women should not have the
power to explain God’s Laws
– 1637 brought before Mass.
General Court
– Held her own until she claimed
God spoke to her
– 1638 left for Rhode Island with
family & friends
 Puritans at War with
Native Americans
• Originally contact between colonists and
Native Americans was good
• As more settlers arrived, fighting broke
out over land.
• 1670- 45,000 settlers in New England,
on Native American land
• 1675- largest conflict- Metacom’s(King
Phillip) tribe attacked settlers.
Destroyed 12 towns and killed 600+
settlers
– After more than a year of
fighting, Metacom captured and
killed, his family and about 1000
Indians were sold into slavery
– For years this pattern of
expansion and fighting would
continue
 Life in New
England Towns
• Tightly knit religious towns and
villages
• Sabbath- religious holy day- taken
very serious
• All day church activities were the
only thing allowed
• Women and men separated at
church
• Blacks and Indians sat in the
balcony
• Government
– Town Meetings- discussed and
voted on issues
– Gave settlers a chance to speak
their minds
– Encouraged growth of democratic
ideas
• Economy
– Poor soil
– Good forests for lumber and
hunting
– Sawmills were built
• Decline of the Puritans
– 1700’S decline of Puritan
traditions
– Fewer people leaving England for
religious reasons
– Ministers loosing influence