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Puritans In The Massachusetts Bay Colony

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Puritans were English people who sought to “purify” the Church of England from within. They came by the thousands to the American colonies, although well after the Pilgrims. Pilgrims came to the colonies in small numbers. 102 Pilgrims boarded the Mayflower after fleeing Holland, and endured a rough winter on the stony coast of New England in the year 1620. Separatist pilgrims were more extremist Puritans who separated completely from the Church of England and moved to the American colonies for religious refuge. The Mayflower Compact was written by the 102 pilgrims aboard the Mayflower. Before disembarking, the pilgrims wrote up the document, which was essentially an agreement to form a government in Plymouth in which the majority rules. …show more content…
This led to the Great English Migration in the 1630s, during which thousands of people, some Puritans, migrated from England to the colonies, and some to the West Indies. Some Puritans traveled to the Massachusetts Bay Colony to start new lives with similarly-minded people.
John Winthrop
John Winthrop became the Massachusetts Bay Colony’s first governor, and served for nineteen years. He took the job because he felt he had a calling from God to lead the religious people of the colony. He was a great leader who led the colony to prosper in its fur trading, fishing, and shipbuilding industries. Winthrop shared a sense of purpose with his community of likeminded people, and Massachusetts grew to become large and influential because of it.
Navigation Laws
England imposed Navigation Laws on the American colonies as part of its newly aggressive attitude towards managing the colonies. The laws attempted to restrict American trade with all other countries by only allowing trade with England. Colonists were unused to these strict regulations, and largely ignored them, especially in Massachusetts. These laws were examples of unfair treatment of the colonies and marked the beginning of England’s oppression of the colonies. As a result, the colonist’s resorted to smuggling to resist the harsh English …show more content…
It simply paled in comparison to the dominant Massachusetts Bay Colony. In 1664, Charles II granted the area to the Duke of York, and an English squadron easily took over New Amsterdam shortly after arriving to the region. The area was renamed New York, and it became the final puzzle piece in connecting England’s empire from New England down the coast to the Carolinas.
Society of Friends/”Quakers”
The Society of Friends, better known as Quakers, were a religious group who emphasized tolerance and peace. Quakers were unusually kind to natives, and their settlement in Pennsylvania became well known as being a haven for peaceful settler-native relations. The Quakers left England to get away from the Church of England and to avoid persecution. The Quakers refused military service and opposed violence in all forms. As a result, Pennsylvania had no military and was one of the most peaceful and tolerant American colonies.
William

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