Massachusetts Bay Colony Between 1636-1642?

Question

What kinds of things went on in the Massachusetts Bay Colony between 1636-1942? What was everyday life like? What settled places made up the Massachusetts Bay Colony?

Answer 1

Before heading to the New World, the Puritans went to Holland to avoid their persecution in England. They were accepted in Holland, but left within 50 years. The liberalism and openness of the Dutch to all styles of life horrified the Puritans. Once their children grew up Dutch and became more Dutch than Puritan, the Puritans decided to leave for the New World.

The Puritans were from the River Thames region of England and established the Massachusetts Bay Colony. This colony eclipsed Plymouth in population and economy, the chief factor being the good harbor at Boston. When the English Revolution began in 1642, Massachusetts Bay Colony became a Puritan stronghold.

In 1636 the colony went to war with the Indians in the Pequot War.

John Winthrop was their leader, until his death in 1649. A man of some wealth, he helped to finance the first expedition and his money fed many of those first settlers in that first year.

They landed at present day Salem, but almost immediately moved to the present day site of Boston harbor. Within a couple of years, a new extension, that of Charlestown, was created. Ezekiel Richardson, our ancestor, was in Winthrop's fleet and was a founder of the church in Charlestown. Within ten years, the colony had spread into small settlements in Woburn, Lexington, Concord, Cambridge, Watertown, and others that can be seen on a map today, all within a 30-50 mile radius of Boston.

Within a few short years, this industrious and hearty group of pioneers had established a successful and thriving colony in the New World.

  

"Emigration to New England was at first encouraged by the king and his servile ministry, doubtless with a view of getting rid of the men who could not rest under the proceedings of an arbitrary government. But in 1634 the royal government resolved to deprive New England of its chartered rights, to send a royal governor to that country, and as far as possible to stop the emigration to the American strand. Repeated attempts were made to check this emigration. In March, 1638, an order in council was passed to detain eight ships then in the Thames, full of passengers, bound to New England; and on the 6th of April, in the same year, an order in council was passed that no person should be allowed to go to New England without a license. In consequence of this order, many persons embarked ostensibly for Virginia, but really for Massachusetts." The Richardson Memorial