Massachusetts Bay Colony

The Massachusetts Bay Colony (sometimes called the Massachusetts Bay Company, for the institution that founded it) was an English settlement on the coast of North America in the 1600s, centered around the present-day city of Boston, which is now in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, one of the 50 United States.

A Puritan colony

The first 400 settlers under this new charter departed in April 1629. Most, but not all of the members of the Company were Puritans, and events during the spring and summer of 1629 convinced them they could only remain non-conformists in the Church of England by getting out of England. Charles I had dissolved the parliament, and William Laud, the Bishop of London, renewed the pressure on the separatist Puritans to conform with church practices. His harassment was a direct cause of the progressively larger emigration, also called the Winthrop Fleet, over the next few years.

Related Topics:
Puritan - Church of England - Charles I - William Laud - Bishop of London - Winthrop Fleet

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Perhaps by oversight, the company's charter made no mention of the location of its headquarters. On August 29, the shareholders who wished to move to America reached an agreement (The Cambridge Agreement) and bought out those who wished to remain in England. So when John Winthrop set out with the next wave of 700 settlers in March of 1630 (The Winthrop Fleet of 1630)

Related Topics:
The Cambridge Agreement - John Winthrop - Winthrop Fleet

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they carried their Charter with them, and Winthrop replaced Endicott as governor of the Colony.

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When they reached their destination, the leadership and headquarters of the Colony and the Company were united in America.

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Charlestown was the first capital of Massachusetts Bay, but the water there was inadequate, so it was moved across the Charles River to Boston.

Related Topics:
Charlestown - Boston

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The idea that this colony was a community with a special covenant with God was laid out in Winthrop's sermon, "A City upon a Hill." The idea that theirs was a holy community shaped life in the colony enormously, making it imperative that colonists legislate morality, enforcing marriage, church attendance, and education in the Word of God as well as relentlessly seeking out and punishing sin and sinners.

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The colony celebrated its first Thanksgiving Day on July 8, 1630.

Related Topics:
Thanksgiving Day - July 8 - 1630

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Massachusetts Bay continued its rapid growth, in spite of serious difficulties. During the first winter (1630-1631), over 200 died. When the next ships came, more chose to return to England. This was, in fact, the only tragic winter faced by the young colony. Since the pressures on the Puritan non-conformists at home continued, so did increasing and rapid immigration, and by the end of 1631 the colony numbered over 2,000. Over the next several years, as Archbishop Laud continued to add rigor to the Church hierarchy, the growth continued. Ministers rejected in England also made the trip with their flocks, so John Cotton, Roger Williams, Thomas Hooker, and others became leaders of Puritan congregations in Massachusetts.

Related Topics:
Archbishop Laud - Rigor - John Cotton - Roger Williams - Thomas Hooker

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