About the Massachusetts Bay Colony

The Massachusetts Bay Colony was among the original colonial settlements in the area that is now the United States. Settled by English colonists in 1630, the colony was centered in Boston and Salem and represented the area that blossomed into the state of Massachusetts. The colony was established by the Massachusetts Bay Company and was probably the third major, permanent settlement in the future U.S. colonies. It followed settlements at Jamestown and Plymouth.

History

Following the settlement of Plymouth in 1620 by Puritans on the Mayflower and seeking to separate from the Church of England, the Sheffield Land Patent was given to the predecessor of the Massachusetts Bay Company in 1623. Settling Gloucester, Massachusetts, the group left after 3 years. This group, the Dorchester Company, was followed by the New England Company in 1628 and was superseded by the Massachusetts Bay Company in 1630.

Geography

The Massachusetts Bay Company, ultimately founders of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, was composed of Puritan merchants who secured a royal charter from the King of England. Their charter guaranteed them the land from 3 miles south of the Charles River to 3 miles north of the Merrimack River. Sailing across the Atlantic on the Arbella and three other ships, the Puritans eventually settled just south of Salem and soon expanded into Charleston, Dorchester and Roxbury.

Function

The Massachusetts Bay Colony offered the promise of a new start. Many disillusioned Englishmen, weary from religious persecution from the English Church, looked for freedom to practice their new Puritanism away from the king. They sought economic stability in a land prosperous with trading and farming opportunities, and they looked forward to the abundance of natural resources to allow their success in this new land.

Features

Arriving in the summer of 1630 with 400 settlers, the Massachusetts Bay Colony was tried by its first winter. With nearly 200 succumbing to disease or starvation, the colony struggled through its initial year of existence. After another large portion of the colony departed for England, the remaining members of the Massachusetts Bay Colony persevered toward economic success by the next year and established a stable government.

Significance

The Massachusetts Bay Colony lasted its first year and remained one of the important 17th-century colonies of early America. It continued to prosper into the later century, later branching out and combining with important colonies in Boston and the surrounding areas. The colony spawned such names as John Winthrop, its first governor; Roger Williams, an important early minister; and Anne Hutchinson, an important Puritan and early feminist. In 1691, the Massachusetts Bay Colony was combined with Plymouth, Nantucket, Maine and other colonies to form the Province of Massachusetts Bay.