Read about who founded the Massachusetts colony and its development. Learn about Massachusetts' geography, economy, and the importance of religion to the Puritans.
Updated: 12/14/2021
The Religion and Founding of the Massachusetts Colony
Massachusetts Colony: Facts and Overview
The Massachusetts Bay Colony was founded by the Puritans, a religious group in England. They founded their colony to escape religious persecution and hoped to build a model religious community in the Americas. The productivity and quality of life in the colony were remarkable for the time. Originally settled in 1630, they had a profound impact on education and government that still affects America today.
Massachusetts Bay Colony: Geography
The Massachusetts Bay Colony was established north of the famous Plymouth colony. As a part of the northern New England colonies, the colony had access to the bay, which they used for shipbuilding. Their proximity to the Atlantic Ocean allowed them to develop ports that served as centers of trade. The colony was originally founded between the Charles and Merrimack rivers. This spot was chosen to give colonists access to drinking water, and an easier way of growing crops under the sometimes harsh conditions of the New England climate.
The Massachusetts Bay Colony
The Massachusetts Bay Colony was founded by the Puritans, a religious minority group who migrated to the New World seeking to create a model religious community. The Puritans believed that the Anglican Church needed to be purified of the influences of Catholicism. The Puritans were opposed by both the established Anglican Church and the Stuarts, the ruling monarchs of England, and they became quite unpopular in England.
By 1629, many Puritans were tired of trying to reform the church in England, and they feared that God would soon punish the sinful English. A wealthy group of Puritans formed the Massachusetts Bay Company, a joint stock company that hired 17 ships to transport the Puritans to their new home in the Massachusetts Bay Colony.
The Puritans were led by a one-time lawyer named John Winthrop, who became one of the most powerful religious leaders in the colony. Winthrop wrote that the Massachusetts Bay Colony must become a 'city on a hill,' an example of a perfect religious community.
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Massachusetts Colony: Facts and History
It is important to understand the historical context behind the founding of the Massachusetts colony. In the 17th century, England was going through a lot of religious and political changes. The Puritans, who founded the colony, believed that the Anglican Church (the official church of England) had been corrupted and needed to be reformed. Their name came from the fact that they believed that the church needed to be "purified." Unable to reform the church themselves, they sought to set up colonies where they could build settlements based on the religious principles of Puritanism. What made the Massachusetts Bay Colony unique, was that migrants quickly filled the colony. Other colonies usually grew slowly over many years. This was called the Great Puritan Migration. In Massachusetts, the colony was quickly populated with migrants seeking to leave to practice Christianity the way that they wanted.
Who Founded Massachusetts?
When Puritans became unpopular in England, they sought to start a settlement that reflected their religious values in Massachusetts. Puritans that had the resources and money formed a group called the Massachusetts Bay Company to accomplish this. This joint-stock company financed the journey by providing provisions and 17 ships to travel across the Atlantic and found the colony in 1630. While the colony was founded by this group of Puritans, one man emerged as the central leader, John Winthrop. He helped organize the colony and later served as governor.
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Massachusetts as the "City on a Hill"
Many of John Winthrop's writings provide insight into the ideas behind the founding of the colony. He wrote that he hoped that the colony would become a "city on a hill." He wanted it to serve as the perfect example of a successful religious community. Many others wanted this as well, as the population of the colony grew to 40,000 by the end of the 1630s. This growth was much faster than in other colonies like Virginia, or later Georgia.
What Type of Colony Was Massachusetts?
The Massachusetts Bay Colony was a charter colony. This meant that the colony was allowed to govern itself, by electing local officials to carry out political administration. However, they could only do this as long as England approved of their actions, and as long as their laws were the same as England's. With the signing of the Massachusetts Colony Charter, shareholders of the Massachusetts Bay Company, and a General Court, elected by local Puritans, controlled affairs. The General Court appointed John Winthrop as the first governor of the colony. He and the court were generally in charge of the colony, since many stockholders did not come to Massachusetts, and only expected profits to be sent to them back in England. By the 1680s the colony lost its charter and became a crown colony. This meant that they were now subjects of the royal government of England.
Massachusetts Colony: Economy
As towns and other communities popped up in the colony, colonists grew a variety of crops, including pumpkins, corn, rice, and beans. They intended to grow wheat but struggled to do so successfully due to the poor soil. However, these crops were much more nutritious than those grown in England and provided key nutrients that extended the life expectancy of colonists into their 70s. Colonists fished and harvested timber from the dense forests. This was used in their growing shipbuilding industry. They brought goods to local markets with these ships, as well as sold raw materials from New England in European markets.
The prosperity of the economy of Massachusetts improved the quality of life for colonists. They had access to clean drinking water and enjoyed a cool climate, which slowed the spread of disease, a major factor that led to the failure of other colonies. Because of this, life expectancy was much higher in the Massachusetts Colony than in other regions. The charter that was written when the colony was founded required that 15 elementary schools be opened. In these schools they implemented quality education, boasting a high literacy rate. Many women even received an education as well.
Massachusetts Colony: Religion
Puritans emphasized a relationship with God. They believed that they entered into a covenant with God in an attempt to be forgiven for their sins, and to gain entrance into heaven. They were heavily influenced by Calvinist ideas on predestination, which state that certain people are predestined by God for salvation. This idea of predestination is key to understanding the congregational structure of Puritan churches. Puritan ideals differed from the Church of England's ideals. They saw the Anglican rituals used as a form of idolatry. They also disliked that the Church of England did not emphasize a covenant with God.
What Role Did the Church Play in Massachusetts
The Massachusetts Bay Colony was a theocracy, meaning that the government was closely tied with religion. There was no separation of church and state in colony politics. Puritans were expected to live their lives according to biblical scripture. The government was designed based on moral principles within the Bible. While the Puritans could not reform Anglicanism back in England, they hoped to set a good example of how Christianity should be practiced in their own colony.
Since the church was heavily tied with the government, each church was independent and chose its own elected officials. While it was required to attend church in the colony, there was a class of people, called full church members that held certain rights and privileges. As an elected church member, one proved that they were a part of the "predestined elect," or people with guaranteed entrance into Heaven. If you had not proved yourself to be a part of the predestined elect, you were not considered a full church member, and could not participate in town meetings, the center of colony politics.
Religion and Politics in Massachusetts
There was no separation between church and politics. Those who held power in the church held power in politics. Those who were not favored by the church faced backlash and were often oppressed by the governmental structures of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. This lack of separation between church and state led to problems. To participate in town meetings, and thus the government of the colony, one had to be a full church member. Church membership faded as the children of first-generation migrants were less passionate about the founding ideals of the colony. Since these people were less likely to become full church members they were less likely to participate in the colony's government. Leaders attempted to fix this by creating the Halfway Covenant of 1662. This covenant allowed the grandchildren of a full church member to become a member themselves.
Lesson Summary
The Massachusetts Bay Colony was founded in 1630 by the Puritans, a separatist religious group who believed that the Anglican Church of England needed to be "purified." What made this colony different from many others at the time was its rapid growth. The population of the colony grew quickly due to an influx of Puritan migrants. There were many benefits of living in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, such as the high literacy rate, access to clean drinking water, the cool climate, and the high life expectancy.
Religious life was incredibly important to Puritans in the colony. The was no separation between religion and politics. In the Puritan church, only those who proved themselves to be a part of the predestined elect could be full church members. Only full church members could participate in the government through the town meeting system. As more generations were born, fewer people decided not to go through the process to become full church members, and political participation decreased. The leaders of the colony passed the Halfway Covenant of 1662 to remedy this. This legislation stated that any grandchild of a full church member could become a member themselves.
Forming the 'City on a Hill'
The migration of the Puritans differed greatly from migration in other colonies. While other colonies grew slowly, the Puritan migration was incredibly fast. The Massachusetts Bay Colony reached the same population level as the decade-old Virginia colonies within one year. Between 1629 and 1643, nearly 9,000 immigrants in more than 200 ships came to the Massachusetts Bay Colony.
Under the Charter of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, the government remained in the hands of the General Court, the shareholders of the Massachusetts Bay Company. Very few of the shareholders of the stock company migrated to the colony, so the colony was largely run by Winthrop and his assistants. The General Court determined who would be the governor and who would act as the assistant. For the first several years of the colony, Winthrop acted as the head of the General Court and as the governor.
Life & Economy
As more and more Puritans poured into the Massachusetts Bay Colony, they began to form towns and communities. Puritans farmed in the fields surrounding their towns and grew a variety of different crops. This variety of crops, as well as the pure drinking water and cool climate of New England, stopped the spread of diseases that were common in other colonies of the time.
The Puritans lived into their 70s or 80s and were among the first groups of people who lived long enough to see their grandchildren. In addition, the variety of different crops helped the Puritans to become economically successful. In the event that one crop failed, Puritan farmers still had other crops to sell or to feed to their families.
Each Puritan town had its own church and town meeting, a form of government where all the male church members made decisions about the running of the town. This form of government continues to be used in small New England towns today, with the change that in modern town meetings all voters can participate in the decision-making process for their town.
According to the charter of the Massachusetts Bay Company, any town of at least 15 people had to open an elementary school supported by local taxes. This policy ensured that, by the 1660s, a majority of New England men could read and write. The same literacy rates were not achieved in the Chesapeake colonies until the 18th century. Although Puritan women were not as well educated as Puritan men, many families sent their daughters to school with their sons.
Religious Life
The Puritans believed that God had formed a special covenant with them and expected them to live according to their religious texts. The Puritans also wanted to set a good example for those that had resisted change back in England so they might persuade them to change their sinful ways.
Puritan churches were organized in a congregational pattern, where each church was independent and elected its own ministers. Church attendance in Puritan towns was mandatory; however, in order to be considered a full church member, Puritans had to prove they had experienced a religious conversion and show that they were part of the predestined elect, a group that was assured entrance into heaven.
The tie between the town meeting government system and the rigorous process to become a church member eventually led to problems in the colony. Although the first generation of Puritan migrants were deeply involved in the church, their children and grandchildren became increasingly less likely to become full church members and, thus, less likely to participate in the town meeting system. The Halfway Covenant of 1662 attempted to solve this problem by allowing any grandchildren of a full church member to become members regardless of the status of their parents.
Despite the Halfway Covenant, over time, the Puritans lost their hold over the Massachusetts Bay Colony. The General Court eventually evolved into a bicameral, or two-house legislature, and the Puritan religious faith languished as the original migrants died. The Massachusetts Bay Colony continued to develop and thrive even as the Puritan faith faded.
Lesson Summary
The Massachusetts Bay Colony was founded by the Puritans, who wanted to create a perfectly religious community, or a 'city on the hill,' away from the Catholic influence in the Anglican Church. Unlike its Chesapeake counterpart, the Massachusetts Bay Colony flourished with literacy, schools, town meetings, longer lives, clean drinking water, a cool climate, and a variety of crops. Though the Puritan faith eventually waned, the Massachusetts Bay Colony thrived and was a strong start for the New World.
Learning Outcomes
Once this lesson on the Massachusetts Bay Colony concludes, you could attempt to:
- Describe the Puritans
- Explain why the Puritans moved to New England
- List the factors that led to a thriving Massachusetts Bay Colony
- Outline the Massachusetts Bay Colony's system of government
- Discuss the Puritan church and its declining power over the Massachusetts Bay Colony
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Video Transcript
The Massachusetts Bay Colony
The Massachusetts Bay Colony was founded by the Puritans, a religious minority group who migrated to the New World seeking to create a model religious community. The Puritans believed that the Anglican Church needed to be purified of the influences of Catholicism. The Puritans were opposed by both the established Anglican Church and the Stuarts, the ruling monarchs of England, and they became quite unpopular in England.
By 1629, many Puritans were tired of trying to reform the church in England, and they feared that God would soon punish the sinful English. A wealthy group of Puritans formed the Massachusetts Bay Company, a joint stock company that hired 17 ships to transport the Puritans to their new home in the Massachusetts Bay Colony.
The Puritans were led by a one-time lawyer named John Winthrop, who became one of the most powerful religious leaders in the colony. Winthrop wrote that the Massachusetts Bay Colony must become a 'city on a hill,' an example of a perfect religious community.
Forming the 'City on a Hill'
The migration of the Puritans differed greatly from migration in other colonies. While other colonies grew slowly, the Puritan migration was incredibly fast. The Massachusetts Bay Colony reached the same population level as the decade-old Virginia colonies within one year. Between 1629 and 1643, nearly 9,000 immigrants in more than 200 ships came to the Massachusetts Bay Colony.
Under the Charter of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, the government remained in the hands of the General Court, the shareholders of the Massachusetts Bay Company. Very few of the shareholders of the stock company migrated to the colony, so the colony was largely run by Winthrop and his assistants. The General Court determined who would be the governor and who would act as the assistant. For the first several years of the colony, Winthrop acted as the head of the General Court and as the governor.
Life & Economy
As more and more Puritans poured into the Massachusetts Bay Colony, they began to form towns and communities. Puritans farmed in the fields surrounding their towns and grew a variety of different crops. This variety of crops, as well as the pure drinking water and cool climate of New England, stopped the spread of diseases that were common in other colonies of the time.
The Puritans lived into their 70s or 80s and were among the first groups of people who lived long enough to see their grandchildren. In addition, the variety of different crops helped the Puritans to become economically successful. In the event that one crop failed, Puritan farmers still had other crops to sell or to feed to their families.
Each Puritan town had its own church and town meeting, a form of government where all the male church members made decisions about the running of the town. This form of government continues to be used in small New England towns today, with the change that in modern town meetings all voters can participate in the decision-making process for their town.
According to the charter of the Massachusetts Bay Company, any town of at least 15 people had to open an elementary school supported by local taxes. This policy ensured that, by the 1660s, a majority of New England men could read and write. The same literacy rates were not achieved in the Chesapeake colonies until the 18th century. Although Puritan women were not as well educated as Puritan men, many families sent their daughters to school with their sons.
Religious Life
The Puritans believed that God had formed a special covenant with them and expected them to live according to their religious texts. The Puritans also wanted to set a good example for those that had resisted change back in England so they might persuade them to change their sinful ways.
Puritan churches were organized in a congregational pattern, where each church was independent and elected its own ministers. Church attendance in Puritan towns was mandatory; however, in order to be considered a full church member, Puritans had to prove they had experienced a religious conversion and show that they were part of the predestined elect, a group that was assured entrance into heaven.
The tie between the town meeting government system and the rigorous process to become a church member eventually led to problems in the colony. Although the first generation of Puritan migrants were deeply involved in the church, their children and grandchildren became increasingly less likely to become full church members and, thus, less likely to participate in the town meeting system. The Halfway Covenant of 1662 attempted to solve this problem by allowing any grandchildren of a full church member to become members regardless of the status of their parents.
Despite the Halfway Covenant, over time, the Puritans lost their hold over the Massachusetts Bay Colony. The General Court eventually evolved into a bicameral, or two-house legislature, and the Puritan religious faith languished as the original migrants died. The Massachusetts Bay Colony continued to develop and thrive even as the Puritan faith faded.
Lesson Summary
The Massachusetts Bay Colony was founded by the Puritans, who wanted to create a perfectly religious community, or a 'city on the hill,' away from the Catholic influence in the Anglican Church. Unlike its Chesapeake counterpart, the Massachusetts Bay Colony flourished with literacy, schools, town meetings, longer lives, clean drinking water, a cool climate, and a variety of crops. Though the Puritan faith eventually waned, the Massachusetts Bay Colony thrived and was a strong start for the New World.
Learning Outcomes
Once this lesson on the Massachusetts Bay Colony concludes, you could attempt to:
- Describe the Puritans
- Explain why the Puritans moved to New England
- List the factors that led to a thriving Massachusetts Bay Colony
- Outline the Massachusetts Bay Colony's system of government
- Discuss the Puritan church and its declining power over the Massachusetts Bay Colony
To unlock this lesson you must be a Study.com Member.
Create your account
Frequently Asked Questions
Who was the first founder of Massachusetts?
While many Puritans contributed to the founding of the colony, John Winthrop emerged as the first political leader. He was elected governor multiple times.
Did the Massachusetts colony have religious freedom?
While Puritans were able to practice their religion, other religions were frowned upon. Political power was directly tied to one's status in the church.
What religion were the colonists in Massachusetts?
The colonists in Massachusetts were Puritans. They believed that the Church of England had been corrupted and needed to be purified.
When was Massachusetts founded?
Massachusetts was founded in 1630. Through the 1630s thousand of migrants would come to settle in the colony, as Puritans attempted to leave the limitations of the Church of England.
What was unique about the Massachusetts Bay Colony?
The population of the colony rose much quicker than it did in other colonies, as thousands of Puritans moved into the region.
Why was Massachusetts founded?
Massachusetts was founded by Puritans who were unable to reform the Anglican Church. Instead, they set up their colony to form a settlement based on their religious ideology.
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