Chapter 3Section 2

New England Colonies

Geography of New England

• Maine-not a separate colony (known at that time as part of Massachusetts)

• Vermont-not a separate colony (claimed by NH and NY)

• Massachusetts• New Hampshire• Rhode Island• Connecticut

Advantages

• Long cold winters and short summers led to fewer diseases.

• Great fishing areas off the shores of New England.

• Rocky, thin soil is not very good for farming.

Disadvantage

Puritans in Massachusetts Bay

• Wanted to reform the Church of England

• Were influential until King Charles I opposed them and persecuted them

• Led by John Winthrop• Came to America in

1630

Puritans in Massachusetts Bay

• Largest town was Boston

• Puritan men elected a General Court and Governor

• NOT tolerant of non-Puritan ideas

Historical interpretation of man in stocks http://pioneervillagesalem.blogspot.com/2011/10/word-about-puritan-crime-and-punishment.html

New Colonies• Roger Williams wanted to

completely separate from the Church of England. He was forced to leave Salem, Massachusetts.

• In 1636, he founded Rhode Island with land he bought from the Indians. RI became a safe place for other persecuted groups; it had separation of church and state.

Anne Hutchinson’s Dissent

• Expelled from Massachusetts:– Taught men– Taught that God

spoke to her directly

– Said she could interpret scriptures

Settling Connecticut• Thomas Hooker led

about 100 settlers from Massachusetts. Fundamental Orders of Connecticut was a document that gave them an elected legislature and governor.

Public Domain / http://ushistoryimages.com

Growth and Change

• Town meetings– Assembly to decide

local issues– Only male heads of

households– Encouraged growth

of democratic ideas

New England Economy

King Philip’s War

• Metacom, Chief of the Wampanoag Indians, led fighting against New England settlers.

• He was captured and killed after a year of the raiding.

King Philip was the name the English gave to Metacom.

Puritan Influence Declines

• By the 1670’s, cities were growing, and merchants were becoming successful. A new generation was in place that was not so religiously strict.