New England Colonies The New England Colonies of British America
British America
British America included the British Empire's colonial territories in America from 1607 to 1783. These colonies were formally known as British America and the British West Indies before the Thirteen Colonies declared their independence in the American Revolutionary War and formed the …
Connecticut Colony
The Connecticut Colony or Colony of Connecticut, originally known as the Connecticut River Colony or simply the River Colony, was an English colony in North America that became the state of Connecticut. It was organized on March 3, 1636 as a settlement for a Puritan congregation, and the …
Providence Plantations
Providence Plantation was the first permanent European American settlement in Rhode Island. It was established by a group of colonists led by Roger Williams who left Massachusetts Bay Colony in order to establish a colony with greater religious freedom. Providence Plantation became the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, which became the State of Rhode Island and Providenc…
Massachusetts Bay Colony
The Massachusetts Bay Colony was an English settlement on the east coast of North America in the 17th century around the Massachusetts Bay, the northernmost of the several colonies later reorganized as the Province of Massachusetts Bay. The lands of the settlement were located in …
Plymouth Colony
Plymouth Colony was an English colonial venture in America from 1620 to 1691 at a location that had previously been surveyed and named by Captain John Smith. The settlement served as the capital of the colony and developed as the town of Plymouth, Massachusetts. At its height, Plymout…
Province of New Hampshire
The Province of New Hampshire was a colony of England and later a British province in North America. The name was first given in 1629 to the territory between the Merrimack and Piscataqua rivers on the eastern coast of North America, and was named after the county of Hampshire in sou…
Did the New England colonies have a lot of money?
What did the New England colonies do to make money? People in New England made money through fishing, whaling, shipbuilding, trading in its port cities and providing naval supplies. People in New England could not make a living from farming because most of the land was not suited to farming due to the hilly terrain and rocky soil.
How did the New England colonies make a living?
New England Colonies Colonies – Economic Activity & Trade. In the New England towns along the coast, the colonists made their living fishing, whaling, and shipbuilding. The fish included cod, mackerel, herring, halibut, hake, bass and sturgeon. Whale oil was a valuable resource as it could be used in lamps.
What were the original New England colonies?
What were the 5 original New England colonies? The New England Colonies of British America included Connecticut Colony, the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations , Massachusetts Bay Colony, Plymouth Colony, and the Province of New Hampshire, as well as a few smaller short-lived colonies.
How did the New England colonies make there money?
How did the New England Colonies make their money? Their economy was based on trading, lumbering,fishing, whaling, shipping, fur trading (forest animals) and ship building . … The Middle Colonies also practiced trade like New England, but typically they were trading raw materials for manufactured items.
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What colonies were settled in New England?
New England ColoniesPlymouth Colony (1620 CE)New Hampshire Colony (1622 CE)Massachusetts Bay Colony (1630 CE)Providence Colony (1636 CE)Connecticut Colony (1636 CE)New Haven Colony (1638 CE)
What was the first colonial settlement in New England?
PlymouthThough more than half of the original settlers died during that grueling first winter, the survivors were able to secure peace treaties with neighboring Native American tribes and build a largely self-sufficient economy within five years. Plymouth was the first colonial settlement in New England.
How many colonies did New England have?
The New England colonies were the northernmost of the colonies: New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut. The other nine colonies were New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and Delaware (the Middle colonies) and Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia (the Southern colonies).
Who settled in New England?
Puritans began to immigrate from England in large numbers, and they established the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1629 with 400 settlers. They sought to reform the Church of England by creating a new, pure church in the New World.
What were the first settlements in North America?
What were the first three settlements in America? The first settlements in North America were: Vineland by the Vikings, St. Augustine by the Spanish, and Roanoke by the British.
What were the first settlements in Massachusetts?
The first settlers in the state now known as Massachusetts were the Pilgrims. They arrived in Plymouth on the Mayflower in 1620 after separating from the Anglican church and fleeing England, creating the Mayflower compact as the foundational set of rules for self-government in the New World.
What was the name of the first English settlement in New England quizlet?
Plymouth Colony (sometimes New Plymouth, or Plymouth Bay Colony) was an English colonial venture in North America from 1620 to 1691. The first settlement of the Plymouth Colony was at New Plymouth, a location previously surveyed and named by Captain John Smith.
What was the first colony in America?
Jamestown, VirginiaIn 1607, 104 English men and boys arrived in North America to start a settlement. On May 13 they picked Jamestown, Virginia for their settlement, which was named after their King, James I.
What are the New England colonies?
New England Colonies. The New England Colonies of British America included Connecticut Colony, the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, Massachusetts Bay Colony, Plymouth Colony, and the Province of New Hampshire, as well as a few smaller short-lived colonies. The New England colonies were part of the Thirteen Colonies ...
How many colonies were there in New England?
The New England colonies were part of the Thirteen Colonies and eventually became five of the six states in New England, with Plymouth Colony absorbed into Massachusetts and Maine separating from it. Captain John Smith 's 1616 work A Description of New England first applied the term "New England" to the coastal lands from Long Island Sound ...
What was the name of the group of Puritans who settled on the Mayflower?
Establishing the New England Colonies. A group of Puritans known as the Pilgrims arrived on the Mayflower from England and the Netherlands to establish Plymouth Colony in Massachusetts, the second successful English colony in North America following Jamestown, Virginia.
Why did the Puritans leave England?
A larger group of Puritans arrived in 1630, leaving England because they desired to worship in a manner that differed from the Church of England. Their views were in accord with those of the Pilgrims who arrived on the Mayflower, except that the Mayflower Pilgrims felt that they needed to separate themselves from the Church of England, whereas the later Puritans were content to remain under the umbrella of the Church. The separate colonies were governed independently of one other until 1691, when Plymouth Colony was absorbed into the Massachusetts Bay Colony to form the Province of Massachusetts Bay .
Why did the colonists return to England?
Colony leader Captain George Popham died, and Raleigh Gilbert decided to return to England to take up an inheritance left by an older brother — at which point, all of the colonists decided to return to England. It was around August 1608 when they left on the ship Mary and John and on a new ship built by the colony named Virginia of Sagadahoc.
What was the name of the settlement that was a positive success in England?
The Plymouth settlement faced great hardships and earned few profits, but it enjoyed a positive reputation in England and may have sown the seeds for further immigration. Edward Winslow and William Bradford published an account of their experiences called Mourt's Relation (1622).
What colony was Rhode Island?
Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. Connecticut Colony. (Originally Saybrook Colony New Haven Colony) Province of New Hampshire. The New England Colonies of British America included Connecticut Colony, the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, Massachusetts Bay Colony, Plymouth Colony, and the Province of New Hampshire, ...
What was the New England colony?
The New England Colonies were the settlements established by English religious dissenters along the coast of the north-east of North America between 1620-1640 CE. The original colonies were: Prior to the arrival of the English colonists, the land had been inhabited by Native Americans for over 10,000 years.
What tribes inhabited the New England region?
1607 CE were the Abenakis, Assonet, Chappaquiddick, Mashpee, Mi'kmaq, Mohegan, Narragansett, Nantucket, Nauset, Patuxet, Penobscot, Pequot, Pocumtuck, and Pokanoket. These tribes would reduced by disease, military action, enslavement, and deportation, or assimilation by 1680 CE, and survivors moved either onto reservations or left the region to join other tribes elsewhere after the colonial victory in King Philip's War (1675-1678 CE). The colonies then occupied the vacated Native American land and flourished.
What colony was founded in 1607?
In 1607 CE, The Virginia Company established the Jamestown Colony of Virginia and the Plymouth Company founded the Popham Colony in present-day Maine. Jamestown struggled in its first years, losing up to 80% of its population, but survived and was flourishing by c. 1620 CE. The Popham Colony only lasted 14 months before it was abandoned. These two colonies were both commercial ventures launched entirely for profit, but the next expedition would have a different motivation and goal.
Where was the Mayflower located?
Mayflower in Plymouth Harbor. New York Public Library (Public Domain) After surviving the first winter of 1620-1621 CE, during which half of them died, the settlers of Plymouth Colony flourished only through the assistance of the sachem of the Wampanoag Confederacy Massasoit (l. c. 1581-1661 CE).
When was New Hampshire established?
New Hampshire was first established as a commercial venture in 1622 CE under a patent issued to two merchants, Captain John Mason (l. 1586-1635 CE) and Sir Ferdinando Gorges (l. c. 1565-1647 CE) neither of whom ever set foot on the land. Wheelwright tried to buy some land for his settlement from their representatives but could find none and so negotiated a sale with the natives of the region. Wheelwright's colony attracted other dissenters from Massachusetts Bay who settled the nearby areas. Lacking a legal charter, Wheelwright could not form a colonial government and so negotiated an agreement with Massachusetts Bay under which the Bay Colony would govern New Hampshire but the New Hampshire Colony was free to live and worship as they wished.
When did England first colonize the region?
England had first attempted colonization of the region in 1607 CE with the Popham Colony (1607-1608 CE) which failed after 14 months. The success of Plymouth Colony (1620-1691 CE) encouraged the establishment of the New Hampshire Colony and Massachusetts Bay Colony while Providence Colony, Connecticut Colony, and New Haven Colony were founded by ...
When was the first attempt to colonize North America made?
The first attempt, Roanoke Colony, was established in 1585 CE and had failed twice by 1590 CE. Under King James I of England (r. 1603-1625 CE), a more concentrated effort was made and two companies formed for the express purpose of colonizing North America for profit: the Virginia Company and the Plymouth Company.
What was the New England colony?
The New England colonies. Although lacking a charter, the founders of Plymouth in Massachusetts were, like their counterparts in Virginia, dependent upon private investments from profit-minded backers to finance their colony. The nucleus of that settlement was drawn from an enclave of English émigrés in Leiden, Holland (now in The Netherlands).
Who established the first German settlement in the colonies?
Title page from “An accurate description of the recently founded province of Pennsylvania” by Pastorius, who established the first German settlement in the colonies, 1700.
Why was Roger Williams banished from the colony?
Roger Williams, the man closely associated with the founding of Rhode Island, was banished from Massachusetts because of his unwillingness to conform to the orthodoxy established in that colony . Williams’s views conflicted with those of the ruling hierarchy of Massachusetts in several important ways. His own strict criteria for determining who was regenerate, and therefore eligible for church membership, finally led him to deny any practical way to admit anyone into the church. Once he recognized that no church could ensure the purity of its congregation, he ceased using purity as a criterion and instead opened church membership to nearly everyone in the community. Moreover, Williams showed distinctly Separatist leanings, preaching that the Puritan church could not possibly achieve purity as long as it remained within the Church of England. Finally, and perhaps most serious, he openly disputed the right of the Massachusetts leaders to occupy land without first purchasing it from the Native Americans.
What did the leaders of the Massachusetts Bay Enterprise intend to do?
The leaders of the Massachusetts Bay enterprise never intended their colony to be an outpost of toleration in the New World ; rather, they intended it to be a “Zion in the wilderness,” a model of purity and orthodoxy , with all backsliders subject to immediate correction. Massachusetts Bay Colony Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Why did the colonists refuse to allow the freemen to take part in the lawmaking process?
Although the charter of 1629 technically gave the General Court the power to decide on all matters affecting the colony, the members of the ruling elite initially refused to allow the freemen in the General Court to take part in the lawmaking process on the grounds that their numbers would render the court inefficient.
What was the Mayflower Compact?
Although the Mayflower Compact has been interpreted as an important step in the evolution of democratic government in America, it is a fact that the compact represented a one-sided arrangement, with the settlers promising obedience and the Pilgrim founders promising very little.
Why did the Puritans sail to America?
The Puritans of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, like the Pilgrims, sailed to America principally to free themselves from religious restraints. Unlike the Pilgrims, the Puritans did not desire to “separate” themselves from the Church of England but, rather, hoped by their example to reform it.
What religion did the New England colonies practice?
The primary religion of the New England colonies was the strict Puritan Christianity originally brought to the Massachusetts Bay colony by ships like the Mayflower, but as the colonies grew and changed, some of the colonists began to move away from that base. So too did views on the Native Americans who shared their land.
Why was the Plymouth colony not dependent on England?
After only five years, the Plymouth Colony was no longer financially dependent on England due to the roots and local economy it had built alongside the native Massachusetts peoples. Both sides benefited from the trade and bartering system established by the native peoples and the colonists.
What were the problems that the colonists brought to the New World?
Although the colonists suffered diseases of their own early on, they were largely immune to the microbes they brought over to the New World.
What were the first conflicts in the Northeast?
In the first English colonies in the Northeast (as well as in Virginia), there were initial conflicts and concerns over the threat colonists posed to the Native Americans’ long-established territory. Still, colonists were able to build thriving colonies with the help of locals. Trade was one of the first bridges between New England colonists ...
How many Native Americans were there in the 1600s?
In the 1600s, when the first English settlers began to arrive in New England, there were about 60,000 Native Americans living in what would later become the New England colonies (Plymouth, Massachusetts Bay, New Hampshire, Connecticut, New Haven, and Rhode Island). In the first English colonies in the Northeast (as well as in Virginia), ...
What did Native Americans provide?
The Native Americans provided skins, hides, food, knowledge, and other crucial materials and supplies, while the settlers traded beads and other types of currency (also known as “ wampum ”) in exchange for these goods. Ideas were traded alongside physical goods, with wampum sometimes carrying religious significance as well.
What are the New England colonies?
The New England colonies consisted of Massachusetts Bay, New Hampshire, Connecticut, and Rhode Island. These colonies shared many common characteristics that helped define the region. The following is a look at these key characteristics.
How many square miles of land did the New England colonists have?
The New England colonists settled in towns, typically surrounded by 40 square miles of land that were farmed by the individuals who lived in the towns.
What was New England covered with during the Ice Age?
All of the New England colonies had been covered by ice during the last Ice Age, which created poor, rocky soil. The final melt-back of the glaciers left some of the rocky areas peppered with large boulders.
Why did the New England colonies turn to fishing?
Because the region lacked huge tracts of fertile land, the area turned to commerce and fishing as their main occupations, though individuals within towns still worked small plots of land in the surrounding area. Enslavement did not become an economic necessity in New England, as it grew to be in the Southern colonies.
What resources did the colonists use to build their rivers?
The major resources available and used by the colonists were lumber and fish.
What are the three groups of North American colonies?
The North American colonies that were settled by the English are often divided into three different groups: the New England colonies, the Middle colonies, and the Southern colonies. The New England colonies consisted of Massachusetts Bay, New Hampshire, ...
Why did God choose the British colonies?
The idea that God had chosen the British colonies for a special destiny to take the North American continent and develop and maintain an ideal of liberty and democracy later fed into 19th century manifest destiny.
What colony was founded in 1628?
Massachusetts. Massachusetts Bay Colonists. In 1628 a company of Puritan gentlemen secured a grant of land from the council and began the largest and most important of the English settlements in America — the colony of Massachusetts Bay.
Where did the separatists settle in 1608?
Many of these separatist congregations took refuge in Holland in 1608 but were not content to be absorbed into the Dutch nation and have their children forget the customs and speech of England. Determined to migrate to the new land of America, they got permission from the London Company to settle in; but their pilot brought them to the shores of Cape Cod, where they landed December 21, 1620.
What was the influence of the Pilgrims on New England?
Politically, the little colony was of slight importance, but its moral and religious influence on New England was great. The Pilgrims demonstrated that industry and courage could conquer even the inhospitable soil and climate of the Massachusetts shore and that unflinching devotion to an ideal could make of the wilderness, a home.
Why was the Plymouth colony allowed to continue undisturbed?
However, because of its small size and quiet demeanor, the colony of Plymouth was allowed to continue undisturbed by the Stuarts.
What was the first instance of self-government in the nation's history?
It was the first instance of complete self-government in the nation’s history, as the assembly which met at Jamestown the year before the landed, was called together by orders from the Virginia Company in England. The first winter of 1620-1621 was difficult for the immigrants.
Where was the Old Dominion located?
While the “ Old Dominion ” was being established at Jamestown , Virginia, a very different history was taking place in the northern regions granted to the Ferdinando Plymouth Company. This company sent out a colony in the very year that the London Company settled Jamestown in 1607, but one winter in the little fort at the mouth ...
When did the Mayflower return to England?
The first winter of 1620-1621 was difficult for the immigrants. Yet, when the Mayflower returned to England in the spring, not one of the colonists went with her. Their home was in America. The first Thanksgiving with the Pilgrims. 1921 painting by Jean Leon Gerome Ferris.
Who were the first English settlers to the New England colonies?
The first English emigrants to what would become the New England colonies were a small group of Puritan separatists, later called the Pilgrims , who arrived in Plymouth in 1620 to found Plymouth Colony.
When did the first English settle in North America?
The first English settlement in North America had actually been established some 20 years before, in 1587, when a group of colonists (91 men, 17 women and nine children) led by Sir Walter Raleigh settled on the island of Roanoke. Mysteriously, by 1590 the Roanoke colony had vanished entirely. Historians still do not know what became of its inhabitants.
What colony did Puritans form?
As the Massachusetts settlements expanded, they generated new colonies in New England. Puritans who thought that Massachusetts was not pious enough formed the colonies of Connecticut and New Haven (the two combined in 1665). Meanwhile, Puritans who thought that Massachusetts was too restrictive formed the colony of Rhode Island, where everyone–including Jewish people–enjoyed complete “liberty in religious concernments.” To the north of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, a handful of adventurous settlers formed the colony of New Hampshire.
What did the Jamestown colonists learn?
It was not until 1616, when Virginia’s settlers learned how to grow tobacco, that it seemed the colony might survive. The first enslaved African arrived in Virginia in 1619.
How many ships did the London Company send to Virginia?
Mysteriously, by 1590 the Roanoke colony had vanished entirely. Historians still do not know what became of its inhabitants. In 1606, just a few months after James I issued its charter, the London Company sent 144 men to Virginia on three ships: the Godspeed, the Discovery and the Susan Constant.
What was the name of the colony that was named after William Penn?
Penn’s North American holdings became the colony of “Penn’s Woods,” or Pennsylvania.
What was New York named after?
The English soon absorbed Dutch New Netherland and renamed it New York, but most of the Dutch people (as well as the Belgian Flemings and Walloons, French Huguenots, Scandinavians and Germans who were living there) stayed put. This made New York one of the most diverse and prosperous colonies in the New World.
Overview
Establishing the New England Colonies
A group of Puritans known as the Pilgrims arrived on the Mayflower from England and the Netherlands to establish Plymouth Colony in Massachusetts, the second successful English colony in North America following Jamestown, Virginia. About half of the one hundred-plus passengers on the Mayflower died that first winter, mostly because of diseases contracted on the voyage followed by a ha…
Arriving in America
England, France, and the Netherlands made several attempts to colonize New England early in the 17th century, and those nations were often in contention over lands in the New World. French nobleman Pierre Dugua Sieur de Monts established a settlement on Saint Croix Island, Maine in June 1604 under the authority of the King of France. Nearly half the settlers perished due to the har…
Commerce
The earliest colonies in New England were usually fishing villages or farming communities on the more fertile land along the rivers. The rocky soil in the New England Colonies was not as fertile as the Middle or Southern Colonies, but the land provided rich resources, including lumber that was highly valued. Lumber was also a resource that could be exported back to England, where there was a shortage of wood. In addition, the hunting of wildlife provided furs to be traded and food f…
Indian slavery in the New England Colonies
During conflicts between European settlers and Native Americans in New England, such as the Pequot War (1636-1638) and King Philip's War (1675-1678), captured Indians were frequently enslaved. Utilizing captured prisoners of war as a source of forced labour was common in Europe; during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, captured prisoners of war were frequently indentured and transported to plantations in Barbados and Jamaica.
Education
In the New England Colonies, the first settlements of Pilgrims and the other Puritans who came later taught their children how to read and write in order that they might read and study the Bible for themselves. Depending upon social and financial status, education was taught by the parents home-schooling their children, public grammar schools, and private governesses, which included subjects from reading and writing to Latin and Greek and more.
See also
• Middle Colonies
• Southern Colonies
• Chesapeake Colonies
• Thirteen Colonies
• History of Massachusetts
Notes
1. ^ Gipson
2. ^ Bisceglia
3. ^ Smith
4. ^ St. Croix Celebration. "St. Croix Island History". Archived from the original on 2001-08-03. Retrieved 2008-12-21.
Native American New England
English Colonization in North America
- European colonization of the Americas began with the arrival of Christopher Columbus(l. 1451-1506 CE) in the West Indies in 1492 CE, claiming the land for Spain. Spain then expanded their claims throughout South and Central America (except for Brazil which was claimed by Portugal in 1500 CE) up through areas of lower North America. France claimed Canada and established the …
Plymouth & Massachusetts Bay
- The new arrivals were acquainted with the region from the writings of Captain John Smith (l. 1580-1631 CE), one of the founders of Jamestown Colony, who had mapped the area in 1614 CE and named it New England. A number of English ships had visited the region between c. 1605-1614 CE, trading with the natives and had, unwittingly, infected them with ...
Providence, New Hampshire, & Connecticut
- The Puritan separatist theologian Roger Williams (l. 1603-1683 CE) arrived in 1631 CE and quickly came into conflict with Winthrop and the other magistrates over religious differences. He left for Plymouth Colony, thinking he would fit in better with fellow separatists, but found the colonists there too legalistic. He also objected to both Plymouth Colony and Massachusetts Bay on the gr…
Pequot War & Further Settlement
- The Massachusetts Bay Colony justified the Pequot War (1636-1638 CE) by claiming that the Pequots had murdered a merchant from their settlement. The Pequots defended themselves, noting that the man in question was a notorious troublemaker who had kidnapped some of their people. The head of the Salem militia, John Endicott (l. c. 1600-1665 CE), destroyed Pequot villa…
Slavery & Expulsion of Native Americans
- All of the colonies benefited from the institution of chattel slavery, beginning with Massachusetts Bay which enslaved the Pequots after the war. In 1641 CE, Massachusetts Bay passed its law known as the Body of Liberties, which included the provision that no human being would be enslaved except for those legally taken captive in war or those already enslaved by others and s…
Conclusion
- The colonies were absorbed into a single group under the Dominion of New England in 1686 CE under James II of England (r. 1633-1688 CE) who was concerned with their growing independence and economic power. The Dominion ended with the Glorious Revolution of 1688 CE when James II was deposed, and the colonies were then allowed the right to self-government while still subje…