Chapter 5 Social Studies

What was a town meeting?

Everyone in the town could attend the meetings. Only men who owned property could vote. They voted on laws and on matters that affected the whole community. At first, a man had to be a member of the Puritan church to vote. By the end of the 1600's any man who owned property could vote.

Who brought the second group of Puritans to the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1630?

John Winthrop

Why did Roger Williams leave the Masachussets Bay Colony?

He often stated his belief in his sermons and in letters that he wrote to Governor John Winthrop. Before long his ideas became unpopular with other ministers and with Winthrop. In 1635 the Puritan leaders voted to expel him and force him to leave. This meant he could no longer live in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. When they left Salem they fled beyond the border of the colony south to Narragansett Bay. They received food and protection from the Narragansett Indians. In 1636 many of his followers also left Salem and joined him. He bought land from the Narragansetts and founded a settlement he called Providence. It later became the capital of what is now Rhode Island. Williams set up a government on the consent or agreement of the settlers. The government of what would later become the Rhode Island Colony gave its people the freedom to follow any religion they chose.

Thomas Hooker

Hooker left the Massachusetts Bay Colony because he did not like the way the colony's Puritan leaders tried to influence the lives of the colonists. Hooker thought that a colony's government should be based on what its people wanted, not on what its leaders wanted. Many of Hooker's followers went with him to the Connecticut River valley where they founded the settlement of Hartford. Hartford, along with Windsor and Wethersfield, united in 1636 to become the Connecticut Colony the name Connecticut comes from the Mohegan Indian word quinnitukqut which means "at the long tidal river." In 1638 Hooker preached a sermon calling for a government that would be based on the consent of the people. In 1639 the Connecticut Colony adopted Hookers idea in the form of the Fundamental Orders. The word fundamental means "basic." The Fundamental Orders were the first written plan of government in North America. They allowed Connecticut's voters (all landowning male colonists) to elect their leaders.

Anne Hutchinson

Hutchinson and her husband, William, moved to North America in 1634. They settled in Boston and attended church services there. Hutchinson soon began to question the authority of the PUritan ministers and their teachings. Her strong and spirited personality attracted many followers. She started holding her own religious meetings at home and stated her own beliefs during these services. The Puritan leaders said Hutchinson was "a woman not fit for our society." In 1637 they brought her to trial. She stood trial before a Puritan court on charges of sedition, or the use of speech or behavior that causes people to work against a government. She was found guilty, and the PUritan leaders ordered her to leave the colony. A year later they also expelled her from the Puritan church. With her family and many followers, Anne Hutchinson moved to Narragansett Bay. There they founded a settlement on an island near Providence. Hutchinson's settlement later united with the one founded by Roger Williams under the charter that formed the Rhode Island Colony.

David Thompson

In 1623 David Thompson founded the first settlement near the mouth of the Piscataqua River. In 1630 the settlement moved to a place near a thick growth of trees and wild berries. The settlers cut down the trees and shipped them as lumber to England. The settlement was renamed Strawberry Banke. Today it is the city of Portsmouth. In 1679 the town of Strawberry Banke and other settlements in the area were united under a charter from King charles II as the New Hampshire Colony.

John Endecott

In 1628 John Endecott led the first group of Puritans to sail to New England. There they built a settlement named Salem (this comes from the Hebrew word "Shalom" which means peace) on a bay they called Massachusetts (means at the big hill in the Algonquin language) Bay. The following year the company became the Massachusetts Bay Company and the king granted a new charter.

John Winthrop

In 1630 John Winthrop brought a second and much larger group of Puritans from England to settle along Massachusetts Bay Colony. In fact, he would serve as governor of the colony several times during the next 20 years. In that time more than 20,000 newcomers, mostly Puritans, settled in the colony. Winthrop said that Puritan cities should be models for Christian living. The Puritans hoped that all their communities would become models for good living. They built new villages, many of which were near Boston. In 1637 Winthrop worked at forming a confederation among the people of New England. He believed a confederation would help them better defend themselves in case they were attacked by nearby Indian groups or by the Dutch, who had started settlements to the south of New England. Winthrop became the first president of the confederation when it was formed in 1643.

Roger Williams

In 1631 Roger Williams and his family arrived in the Massachusetts Bay Colony from England. They settled in the village of Salem where Roger Williams became a minister. He was very popular because everybody shared the same belies. They believed that their church should be separated from the colonial government and free from the rule of the Church of England. He also believed that people should not be punished if their beliefs were different from those of the Puritan leaders. He often stated his belief in his sermons and in letters that he wrote to Governor John Winthrop. Before long his ideas became unpopular with other ministers and with Winthrop. In 1635 the Puritan leaders voted to expel him and force him to leave. This meant he could no longer live in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. When they left Salem they fled beyond the border of the colony south to Narragansett Bay. They received food and protection from the Narragansett Indians. In 1636 manhy of his followers also left Salem and joined him. He bought land from the Narragansetts and founded a settlement he called Providence. It later became the capital of what is now Rhode Island. Williams set up a government on the consent or agreement of the settlers. The government of what would later become the Rhode Island Colony gave its people the freedom to follow any religion they chose.

What did the fundamental order allow?

In 1638 Hooker preached a sermon calling for a government that would be based on the consent of the people. In 1639 the Connecticut Colony adopted Hookers idea in the form of the Fundamental Orders. The word fundamental means "basic." The Fundamental Orders were the first written plan of government in North America. They allowed Connecticut's voters (all landowning male colonists) to elect their leaders.

How did England try to control the Colonial trade?

Many ships owned by the colonial merchants followed a direct trade route between the New England ports and England. They followed this route because the English government insisted. It wanted the colonists to send their exports (goods leaving a country) only to England or to other English colonies. The English government also expected the colonists to buy only English-made imports (goods brought into a country). Along this direct trade route, colonial ships from ports such as Boston and New Haven, in Connecticut, and Newport, in Rhode Island, carried exports of furs, lumber, and dried fish to England. The ships returned to the colonies with imports of tea and spices, as well as manufactured goods, such as buttons, cloth, and shoes.

What did the people living in the Massachusetts Bay Colony

People grew or made most of what they needed. They wanted every person to be able to read a bible. There was a general store, a sawmill, and a blacksmith shop. A blacksmith might make nails for a neighbor and exchange them with the neighbor for a barrel (this is called bartering for goods and they did not spend money very often.) These were all specialized skills that people could learn. At first, Puritan children went to schools that were run by women in their homes. Later villagers began to build schools after the Puritans passed a law stating that every village of 50 families or more must have a school. These schools were the first community schools in the English colonies. The meetinghouse was at the center of village life because it was where church services were held. The most important part of the church service was the minister's sermon, or his explanation of the Bible's teachings. The sermon often lasted for several hours. The whole service lasted for most of the day, with a break for a meal at noon. The small size of the villages made life easier for the people to feel that they belonged to a community. It also made it easier to help people. It was easier for the church minister to keep authority in the village and make sure that the people lived their lives in ways that the Puritan leaders thought were right. Each year at a town meeting, some people were elected to public offices or jobs for the community. Offices for the town included constable (maintain order and keep peace), town crier (walked around and called out important news and other announcements), digger of graves, drummer, sweeper of meetinghouse and fence viewer (made sure that the fences around the crops were kept in good repair). they even had a man run a ferry across the river. In the main house of a Puritan home there was a large fireplace, where a fire was always kept burning. Baking was done in a small oven inside the fireplace. Most food was roasted over the fire or simmered in large iron kettles hung in the fireplace. Kettles were also used to heat water for cooking and washing. Women and girls spent many hours preparing food for the rest of the family. They made butter, dried and preserved fruits, pickled cabbages, and other vegetables grown in the gardens they tended. Pickled vegetables could be eaten throughout the cold, hard winter. Women and girls also made all the clothing for the family. Sometimes pieces of worn-out clothing were used to make new clothing and patchwork quilts for bedding. Nothing was wasted. The men and boys spent many hours each day working in the nearby fields. Despite the rocky soil, Puritan farmers were able to grow corn, rye, barley, and wheat. They traded some of these crops for sugar from English colonists on the Caribbean islands. Farmers also grew pumpkins and other kinds of squash among the corn. This method of farming was first used by the Wampanoag Indians. The Puritans also raised livestock as sources of food, leather, and wool. Cattle, hogs, and sheep often grazed on the town common. The Puritans used pig bristles, or hair, to make brushed. They turned animal fat into soap and candles. The Puritans made their own tools from wood and their won shoes from leather. They also wore warm clothing from sheep's wool.

What is an important whaling town?

The town of New Bedford, in Massachusetts, prospered in 1700s because some of its settlers began catching whales in addition to hunting. Colonial whalers used methods brought from England. They launched small rowboats from beaches and hunted for whales in the waters not far form the shore. Once they captured a whale, they killed it and towed it to shore. The whalers then cut up and boiled the whale's blubber, or fat, to obtain oil. Oil made from whale blubber was very popular at that time because it burned brightly without an unpleasant odor. One lamp filled with burning whale oil gave as much light as, and much less smoke than, three candles. So many New England whalers hunted close to shore that after a while the number of whales in those waters started to decline. As a result, the New england whalers began hunting in bigger ships and sailed farther out into the ocean. As the years passed, whaling trips became longer and longer. Some whaling ships left their home ports on ocean voyages that lasted for several months or even years.

What did triangular trade routes connect?

These routes connected England, the English colonies in North America, and the west coast of Africa. They formed great imaginary triangles on the Atlantic Ocean. Trading ships carried goods from England and raw materials from the English colonies and the West Indies. Slave ships also carried enslaved people from central and western Africa. These people were used as workers in the English colonies. During this time, millions of enslaved Africans were forced to voyage across the Atlantic Ocean. The voyage across the Atlantic Ocean from Africa to the West Indies came to be known as the Middle Passage.

Why did the Puritans leave England?

These settlers disagreed with many practices of the Church of England. They DID NOT want to separate form the church. They wanted to change some religious practices in order to make the Church of England more "pure." For this reason, they were called Puritans. The Puritans set up a community in North America so they could make money, freely practice their beliefs and live by their Christian ideas.