Development of VA vs Mass A colonist’s primary goal in traveling to the New World was escaping economic depression by seeking new fortunes elsewhere. Most members of the Virginia Company came to the New World with hopes of finding gold and capitalizing on lucrative trade opportunities.
Economic gain was also on the minds of Massachusetts Bay Company members, but more central in their motives for leaving was to avoid the religious persecution that threatened their lives in England.
A meager living and religious persecution brought many Puritans to Massachusetts. The proprietors of Massachusetts came to New England to form a holy commonwealth of religious people. The Puritans, as they were known, settled with the hopes that they
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The colony’s first difficulties arose out of religious men seeking to be freemen. Winthrop conceded but saw that freemen would have little power in decisions of consequence.
It wasn’t until the Watertown protest of 1632 that freemen were given power to elect the governor and assistants. Freemen also discovered that the colony’s charter gave the power to pass laws and levy taxes to the General Court, a secret Winthrop had kept from the freemen. The General Court in turn became a representative group with two or three representatives in the Council for each town.
This local representation was characteristic of the landholding patterns of Massachusetts. A great emphasis was placed on religion, not wealth, in the colony.
This meant that land was primarily for necessity of survival, not for personal gain. As demonstrated by a dispute, religious solemnity did not always prevail. After a small dispute startled the assistants making them realize they could easily be out voted, the Massachusetts General Council became a bicameral assembly. Each house now requiring a majority vote to pass legislation. The creation of the bicameral legislature did not change the original charter for the colony. The implementation of the charter, however, was quite different than the original arrangement.
Settlement was not part of the Virginia Company’s vocabulary.
ach colony had created their own laws and their own constitution. These constitutions were based on British law, but each colony had adjusted their constitution to fit their needs. Each colony created an elected assembly of colonial representatives. These assemblies enforced the colony's laws, collected taxes, budgeted expenses, and carried out a few public works programs. Historians have noted that before the French and Indian War, England largely let the American colonies go their own way a policy of "salutary neglect".
* The puritans and Pilgrims arrived there (New England Colony). They were very religious. Pilgrims wanted to separate from the church completely and the Puritans wanted to reform it because they were
The first form of government in the colonies was the Mayflower Compact which inspired political thought leading to the creation of representative bodies such as the House of Burgesses, the first legislative assembly. This started Representative Government where the King appointed governors to specific Royal Colonies. In Virginia, the people felt that their governor abused his power by raising taxes and restricting rights to vote. Their solution was Bacon’s Rebellion, showing that common men could stand up to the wealthy. Years later, the King became less aware of the colonies while they were flourishing as practically independent for this period known as Salutary Neglect. Once they embraced that independence, it continued to escalate through
These statements show the importance of the beginning of a new life, different than that of England. The members of the town were likely to be excited by these laws, as these desires are the primary reason they came to America. However, within the large New England region came eventual splits in religious beliefs. Colonists in Pennsylvania, led by their founder William Penn, became Quakers, who believed in further equality of all people in the eyes of God, versus the Puritan beliefs held by those in Massachusetts Bay, who valued predestination and more stricter following of religious sacraments. While the settlers desired their own world, ultimately the colonies were manipulated by England for her own economic gain.
In comparison, these two groups came to this land for different reasons. To begin with the only thing Captain John Smith and his men were looking for was gold so that they could be financially prosperous in this new land. While Captain Smith was looking for riches Mr. Bradford searched for something completely different. Him and his fellow Puritans came in search of religious
Meaning it pertains to a colony specifically which is expected because at this point in time, colonies were still in their stage of self-protecting. The Mayflower Compact of 1620 was the governing set of laws for Plymouth Colony written by the Separatists/Congregationalists who wanted to separate from the Anglican church in England. The reason for these laws was very simple and straightforward because after “observing some not well affected unity and concord but some appearance of faction” the officials thought it best for all to come together and for a central governing body to be enacted that would maintain order and enact the laws in the name of God as religion at this time played a heavy role in governmental policies to a certain extent (Document 1). This is similar to the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut enacted in 1639. According to their religious beliefs, God required that peace, order, and union be established and maintained which is what they did. The Fundamental Orders of Connecticut states that the “Word of God requires that, to maintain the peace and union of such a people, there should be an orderly and decent government established according to God, to order and dispose of the affairs of the people” (Document 2). Both these approaches share many similarities in the fact that unity was created via a centralized internal government with a single ruling body. In addition, religious beliefs heavily dictated the form of
The colonists also created assemblies which enabled them to reduce conflicts with the monarchy while allowing for an effective governance and representation of the polity. The assemblies varied according to the colony—which were created for diverse reasons—and allowed for the increased effectiveness in solving problems
• Began with a General Court, then to a colonial legislature, consisting of a governor and a two-house legislature. Property owning, adult male, church members were the only ones who could vote.
The Massachusetts bay Colony was found y the puritans and 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.
During the early colonization of the East coast of North America, many groups of people of Europe came to the New World such as the Puritans and Quakers. Both the Puritans, led by John Winthrop, and the Quakers, led by William Penn, were escaping persecution from England but each they had their own views and goals in religion, politics, and ethnic relations. Being on the native land of the local Indians, both Penn and Winthrop had to face issues and negotiations with the Indians. Penn and Winthrop had their own separate approaches to politics but they both sought a more just system than the one in England. After being persecuted, both Penn and Winthrop wanted their people to be free worship, but Penn and Winthrop each had their own
Upon reaching the new land, serious issues regarding community formation arose. The Puritans main concern was how they were going to create a community in the wilderness without each member separating off into different directions. A societal shift was necessary to preserve the unity of the colony. Magistrates and ministers had to convince the colonist that their personal salvation depended on the measure on their collective behavior. John Winthrop called his community, “A city upon a hill,” because he wanted to urge the colonist to re-conceptualize their differences, and sacrifice individuality in order to foster the greater good of the society. John Winthrop’s, “A Model of Christianity”
,a puritan nobleman, convinced Thomas Hooker, a minister, to lead congrats to this location. As more and more groups followed Connecticut was established in 1636. They were without a charter, thus deciding upon a policy called Fundamental orders of Connecticut. This such government resembled the one of Massachusetts, they would elect governors, only one year at a time. As for religion puritism was the only know one at the time. As the population was growing and new settlers would arrive the colony had to stretch its boundaries. This in turn deteriorated there relations with the natives. Justifying there expropriation of the natives land was considered “ Vacuum Domicilium”. Threw there eyes the natives weren’t using the land to its fullest potential, they were wasting profitable land.
P. 8 - Colonial governors helpless to take action without the assistance of the representative assemblies. The assemblies held the power of the purse and generally got their way.
Massachusetts - Bible Commonwealth- A Bible Commonwealth was a colony in which democracy was run on biblical principle. Freemen (adult men of the congregation) were
Throughout the sermon, John Winthrop makes himself very clear about what he wants the Massachusetts Bay Colony to accomplish when he establishes it. He desires it to be a strictly religious society that will act as an example for the rest of the colonies. Winthrop lays out a plan of exactly how he wants the colonists to act