England had been in religious turmoil for years after Martin Luther nailed his Ninety-five theses to the door of the All Saints’ church in Whitenburg, sparking the protestant reformation. Over the years, English Puritans had risen to power in parliament and accused King Charles I of holding onto Catholic beliefs. Tensions between both King and parliament only increased in 1629. King Charles claimed his right to rule through divine right, dissolving the parliament of England altogether. Following this decision, along with the dismissal of hundreds of Puritan ministers by Archbishop William Laud, thousands of Puritans left England, seeking out religious freedom in the new world. Those who left were not the pilgrims who landed in Plymouth, as
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Unlike the other colonies such as Virginia, consisting of those who had come on their own such a second sons, the Massachusetts Bay colony was established, not as a money maker, but instead as a place where the Puritans could worship the way they chose. The environment of the northwest was not suited for large farms, so the colonists made their money fishing in Cape Cod, fur trapping, ship building, and trading. These markets became the town’s main source of income, giving it a merchant based economy as the population grew, first doubling, and then tripling as the populous skyrocketed to forty-thousand. Many Puritan merchants wanted to make Massachusetts the center of both trading and fishing with the new world. As a whole, however, the colony didn’t focus too heavily on economic gain, instead having been founded on religion the Puritans’ kept to a strong work ethic, rather than simply working for monetary reasons. Puritans believed that corruption could come quickly to those who sought monetary gain, so it was decided that instead of focusing so heavily on trade that the city should focus on meeting the needs of the people above else. This strong work ethic is what led to the colony growing largely economically. However, this ideal changed radically after the Puritans suffered their first economic depression in 1640. During this time trade increased to the West Indies, trading primarily beef. As trade increased Boston participated in the Triangle Trade introducing its first slave in 1944. Additionally as the population grew quickly over the next few years the need to expand not only economically but physically occurred as well, causing villages to grow as spread rapidly across New England. Deeply rooted in their religious values, the citizens of Massachusetts Bay also had to pay taxes to the church as the need to increase the leadership with
Unlike the other colonies such as Virginia, consisting of those who had come on their own such a second sons, the Massachusetts Bay colony was established, not as a money maker, but instead as a place where the Puritans could worship the way they chose. The environment of the northwest was not suited for large farms, so the colonists made their money fishing in Cape Cod, fur trapping, ship building, and trading. These markets became the town’s main source of income, giving it a merchant based economy as the population grew, first doubling, and then tripling as the populous skyrocketed to forty-thousand. Many Puritan merchants wanted to make Massachusetts the center of both trading and fishing with the new world. As a whole, however, the colony didn’t focus too heavily on economic gain, instead having been founded on religion the Puritans’ kept to a strong work ethic, rather than simply working for monetary reasons. Puritans believed that corruption could come quickly to those who sought monetary gain, so it was decided that instead of focusing so heavily on trade that the city should focus on meeting the needs of the people above else. This strong work ethic is what led to the colony growing largely economically. However, this ideal changed radically after the Puritans suffered their first economic depression in 1640. During this time trade increased to the West Indies, trading primarily beef. As trade increased Boston participated in the Triangle Trade introducing its first slave in 1944. Additionally as the population grew quickly over the next few years the need to expand not only economically but physically occurred as well, causing villages to grow as spread rapidly across New England. Deeply rooted in their religious values, the citizens of Massachusetts Bay also had to pay taxes to the church as the need to increase the leadership with