Bell Ringer

SSUSH1b Describe the settlement of New England. Include: religious reasons relations with Native Americans (e.g., King Phillip’s War) the establishment of town meetings and development of a legislature religious tensions that led to the founding of Rhode Island, the half-way covenant Salem Witch Trials and the loss of the Massachusetts charter and the transition to a royal colony.

Religious Reasons for Settlement in New England The Pilgrims landed in Plymouth and immediately began setting up housing. Soon the plague came and killed all but 50 settlers. Thankfully, Squanto (Tisquantum) helped the settlers learn how to fish, hunt, and plant crops. He had been kidnapped years earlier, traveled to Europe, learned English and returned home in 1619. The Pilgrims fled to Holland in 1608 from England to avoid religious persecution. After time there felt that their children were losing their English heritage therefore they sailed to America in 1617 to start a new life. persecution: to harass or punish in a manner designed to injure, grieve, or afflict; specifically : to cause to suffer because of belief

Massachusetts Due to increased persecution of Puritans and a depression in the wool industry that many Puritans worked in, more people were willing to leave England to start a new life in America. The Massachusetts Bay Company received a charter in March 1629 from the King to colonize in America. John Winthrop, a stockholder in the Massachusetts Bay Company and a lawyer, decided to sail to America and establish Massachusetts as a refuge for Puritans. Boston was named the capital of Massachusetts.

Town Meetings/Legislature Town meetings (political) as well as church services (religious) often took place at the same local meetinghouse. White men who owned a certain amount of property and were recognized members of a church could attend the town meetings. Officers, collectively called the legislature, were elected once a year to the council. The legislature wrote laws and levied taxes.

Founding of Rhode Island Roger Williams was a strict Separatist; he believed that the Puritan church should completely separate from the Anglican church. Due to his outspoken beliefs he was ordered to leave Massachusetts. Going forward he bought his own land from a Native American tribe and began his own colony called Providence. In Providence, the government had no authority in religious matters. Different religions were tolerated rather than suppressed.

Founding of Rhode Island, cont. Anne Hutchinson was a devout Puritan who held prayer meetings in her home, but as people began to believe her message, more she began to take advantage of that authority and started telling her followers that she knew which ministers had salvation from God and which didn’t. Anne Hutchinson was banished from Massachusetts on the grounds of heresy because Hutchinson said that God spoke to her directly, when Puritan belief says that God only speaks through the Bible. Hutchinson and her followers moved to Pocasset, later known as Portsmouth.

Founding of Rhode Island, cont. Other people were banished from Massachusetts over the next few years. They also left and moved south. They founded Newport in 1639 and Warwick in 1643. Newport, Warwick, Portsmouth, and Providence joined together to make Rhode Island where religious freedom and total separation of church and state was key to the colony’s charter.

Half-way Covenant The original Puritans that came to the colonies were full church members, as they started the church in Massachusetts. Their children were baptized as babies and were supposed to claim a conversion experience when they were ready to become full members. Many of these children never did claim conversion experiences. The church fearing its dwindling numbers gave baptized children or grandchildren of full members partial membership in the church. These “half” member could not vote, hold office, or partake in communion. This later became a huge controversy when Great Awakening preachers like Jonathan Edwards came into the picture.

King Philip’s War King Philip (English name), Metacom (Wampanoag name), was the leader of the Wampanoag tribe. The settlers and the Wampanoag were at peace while the fur trade was good, but once the business declined and they didn’t need each other as much anymore, trouble came. Three Wampanoag were executed for murder by the colonists; the Warriors retaliated attacking the town of Swansea. This fighting became known as King Philip’s War and lasted from 1675-1678, when Metacom died. The settlers won and the Natives that survived scattered throughout New England. It is important because it is the last resistance the colonists will experience from the Indians as they spread westward.

The Salem Witch Trials To understand the events of the Salem witch trials, it is necessary to understand the times in which the accusations of witchcraft occurred. There were the ordinary stresses of 17th-century life in Massachusetts Bay Colony. A strong belief in the devil, factions among Salem Village fanatics and rivalry with nearby Salem Town, a recent small pox epidemic and the threat of attack by warring tribes created a fertile ground for fear and suspicion. Soon prisons were filled with more than 150 men and women from towns surrounding Salem. Their names had been "cried out" by tormented young girls as the cause of their pain. All would await trial for a crime punishable by death in 17th-century New England, the practice of witchcraft.

The Salem Witch Trials In June of 1692, the special Court sat in Salem to hear the cases of witchcraft. Presided over by Chief Justice William Stoughton, the court was made up of lawyers and jurors. The first to be tried was Bridget Bishop of Salem who was found guilty and was hanged on June 10. Thirteen women and five men from all stations of life followed her to the gallows on three successive hanging days before the court was disbanded by Governor William Phipps in October of that year. 

Compare and contrast the Jamestown and Plymouth colonies.

Closing Who were the Puritans that were banished from Massachusetts and helped to establish Rhode Island? Which side won King Philip’s War, and why was it a turning point? Why did the Pilgrims (Puritans) leave England and Holland to settle in Massachusetts?