The New England Colonies The Massachusetts Bay Colony Chapter 5, Lesson 1

Less than ten years after the Pilgrims founded Plymouth, another group of people were unhappy with the Church of England. Like the Pilgrims, they disagreed with some of the things the Church did.

But they didn’t want to completely separate from the Church (like the Pilgrims), they just wanted to change some of their practices to make the church more “pure”. (pure = completely good, positive, without problems) For this reason, they were called Puritans.

So the Puritans, along with other English people, went to King Charles I to ask permission to settle in North America. King Charles granted them a charter, which is an official paper given by a government that gives a person or business the right to do something. (It’s like a fancy permission slip!)

The king’s charter allowed the Puritans to settle in the region that John Smith had named New England. (see map in book, page 189)

A man named John Winthrop led groups of Puritans to sail to New England. They settled along the coast, and named it the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Winthrop became the leader of the colony. The Puritans hoped they would be good role models for other people.

What was it like in the Puritan Village? At the center of each Puritan village was the common. The common was a parklike area shared by all the villagers, and used for grazing their animals. The church, houses, and buildings surrounded the common. Does Ridgeview have an area like that? What is it called? (Hint: students use it for grazing…)  See book p. 190-191

Town Meetings The Puritans held town meetings at the church, which they called the meetinghouse. At the town meetings, Puritan men gathered to talk about business issues such as property and elections.

Public Offices Also at the town meetings, men were elected to public offices, which are jobs for the community. Examples of public offices: constable, town crier, digger of graves, and sweeper of the meetinghouse.

Specialization There were other buildings in the Village around the common, such as a general store, sawmill, and blacksmith shop. In these colonial times, a men would be specialized in one particular job, such as being a blacksmith. To specialize means to become skilled at one job. Boys were trained early to specialize in a certain trade. Read “A Puritan Village” p. 190-191

Home and Farm Life The fireplace was always kept burning in Puritan homes because that’s where all the cooking was done. Most food was roasted over the fire in large iron kettles hung in the fireplace.

What did women and girls do? Spent hours preparing food for the family Churning butter, picked vegetables Made all the clothing for the family Made quilts for the bedding

Puritan Children Because of the Puritans’ religious beliefs, children were not allowed to have many toys. Instead, they played games and read religious books.

Now it’s time to record the vocab words you learned!

charter An official paper that gives certain rights Allowed the Puritans to settle in the New England region

Puritans Settlers from England who wanted to make the church more “pure.” Settled in the Massachusetts Bay colony

common Center of each Puritan village that everyone shared and used for grazing their animals

Town meetings Gatherings of Puritan men to talk about business issues such as property and elections. Held at the meetinghouse (church)

Public Offices Jobs for the community Examples: Town crier, grave digger

Specialize To become skilled at one particular job Example: blacksmith