The New England Colonies

Geography of New England New England is in the Northeast corner of America and contains: Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Vermont, Maine and New Hampshire Made up of hills and low mountains, large forests, soil is thin and rocky which makes farming difficult, winters are very harsh, summers are short and warm, Massachusetts has some of the best fishing grounds in the whole world

Puritans in Massachusetts Bay Similar to the Pilgrims, the Puritans disagreed with England’s Anglican Church, but rather than leave England they attempted to reform the Church of England In 1620, England’s King Charles I opposed the reform movement and persecuted the Puritans Knowing that King Charles I was going to punish and kill them, Puritan leaders decided to make the dangerous journey to the New World In 1630, 900 Puritans in 11 boats agreed to leave England and were given a charter to develop present day Maine, Massachusetts and New Hampshire, their capital city was Boston

New Colonies Disagreements about religion led to the founding of other colonies in New England Puritan preacher Roger Williams led the church in Salem Massachusetts, he believed the Puritans should sever ties with Anglicans, should stop taking land from natives and pay natives for goods instead of just taking Williams was forced to leave Massachusetts Bay Colony and take his followers with him, they moved south and formed Rhode Island, the new colony also allowed for any Christian and Jewish faiths to be practiced A Boston woman named Anne Hutchinson questioned Puritan teachings and after being put on trial was forced to move to Rhode Island, once there she again questioned the religious intent of Puritan leaders and was forced to move to New York Another Boston resident John Wheelright was also forced to leave Massachusetts Bay Colony for questioning the integrity of Puritan leaders and started the Colony of New Hampshire A 3rd colonist and preacher Thomas Hooker was forced out of Massachusetts Bay Colony for disagreeing with Puritan leaders and founded the colony of Connecticut

King Philip’s War By 1670, Native lands were being taken at an alarming rate, Natives were also being killed by diseases brought from the English colonists Chief Metacom of the Wampanoag Tribe decided to fight Puritans to protect his people, soon other tribes from Maine to Rhode Island joined him to stop Puritan expansion The fighting lasted over a year and cost thousands of lives, Metacom was captured and killed ending the war, this paved the way for Puritan expansion into all New England lands