University of Groningen
American History: Documents: Charter of Massachusetts Bay 1629
Provides background information and the complete text of the charter of the Massachusetts Bay 1629.
University of Oklahoma
University of Oklahoma College of Law: The 1629 Charter of Massachusetts Bay
Complete text of the Charter of Massachusetts Bay, 1629.
Huntington Library
Huntington Library: Settlement of the Plymouth and Massachusetts Bay Colonies
In this lesson, 5th graders learn about the people who founded the New England colonies and the role that religion played in shaping them. Includes background information for the teacher. Students explore primary resource readings on the...
Khan Academy
Khan Academy: Puritan New England: Massachusetts Bay
An overview of the Puritans who established the Massachusetts Bay Colony, the New Haven Colony and Rhode Island. The internal and external struggles with these colonies is discussed including the Salem Witch Trials, King Philip's War,...
Independence Hall Association
U.s. History: New England Colonies: Massachusetts Bay the City on the Hill
Learn a little about Puritan beliefs and see the importance of religion and the clergy in Massachusetts Bay Colony.
National Endowment for the Humanities
Neh: Edsit Ement: Colonizing the Bay
John Winthrop's "Model of Christian Charity" was delivered as a sermon aboard the Arabella, as the Puritans approached their destination of Massachusetts Bay in 1630. The speech spells out his vision of the society they hoped to create...
Independence Hall Association
U.s. History: New England Colonies: Dissent in Massachusetts Bay
The Puritan clergy in Massachusetts Bay colony did not allow religious dissent. Read about the fate of colonists Anne Hutchinson and Roger Williams who believed in religious freedom.
Yale University
Explanatory Charter of Massachusetts Bay 1725
The Charter of Massachusetts Bay, digitized by the Avalon Project at Yale Law School.
Huntington Library
Huntington Library: Religious Dissent [Pdf]
This lesson supplements one on the "Settlement of the Plymouth and Massachusetts Bay Colonies of New England." It looks at religious dissent and intolerance among the Puritans in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Students look at Roger...
University of Groningen
American History: Documents: Edward Randolph Condemns Massachussetts Bay Company
At this site from the University of Groningen you can read Edward Randolph's address to Parliament concerning the rebellious attitude of the colony of Massachusetts as designated as "articles of misdemeanors." Read each of the...
Georgetown University
Georgetown University:bay Psalm Book (1640) and New England Primer (1683)
Essay discussing the Bay Psalm Book (1640) and the New England Primer (1683). Topics include: Classroom Issues and Strategies; Major Themes, Historical Perspectives, and Personal Issues; Significant Form, Style, Artistic Conventions;...
University of Groningen
American History: Outlines: Massachusetts
During the religious upheavals of the 16th century, a body of men and women called Puritans sought to reform the Established Church of England from within. Essentially, they demanded that the rituals and structures associated with Roman...
Open Door Team
Open Door Web Site: Massachusetts
Read about the colony the Puritans made, the Massachusetts Bay Colony, a place Puritans could practice their own religion freely.
Curated OER
Etc: English Settlements Around Massachusetts Bay, 1620 1652
A map of Massachusetts Bay showing the early English settlements from Plymouth to Haverhill on the Merrimac River.
Other
Study Notes: The New England Colonies
An outline of the important information to study on the establishment of the New England Colonies by the Puritans, first in the Massachusetts Bay area, and their evolution and expansion beyond that.
Digital History
Digital History: Dimensions of Change in Colonial New England
Dissension in Massachusetts Bay Colony resulted in the formation of other New England colonies. Read about their formations, and the impact on the Native Americans in the area.
History Tools
History Tools: Winthrop Defends Right of Puritans to Settle on Indian Land [Pdf]
Primary source material with modernized spellings. Passage written by John Winthrop defending the right of Puritans to settle in Massachusetts Bay territory which was already occupied by Native Americans, 1629.
Independence Hall Association
U.s. History: New England Colonies: Reaching to Connecticut
Read about how the colony of Connecticut grew from an expansion of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. See how Thomas Hooker's idea of government resulted in a model of colonial charters, and find out how two very different settlements in...
Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia Britannica: 300 Women Who Changed History: Anne Hutchinson
Encyclopedia Britannica provides a biography of Anne Hutchinson (1591-1643), the woman expelled from the Massachusetts Bay Colony for "Traducing the ministers," of the Puritan Colony. She and other religious dissenters founded Rhode Island.
Yale University
Colonial Charters, Grants and Related Documents
Scroll to Massachusetts and link to the colonial documents establishing the colonies' earliest forms of government and laying the foundation for self-governing and eventual independence from England. Beginning with The Charter of England...
University of California
The History Project: The Antinomian Controversy
One of the most enduring myths in American history is the belief that the Puritans fled to America in search of religious liberty. Unfortunately, this belief is at best only a half-truth, The Puritans were strict religious people who...
University of Groningen
American History: Outlines: Massachusetts
During the religious upheavals of the 16th century, a body of men and women called Puritans sought to reform the Established Church of England from within. Essentially, they demanded that the rituals and structures associated with Roman...
Annenberg Foundation
Annenberg Learner: American Passages: Utopian Promise: John Winthrop
John Winthrop rose to power in social, spiritual and political circles and served as Massachusetts state governor for twelve years. His views are documented in "Journal." Click on "John Winthrop Activities" for related materials.
Other
Winthrop Society
At the online home of the Winthrop Society find information on the early settlers of Massachusetts, the ships that brought them to America, the documents that the colonists lived by, and the Great Migration of Puritans to the New World.
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