The Province of Massachusetts Bay
Ense petit placidam sub libertate quietem
Come One, Come All to the Province of Massachusetts Bay!
Located on the Atlantic coast of North America, the Province of Massachusetts is a key colony in New England. With many major towns such as Boston, Quincy, Plymouth, Salem, Lexington, and Concord, along with access to water, Massachusetts has created an wealthy economy based off of shipbuilding and exports of various goods (i.e. rum, timber products, fur, maple syrup, copper, livestock products, horses, rum, whiskey, and beer). Warehouses, tanneries, and sawmills also make up the foundation of the Massachusetts economy as the area is rich in natural resources. Though farming is difficult with the mountainous region, poor, rocky soil, mild, short summers and long, cold winters, fish are plenty as well as forests that provide timber. Crops such as corn, pumpkins, rye, squash, and beans are also grown by the farmers of Massachusetts.
The Massachusetts Bay Company - who had originally been responsible for the charter - had its charter annulled after the colony and the Crown became estranged from one another in 1684. Thus, the Massachusetts Bay Colony was combined with various other territories (i.e. Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Nantucket, Plymouth Colony, Maine, etc.) to become a royal colony - the Province of Massachusetts Bay - with Sir William Phips royally-appointed as the first governor of a heavily Puritan colony.
The Massachusetts was originally settled by an English company - the Massachusetts Bay Company. King Charles I granted a charter that permitted the company to trade and colonize an area of New England in the hopes of creating a merely commercial and mercantilist company. However, management - and the charter itself - was eventually transferred to Massachusetts as Puritans seeking religious freedom fled to the beautiful colony now known as the Province of Massachusetts Bay.
The Province of Massachusetts is the place everyone wants to live. Encapsulating the experiences of all the other English colonies, it is widely agreed at the Puritans and Pilgrims who landed on the shores of Massachusetts set the stage for liberty and freedom of religious belief. By embodying the foundation and basis upon which all men seek - such as justice, equality, and liberty - Massachusetts is, without a doubt, the one and only place to live.
Notable Persons of Massachusetts
Anne Hutchinson
- key role in antinomian controversy in Massachusetts Bay Colony
- caused schism in Puritan society by challenging John Cotton's teachings
- eventually banished from Massachusetts
Sir William Phips
- the first royally-appointed governor of the Province of Massachusetts Bay
- established - and later overruled and disbanded - the Salem Witch Trials court
John Winthrop
- governor of Massachusetts
- helped set up the colony and led it through its first years
- banished Anne Hutchinson from the colony
Thomas Hooker
- first minister of Massachusetts
- led a small group of Puritans to start the Connecticut colony due to differences in opinion
Roger Williams
- founded Rhode Island after being banished from Massachusetts due to differences in opinion
- advocated separation of church and state in Colonial America
Massasoit
- Native American chief of Wampanoag tribe
- greeted and helped the Plymouth arrivals
John Cotton
- influential Puritan leader
- served as "teacher" of First Church of Boston
- wide-spread popularity and influence in civil and religious affairs
Tisquantum (Squanto)
- interpreter between the Pilgrim representatives and Wampanoag Chief Massasoit
- provided assistance for the first colonists of Massachusetts
John Haynes
- governor of the Massachusetts charter colony
- influential in drafting legal framework for Massachusetts
Province of Massachusetts Bay
Email: massbaycolony@thirteencolonies.com
Website: massachusettsbaycolony.com
Location: Massachusetts, United States
Phone: (373)-366-1630
Facebook: facebook.com/massachusetts-bay-colony
Twitter: @massachusetts_bay_colony