Origins and Development of the Massachusetts Colony

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The Massachusetts Colony
Colonists from Britain settled in North America for various reasons. These reasons included the search of religious freedom or profiting. The British Crown granted charters to venturing proprietors or joint-stock companies. Upon arrival, English settlers encountered native populations and Spanish and French settlements. After the failed colony of Ranoke and the challenges faced in Jamestown, in 1620, another group of colonist set out to Jamestown armed with a land grant from the Virginia Company. But due to an error in navigation they landed in Massachusetts and settled in Plymouth. Since they had no authorization from the crown to settle at Plymouth, the Pilgrims established their own civil government. The Mayflower Compact …show more content…

John Winthrop and Deputy Gov. Thomas Dudley. When the Pilgrims first arrived in 1620, it was the local Wamapanoag Indians who taught them how to plant crops. The Massachusetts Colony's landscape included treed mountains, lots of hills, rocky soil and lots of rivers. Massachusetts's coast is jagged. The climate in the Massachusetts Colony included long, cold winters and mild summers. Like the other colonies in the New England region, the cooler climate made it difficult for disease to thrive, unlike in the warmer Southern Colonies.

Major industries in the Massachusetts Colony included fishing, livestock, farming, lumber, and shipbuilding. Natural resources in the Massachusetts Colony included forests (timber), furs, fish, whales, and some farming. Although it was difficult to farm because of the rocky terrain, colonists still farmed for beans, corn, squash, pumpkins, wheat, and rye. Major towns in the Massachusetts Colony included Boston, Plymouth, Quincy, Lexington, and Salem. When Massachusetts absorbed the New Hampshire Colony for several decades, its major towns also included

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