Unlike its Chesapeake counterpart, the Massachusetts Bay Colony flourished with literacy, schools, town meetings, longer lives, clean drinking water, a cool climate, and a variety of crops. Though the Puritan faith eventually waned, the Massachusetts Bay Colony thrived and was a strong start for the New World.
What was the daily life like in the Massachusetts Colony?
Farm families tended to live in small, one room, musky homes with little privacy where often the entire family slept in the same room. The men worked the fields and the women chopped firewood, tended the fires, gathered eggs, milked cows, and prepared meals over the open fires of the hearths.
What did the Massachusetts Colony do for a living?
The self-governing, self-reliant colony was first governed by John Winthrop and organized under principles laid out by John Cotton. The colonists made their living through farming, fishing, and trade.
What was family life like in Massachusetts Colony?
A typical Puritan family lived a humble existence in a small house with one room. Within the room was a fireplace that was used for cooking and warmth. Because the family lived in a single room, it was often very smoky, particularly during the winter.
What was life like in Massachusetts in the 1700s?
Two colonies were established in Massachusetts, Plymouth Colony and the Massachusetts Bay Colony, and these early colonists faced many hardships including disease, famine, brutal winters, hot and humid summers, warfare with local Native-American tribes as well as with other countries that were also trying to colonize
What was the religion like in Massachusetts Colony?
The settlement they started in America was called the Massachusetts Bay Colony. The Puritans were a group of Protestant Christians with strict religious beliefs. They disagreed with some practices of England’s official church, the Church of England. The English government mistreated them because of their beliefs.
What makes the Massachusetts Colony unique?
The Massachusetts Bay Colony became the first English chartered colony whose board of governors did not reside in England. This independence helped the settlers to maintain their Puritan religious practices without interference from the king, Archbishop Laud, or the Anglican Church.
What jobs were in the Massachusetts Colony?
Major Industries: Agriculture (fishing, corn, livestock), Manufacturing (lumbering, shipbuilding). In towns along the coast, the colonists made their living fishing, whaling, and shipbuilding. Whale oil was a valuable resource as it could be used in lamps.
What type of jobs did the Massachusetts Colony have?
Some settlers in the Massachusetts Bay Colony were subsistence farmers, eeking out a living from the less than fertile land. Others became successful fishermen, ship builders, or merchants.
How did Massachusetts Colony make money?
The Massachusetts Bay Colony primarily made money through shipbuilding, fishing, fur, and lumber production.
What is Massachusetts culture like?
The legacy of the original Pilgrims and Puritans continues to keep Massachusetts rather religious, with nearly 70 percent of the population Christian. This conservatism has been tempered by progressivism, making Massachusetts a pleasantly open-minded and diverse place to travel.
What is the culture of Massachusetts?
The culture of Boston, Massachusetts, shares many roots with greater New England, including a dialect of the Eastern New England accent popularly known as Boston English. The city has its own unique slang, which has existed for many years. Boston was, and is still, a major destination of Irish immigrants.
What did Puritans do for fun?
To be fair, the Puritans did have some fun. They allowed hunting, fishing and archery, and they held athletic contests (never on Sunday though). They drank beer, wine and liquor, but not to excess.
What crops were grown in Massachusetts Colony?
AMONGST IT.” Native corn became the most important grain for English colonists although they also planted European crops of wheat, rye, barley and oats. Native Americans boiled dried corn, berries and nuts, until it thickened into a porridge called Nasaump.
When did Massachusetts abolish slavery?
In 1780, when the Massachusetts Constitution went into effect, slavery was legal in the Commonwealth. However, during the years 1781 to 1783, in three related cases known today as “the Quock Walker case,” the Supreme Judicial Court applied the principle of judicial review to abolish slavery.
How did colonists keep warm?
In addition to keeping active, people wore thick layers of woolen clothing and often slept in them along with flannel night shirts and caps on the coldest nights. Most people, including the wealthy, went to bed in unheated bed chambers.
What was bad about the Massachusetts Bay colony?
As Massachusetts Bay Colony developed, it came into conflict with Native Americans of the region which resulted first in the Pequot War (1636-1638 CE) and then King Philip’s War (1675-1678 CE), after which the colonists controlled the region and the natives who were not sold into slavery were moved to reservations or
What was Massachusetts relationship with the natives?
Colonist-Native American relations worsened over the course of the 17th century, resulting in a bloody conflict known as the First Indian War, or King Philip’s War. In 1675, the government of the Plymouth Colony in Massachusetts executed three members of the Wampanoag people.
What is the economy of Massachusetts?
Overview of the Massachusetts Economy
Massachusetts’s gross state product (GSP) in 2019 reached $518.7bn, with growth of 2.7% over the 5-years to 2019. Businesses in Massachusetts employed a total of 24.2 million in 2018, with average annual employment growth of 2.6%.
What attracted settlers to Massachusetts?
Some Puritans escaped religious persecution in England by moving to the Massachusetts Bay Colony. A religious group that believed in nonviolence, gender equality, and resistance to military service.
Who colonized Massachusetts?
The area that is now Massachusetts was colonized by English settlers in the early 17th century and became the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the 18th century. Before that, it was inhabited by a variety of Indian tribes.