Title: Massachusetts Bay Colony - Wikipedia
Headings: Massachusetts Bay Colony
Massachusetts Bay Colony
Contents
History
Plymouth Colony
Cape Ann settlement
Legal formation of the colony
Colonial history
Confrontation with England
Revocation of the charter
Unifications and restoration
Life
Marriage and family life
Government
Laws and judiciary
Notable criminal prosecutions
New England Confederation
Economy and trade
Demographics
Geography
Boundaries
Timeline of settlement
See also
References
Bibliography
Online primary sources
External links

Content: Massachusetts Bay Colony - Wikipedia
Massachusetts Bay Colony
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English possession in North America between 1628 and 1684
The Colony of Massachusetts Bay
Massachusetts Bay Colony
1629–1686
1689–1691
Flag
Colonial Seal
Map of the Massachusetts Bay Colony
Status
Disestablished
Capital
Salem, Charlestown, Boston
Common languages
English, Massachusett, Mi'kmaq
Religion
Congregationalism
Government
Puritan theocracy and Self-governing colony
Governor


• 1629–1631
John Endecott (first)
• 1689–1692
Simon Bradstreet (last)

Legislature
Great and General Court or Assembly of Massachusetts Bay
• Upper House ( de facto)
Council of Assistants
• Lower House ( de facto)
Assembly
Historical era
British colonization of the Americas
Puritan migration to New England (1620–1640)

• Charter Issued
1629
• Revocation of the Royal Charter
1684
• Dominion of New England established
1686
• Dominion dissolved
1689
• Massachusetts Charter for the Province of Massachusetts Bay
1691
• Disestablished, reorganized as the Province of Massachusetts Bay
1686
1689–1691

Currency
Pound sterling
Massachusetts pound, pine tree shilling

Succeeded by

Dominion of New England

Province of Massachusetts Bay

Today part of
Massachusetts
Maine
New Hampshire
The Massachusetts Bay Colony (1628–1691), more formally The Colony of Massachusetts Bay, was an English settlement on the east coast of America around the Massachusetts Bay, the northernmost of the several colonies later reorganized as the Province of Massachusetts Bay. The lands of the settlement were in southern New England, with initial settlements on two natural harbors and surrounding land about 15.4 miles (24.8 km) apart—the areas around Salem and Boston, north of the previously established Plymouth Colony. The territory nominally administered by the Massachusetts Bay Colony covered much of central New England, including portions of Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, and Connecticut. The Massachusetts Bay Colony was founded by the owners of the Massachusetts Bay Company, including investors in the failed Dorchester Company which had established a short-lived settlement on Cape Ann in 1623. The colony began in 1628 and was the company's second attempt at colonization. It was successful, with about 20,000 people migrating to New England in the 1630s. The population was strongly Puritan, and governed largely by a small group of leaders strongly influenced by Puritan teachings. Its governors were elected by an the electorate limited to freemen who had been formally admitted to the local church. As a consequence, the colonial leadership showed little tolerance for other religious views, including Anglican, Quaker, and Baptist theologies. The colonists initially had good relationships with the local Indians, but frictions developed which led to the Pequot War (1636–38) and then to King Philip's War (1675–78), after which most of the Indians in southern New England made peace treaties with the colonists (apart from the Pequot tribe, whose survivors were largely absorbed into the Narragansett and Mohegan tribes following the Pequot War).