Title: Did the Puritans Settle the Massachusetts Bay Colony?
Headings: Why Did the Puritans Settle the Massachusetts Bay Colony?
Why Did the Puritans Settle the Massachusetts Bay Colony?
The Puritans – Massachusetts Bay Colony

Content: the first was evacuated after less than a year while the second disappeared without trace in 1587. The first permanent settlement, Jamestown, was founded two decades later in Virginia. The settlers who established Jamestown suffered heavy losses during the first winter but the colony survived and others were established over the course of the 17th century. The Massachusetts Bay Colony was founded in 1628 by members of the Massachusetts Bay Company, a joint stock trading company chartered by the English crown. The company was composed of Puritans who wanted to pursue religious freedom in the New World. The first governor of this group of Puritans was John Winthrop who proclaimed the new colony would be “as a city upon a hill”. Contrary to popular belief about this statement, however, Winthrop was not saying that the colony was destined for greatness and all other nations must look to it as an example. Rather, he meant it as a precaution – other nations would be observing the new colony and if they failed they would do so on the world stage: For we must consider that we shall be as a city upon a hill. The eyes of all people are upon us.