Massachusetts


 * MASSACHUSETTS**

Geography of Massachusetts:

The colony of Massachusetts is located in the Northern colonies known as New England. It makes up the width of New England and is in the East there is 192 miles of coastline with the Atlantic Ocean. Most of Massachusetts is wetlands, flood-plain forests, sand-plain grassland, and spruce-fur forests. Along the East coast there is the Cape Cod Peninsula and the islands of Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket, which jut out into the sea and have served as bases for fisherman for hundreds of years. Fisherman also used the two natural harbors Massachusetts Bay and Cape Cod Bay. There are many rivers in Massachusetts such as the big ones like the Connecticut River in the west and the Charles and Merrimacks in the east. In the west the Berkshire Hills are a portion of the state with beautiful mountains and valleys that apart of the Appalachian mountain chain. Towards the middle of Massachusetts there was a plain that was once rich for agricultural before over farming and deforestation. In the winter Massachusetts gets very cold due to cold fronts from Canada and in the summer is humid and hot. The geography of Massachusetts affected the colonies development from the day the Mayflower came with Puritan settlers. Puritan settles used the harbors and plain for farming, trade, and fishing which they prospered from. Towns could prosper off there surroundings and Massachusetts government gave most of the power to individual towns. History The first colonist’s settlement in Massachusetts was in 1620 when the Mayflower ship holding 100 Puritan settlers (Pilgrims), arrived at Cape Cod Bay. The head of the 100 settlers was William Bradford, most of these Pilgrims were religious dissenters from England. All the male pilgrims had to first sign the Mayflower Compact that had already lain down civil order for the colony. The Mayflower Compact made sure that the government of the colony was based on the consent of the governed. These first settlers started the Plymouth Colony, which was located in southern Massachusetts. There were Native Americans living in the region prior to them but a lot had died because of diseases, most notably small pox, that was brought by Europeans that passed New England on the way to Newfoundland. These colonists worked with the surviving Indians and learned farming methods and also negotiated some form of peace with the Indian tribe. The Indian tribe was known as the Wampanoags. The Colony grew because of successful farming and trade. Trade outposts were made across New England.

Economics The colonists learned farming methods from the local Wampanoag Native Indian tribe that they had created a form of peace with. Eventually the colony thrived from farming and trade. The puritans that settled in Massachusetts used agriculture, trade, and fishing as their way to make money. There was slavery in Massachusetts in the early years of the colony. It was the first slave-holding colony in New England. In the 17th century New England slave trade was run by Massachusetts. Boston merchants imported slaves from Africa and sold them to more southern colonies.

Social The colonists of Massachusetts’s spoke English because they came from England. They were primarily puritans, the earliest settlers being radical puritans, but the later ones being less radical. It is unclear what role women played in Massachusetts but they did not play any political role, they most likely worked at home on the farms and with livestock.

Political

The first charter of Massachusetts was in 1620 called the Mayflower Compact which all 100 Puritans on the Mayflower led by William Bradford signed. The document founded the civil order of the Plymouth colony on that government is based on the consent of the governed. In 1630 another group of Puritans led by John Winthrop established another colony around the new town of Boston. Winthrop established a form of government that allowed individual communities a measure of freedom in governing themselves in both civil and religious ways. By the late 17th century England realized the prosperity of New England, so in the year of King James II of England mandated a massive reorganization of the region and appointed Sir Edmund Andros royal governor. However due to Andros dismantling the old way of government the Glorious Revolution was sparked overthrowing Andros. Afterwords in 1691 Massachusetts adopted a new charter by King William III, which joined the Plymouth colony to Massachusetts, guaranteed religious toleration, and assigned the colonial government to a royal governor. This government remained until after the Revolutionary War.

Terms
 * Triangle Trade- Massachusetts made some of the best rum. In the triangle trade rum was traded with Africans for slaves and this is how this colony played a part in the triangle trade.
 * Salutary Neglect - Before signifant events like the stamp act, Britain did not enforce strict control of Massachusetts. Traders weren't taxed on what they sold and were allowed to flourish.
 * Mercantilism-Products sold by merchants in Massachusetts first had to be sent to British ports before being sold so that the British would gain from this trade
 * Great awakening- People were not getting sufficient emotional and spiritual support from the church so during the 1760s Johnathan Edwards started a new style of preaching in the town of Northampton, Massachusetts. This movement was a religious revival, soon this style of preaching spread and there was a whole new connection between people and God across the colonies.
 * Cash Crops- Massachusetts was not really involved with cash crops, it was more involved with fishing. As well as fishing, New England processed sugar from the West Indies and made it into granulated sugars to be sold to Europe. Merchants also created rum in Massachusetts.

French and Indian War During the French and Indian War Massachusetts colonists supported the British against the French in the war. A Massachusetts militiaman quoted of the a battle in the war, “The… Roar of muskets terrified me… Our regiment formed among the trees, behind which the men kept stepping from their ranks for shelter. Colonel Preble… swore he would knock the first man down who should step out of his ranks, which greatly surprised me, to think that I must stand still to be shot at.” After the war, the British taxed Massachusetts along with the other colonies for fighting the war for them. This angered some colonies but Massachusetts took the leadership of patriotism for getting their rights. Many huge incidents happened in Massachusetts, which played huge parts in the start of the American Revolution. Two of the biggest were the Boston Massacre where four colonists of Massachusetts were killed after forming a mob, and the other was the Boston Tea Party where colonists in Boston threw mass amounts of tea from ships into the water. Along with these incidents Massachusetts had many key people who helped form the First Continental Congress and fight for freedom such as Samuel Adams and John Adams.

Revolution Massachusetts was the birthplace of the American Revolution. Key figures in the war against the British came from Massachusetts most notably John Adams, Samuel Adams, John Hancock, and even Paul Revere. The Minutemen were started in Massachusetts. They played a pivotal role in the revolution because they were the first men to fight in battle. In April 1775, the British Army fought against the minutemen, at Concord and Lexington. One significant battle of the revolution that occurred in Massachusetts was the battle at Bunker Hill on June 17th, 1775. But prior to the revolution Massachusetts was where the Boston tea party, the Boston Massacre all occurred. Massachusetts leading politicians dominated the Continental congress and were primary figures in lobbying for adopting the Declaration of Independence. The colony became a state in 1780 and adopted a new state constitution; Massachusetts was large supporter of the Constitution and signed it the following year after declaring itself a state.



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