DO NOT EDIT--Changes must be made through “File info” CorrectionKey=TX-A SECTION 2 The New England TEKS 1C, 2B, 3B, 4B, 11A, 15A, 20A, Colonies 23E, 25A What You Will Learn… If YOU were there... Main Ideas You live in a town near London in the early 1700s. Some of your 1. The Pilgrims and Puritans neighbors are starting new lives in the American colonies. You came to America to avoid religious persecution. would like to go with them, but you cannot afford the cost of the 2. Religion and government trip. There is one way you can go, though. You can sign a paper were closely linked in the New England colonies. promising to work as a servant for five years. Then you would be 3. The New England economy free—and in a new country! was based on trade and farming. 4. Education was important in Would you sign the paper and go to America? the New England colonies. The Big Idea BUILDING BACKGROUND England’s first successful colonial English colonists traveled to settlements were in Virginia. They were started mainly as business New England to gain religious ventures. Other colonists in North America had different reasons for freedom. leaving their homes. Many, like the Pilgrims and Puritans, came to have freedom to practice their religious beliefs. Others, like the person Key Terms and People above, simply wanted a new way of life. Puritans, p. 78 Pilgrims, p. 78 immigrants, p. 78 Mayflower Compact, p. 79 Pilgrims and Puritans Squanto, p. 79 Religious tensions in England remained high after the Protestant John Winthrop, p. 80 Reformation. A Protestant group called the Puritans wanted to Anne Hutchinson, p. 82 purify, or reform, the Anglican Church. The Puritans thought that bishops and priests had too much power over church members. Pilgrims on the Move Use the graphic organizer online to The most extreme English Protestants wanted to separate from the take notes on the reasons English Church of England. These Separatists formed their own churches colonists came to New England. and cut all ties with the Church of England. In response, Anglican leaders began to punish Separatists. The Pilgrims were one Separatist group that left England in the early 1600s to escape persecution. The Pilgrims moved to the Netherlands in 1608. The Pilgrims were immigrants —people who have left the country of their birth to live in another country. The Pilgrims were glad to be able to practice their religion freely. They were not happy, however, that their children were 78 CHAPTER 3 DO NOT EDIT--Changes must be made through “File info” CorrectionKey=TX-A learning the Dutch language and culture. Primary Source The Pilgrims feared that their children would forget their English traditions. The Pilgrims HISTORICAL DOCUMENT decided to leave Europe altogether. They T he Mayflower Compact formed a joint-stock company with some In November 1620, Pilgrim leaders aboard the Mayflower merchants and then received permission drafted the Mayflower Compact. This excerpt from the from England to settle in Virginia. Mayflower Compact describes the principles of the Pilgrim On September 16, 1620, a ship called the colony’s government. Mayflower left England with more than 100 men, women, and children aboard. Not all of We whose names are underwritten . having The Pilgrims undertaken, for the glory of God, and advance- describe the these colonists were Pilgrims. However, Pil- ment of the Christian faith, and the honour of reasons they want to form a grim leaders such as William Bradford sailed our King and country, a voyage to plant the with the group. colony in North first colony in the northern parts of Virginia, America. The Mayflower Compact do by these presents solemnly and mutually in the presence of God, and one of another, After two months of rough ocean travel, the covenant and combine ourselves together Pilgrims sighted land far north of Virginia. into a civil body politic for our better order- The Pilgrims knew that they would thus be ing and preservation and furtherance of the outside the authority of Virginia’s colonial ends aforesaid; and by virtue hereof, to enact, The Pilgrims constitute, and frame such just and equal laws, promise to government when they landed. Their charter obey laws that ordinances, acts, constitutions, and offices . would not apply. So, they decided to establish help the whole their own basic laws and social rules to govern as shall be thought most meet and convenient colony. for the general good of the colony unto which the colony they would found. we promise all due . obedience. On November 21, 1620, 41 of the male passengers on the ship signed the Mayflower by these presents: by this aforesaid: mentioned above document virtue: authority Compact, a legal contract in which they agreed covenant: promise ordinances: regulations to have fair laws to protect the general good. The civil body politic: group meet: fitting Compact represents one of the first attempts organized to govern at self-government in the English colonies. ANALYSIS In late 1620 the Pilgrims landed at Plym- SKILL ANALYZING PRIMARY SOURCES outh Rock in present-day Massachusetts. 1. Why do you think the colonists felt the need to establish The colonists struggled through the winter. a government for themselves? Nearly half died during this first winter from 2. How do you think the Mayflower Compact influenced later sickness and the freezing weather, but the governments in America? colony became the first permanent Europe- an colony in New England. Pilgrims and Native Americans From Squanto the Pilgrims learned to In March 1621 a Native American named fertilize the soil with fish remains. Squanto also Samoset walked boldly into the colonists’ helped the Pilgrims establish relations with settlement. He spoke in broken English. the local Wampanoag Indians. Conditions in Samoset had learned some English from the the Plymouth colony began to improve. crews of English fishing boats. He gave the The Pilgrims invited Wampanoag chief Pilgrims useful information about the peoples Massasoit and 90 other guests to celebrate and places of the area. He also introduced their harvest. This feast became known as the them to a Patuxet Indian named Squanto. first Thanksgiving. For the event, the Pilgrims Squanto had at one time lived in Europe and killed wild turkeys. This event marked the spoke English as well. survival of the Pilgrims in the new colony. THE ENGLISH COLONIES 79 DO NOT EDIT--Changes must be made through “File info” CorrectionKey=TX-A Pilgrim Community Puritans Leave England Although the Pilgrims overcame many prob- During the 1620s England’s economy suf- lems, their small settlement still struggled. fered. Many people lost their jobs. The Eng- Most Pilgrims became farmers, but the farm- lish king, Charles I, made the situation worse land around their settlement was poor. They by raising taxes. This unpopular act led to a had hoped to make money by trading furs political crisis. At the same time, the Church and by fishing. Unfortunately, fishing and of England began to punish Puritans because hunting conditions were not good in the they were dissenters, or people who disagree area. Some colonists traded corn with Ameri- with official opinions. King Charles refused can Indians for beaver furs. The Pilgrims to allow Puritans to criticize church actions. made little money but were able to form a strong community. The colony began to Great Migration grow stronger in the mid-1620s after new These economic, political, and religious prob- settlers arrived and, as in Jamestown, colo- lems in England led to the Great Migration. nists began to have more rights to farm their Between 1629 and 1640 many thousands own land. of English men, women, and children left The Pilgrims’ settlement was different England. More than 40,000 of these people from Virginia’s in that it had many families. moved to English colonies in New England The Pilgrims taught their children to read and and the Caribbean. In 1629, Charles granted offered some education to their indentured a group of Puritans and merchants a charter servants. Families served as centers of religious to settle in New England. They formed the life, health care, and community well-being. Massachusetts Bay Company. All family members worked together to In 1630 a fleet of ships carrying Puritan survive during the early years of the colony. colonists left England for Massachusetts to Women generally cooked, spun and wove seek religious freedom. They were led by John wool, and sewed clothing. They also made Winthrop. The Puritans believed that they soap and butter, carried water, dried fruit, and had made a covenant, or promise, with God cared for livestock. Men spent most of their to build an ideal Christian community. time repairing tools and working in the fields. They also chopped wood and built shelters. A New Colony The Puritans arrived in New England well pre- Women in the Colony pared to start their colony. They brought large In Plymouth, women had more legal rights amounts of tools and livestock with them. than they did in England. In England women Like the Pilgrims, the Puritans faced little resis- were not allowed to make contracts, to sue, or tance from local American Indians. Trade with to own property. In America, Pilgrim women the Plymouth colony helped them too. In had the right to sign contracts and to bring addition, the region around Boston had a fair- some cases before local courts. Widows could ly healthful climate. Thus, few Puritans died also own property. from sickness. All of these things helped the From time to time, local courts recog- Massachusetts Bay Colony do well. By 1691, nized the ways women helped the business the Massachusetts Bay Colony had expanded community.