The Trailblazing Colony of Massachusetts essays

The Trailblazing Colony of Massachusetts essays Massachusetts is one of the original 13 colonies, laying claim to the Pilgrim's landing and the Boston Tea Party, as well as the first battles of the Revolutionary WarLexington and Concord. Native Americans were living in Massachusetts long before Europeans arrived, and among them were the Wampanoag, the Nauset, and the Massachuset tribes. These people were largely agricultural, although they did a significant amount of fishing and trading with French and British settlers. European settlement of the Massachusetts colony began in 1620, with the landing at Plymouth of the Pilgrims, looking for freedom from religious persecution. They found the winter difficult, but they stayed. The English settlers found some friendly Native Americans in the Massachusetts area. The Wampanoag, in particular, was friendly to the Pilgrims. (Out of this friendship came the First Thanksgiving.) The Plymouth colony thrived and expanded, becoming the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Salem was the first capital, then was replaced by Boston in 1632, after a huge infusion of English settlers arrived. The colony thrived as an agricultural colony, although several important merchants set up shop in the following years. Most people lived in villages, with the farm fields just outside of town. The typical village layout was privately owned houses surrounding a commona large open area that was owned by all members of the village. In this common was a meeting house, where religious and town meetings took place. Interest in education was keen, and Harvard, the first American university, was founded in 1636. The first private academies could be found in Massachusetts as well. This promotion of education extended all the way to very young children, as a 1647 law required towns of more than 50 people to have an elementary school, which children were required to attend. The ever-expanding settlements of Europeans brought them eventually into armed conflict with Native Am...