The Origin of the New England Colonies!

        Like the middle colonies, the New England settlers came over for multiple reasons. The first was religious freedom. Then there were the ones that came to make money. But some even came just to start over and have a clean fresh start to life. 

     In 1620 a group of puritans sailed across the atlantic ocean from Holland on a boat called the Mayflower. They landed in Plymouth bay.  They would become one of the most famous new world settlers in the english colonies. In 1628 the Massachusetts bay Colony was founded by a multitude of investors. Both colonies quickly decided on a system of government for the settlers to follow. In fact, the colonists of Plymouth had the first democratic government in the english colonies!

Above is a map of Plymouth bay. 

     The New Hampshire colony was originally a part of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. It was founded in 1623 by John Mason, and named after the english county of Hampshire. It was a planned colony. Mason sent settlers to the new territory to create a fishing colony. But when Massachusetts was granted a royal charter in 1679, it became its own colony.

     Maine was originally settled in 1604 by a French party. But also, in 1623,  Sir Ferdinando Gorges settled it for the english as a part of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. From that point on the French and English battled it out for Maine. But finally, in 1750, when the English won the French and Indian war, it became its own official English colony. 

     The Rhode Island colony was founded by Roger Williams, because he was banished to England because of his beliefs in separation of church and state and freedom of religion. Instead he fled and lived with the Narragansett Indians and formed the city of Providence in 1636. Anne Hutchinson was also banished for speaking out against the Church in Massachusetts Bay. She formed Portsmouth. This colony was the first to guarantee all its citizens freedom of worship.

          The colony of Connecticut was founded 1636 by Thomas Hooker. It was founded because people from the Massachusetts bay colony moved to Connecticut because they were looking for more freedom and financial opportunities. At first Connecticut was three smaller colonies, but in 1662 John Winthrop obtained a charter which united the three colonies, and they became Connecticut.