WEEK 9

NEW ENGLANDThe second invasion

Puritan Origins 1st Puritans arrived in 1628

1630s new settlement led by John Winthrop b.1588 to wealthy East Anglian family

700 non-separating Congregationalists. Most migrants from East Anglia Beginning of Great Migration era

Like pilgrims, puritans disliked lingering Catholic practices in Anglicanism

separation of church and state necessary ‘only the Godly

should rule the Godly’

Unlike pilgrims committed to ideals of the Church of England

Try to set example of behaviour for others to follow

Image = staid, boring, no fun

really just trying not to be sinful.

Each congregation independent

Refuse to accept authority of bishops or any civil power over religion

Tolerated, rather than accepted

Until appointment of William Laud as Arch Bishop of Canterbury (1620)

increased investigation and persecution of dissenters

One motivation for flight

Religion not the only motive

1620s-30s social and economic situation worsened

Part of from a manor-based to a market-oriented economy

Created 2 factors which affect Puritan motivations

1) Decline in cloth trade During early 17thC the went into decline, hit the farmers of east Anglia hard

2) enclosure Part of new agricultural push

open lands enclosed displacement of farm families and

laborers

led to an increase in UnemploymentPovertyBegging

1628 1st of three years of crop failure

Sense that British society full of people that had lost control of their lives

Puritan view of work Not simple drudgery to

sustain life A vocation calling through which one

improved the world glorified Godfollowed life’s pilgrimage towards salvation

As pious, literate, and enterprising middle men and women

Puritan beliefs delivered control

all around they saw chaos Proving they were chosen to

lead the country out of it problems

‘City on a hill’ Aim in leaving create “Merry

old England” anew in America

Then return to England to lead the country to a new future

Many migrants continued to own land in England

Great Migration 1630 -40

21,000 people From end of the Great

Migration to the end of the 17th c more people left New England than settled in it

Getting the charter Virginia Company dead by

1624, new charter needed. Puritan merchants get charter

of Massachusetts Bay Company from King 1629

Only migrants allowed to be shareholders, so charter taken to America – prevents alteration, by British Government, at later date.

4 ships set out for America in 1630, the Arbella, the Talbot, the Ambrose and the Jewel.

Settlers 70% in family groups 30% single males

usually attached to families as servants.

Adults in 30s or 40s brought children with them had more after arrival.

Life exp very good 70s when only 50s in England few problems with disease, no major

Indian problem (smallpox epidemic)

Result stable society

Between 1620 – 1642 21,000 travel to New England

Majority from 1629 forwards Approximately 5% of white

migrants to America at the time By 1700, despite returnees, New

England counts for 40% of white population

Also a literate society

First print shops in America Cambridge (1640) Boston

(1675)

At least 60% of males could read and write

Religion based on the book

Literacy and numeracy also aided economic activity Harvard (1636) linked to

Emmanuel College, Cambridge 90 New Eng. Ministers trained

there

Town settlement

Very different to the south Chesapeake rich landowners

with large tracts of land and many landless servants and later slaves

New England town-centered farm based landscape

Initial Puritan settlement was in 1629 at

salemJerusalem

When Winthrop turned took his group further south to Boston

Towns quickly sprouted 1640 twenty towns 1660 seventy towns Many towns have British names New England was a “transplanted

English vine”

Puritan New England was not built by Puritans alone

“Strangers” were needed to ensure the regions success

Approx 17% of the Great Migration was un-free labor

Servants and New England Most servants were tied to an

individual family Not as part of a work gang as in

Virginia Debt peonage also existed –

particularly in fishing industry Slavery, although not as large as in

the south, also existed in New England

After 1650 non English war captives, mainly Scottish and Irish, were shipped as bound labor

Ideologically New England was built on faith

built on the backs of not only servants but also paid specialized labor

Carpenters built their houses Millwrights, Tanners, and Iron

workers all contributed to the economic success of Puritan New England

Puritan religious ideal pushed them to commercial success and a desire to subdue the land

But the “strangers” they brought to help

Had their own ideology Often made them both

indifferent and hostile to Puritan ideals

Strangers appeared in court far more frequently than Puritans

Charged with offenses like

Drunkenness Assault Lewdness Larceny Blasphemy

Thomas Morton

1625, 50 year old Morton invested in Mount Wollaston, a commercial settlement in New England

Placated workers with strong drink

Danced around Maypole often with Native American Women

Region became known as Merrymount

1628 Miles Standish marched on Merrymount

Arrested Morton for selling arms to Native Americans

Shipped back to England

returned one year later

1630 returned to Merrymount Massachusetts arrested Morton again Burned his house Sent him back to England…again

1643 he returned … again First to Rhode Island and

Maine Before heading back to

Massachusetts Arrested again and spent

one year in jail Ended his life in Maine

But Puritans were also pragmatic with the strangers

Iron workers in Lynn, Massachusetts

Exempted from attending church on Sunday

And from securing a Minister

Puritans and booze There were (and are) a lot of

alehouses and taverns in England One Puritan in 1635 described

England as overrun with “many beastly, barbarous,

belching drunkards” In New England they regulated

rather than prohibited alcohol

A moderate amount for health was OK but to much caused problems

Most New England towns possessed a tavern (In James town there was 1 Tavern per ten people)

Tavern was primarily for travelers to rest and find refreshment

Locals were limited to a half-hour in a tavern

Servants, and skilled workers alike sort out Taverns for longer periods

They also operated, and frequented, unlicensed bars

In New Hampshire and Maine major fishing regions there were

“ walking taverns” booze boats that followed the fleets

Port cities became the focus for the bar scene

By mid-century there were more bars than churches in Boston

Looking out from the ports

The sea brought wealth to the puritans it also threatened danger

The world was a “sea of sin” Sin threatened puritans like

“violent winds” That threatened to expose New

England as a “weak and ill compacted vessel”