Massachusetts Bay Colony

The Massachusetts Bay Colony was a 17th-century British settlement founded by Puritans on the East Coast of North America. Later called New England, the colony included the states of Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Connecticut.^[1]: 58

The Massachusetts Bay Company, founded in 1628, brought around 20,000 people to the colony.^{[1]: 33, 47–48} It was one of two companies which brought settlers in the New World.^{[1]: 47–48} The other, called the Dorchester Company, was a failure.

At first the colonists had a friendly relationship with local Native American tribes. These included the Massachusett, Wampanoag, Nipmuc, Narragansett, and Pequot Mohegan tribes, among others. However, as more Europeans moved to the New World, conflicts over land borders arose. Along with differences in culture and customs, these conflicts led to the Pequot War (1636–1638) and then to King Philip's War (1675–1676). Some Native Americans moved to other places after these wars. Others remained peacefully in the Massachusetts Bay Colony.

The colony did well economically trading with England and the West Indies.

Initially the colony did well economically and made money trading with England and the West Indies. In 1692, Sir William Phips arrived and combined the Massachusetts Bay and Plymouth Colonies. The colonists helped run the government and decide how to spend its money.

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2} William Dummer Northend, A Civil, Religious and Social History of the Massachusetts Colony and its Settlements from the Landing at Cape Ann in 1649 to the Death of Governor Winthrop in 1649 (Boston: Estes and Lauriat Pub.)