any of you may not be familiar with the Massachusetts Bay Colony, but it is an essential part of American History. Though this colony may not be as familiar to us or as famous as Jamestown or Plymouth, we still need to now about it. It was the first attempt of the city on a hill, also known as Utopia.
he Massachusetts Bay Colony was started around 1629. The leader of the colony was John Winthrop. Under Winthrop and other men like him, such as John Cotton, the colony had a religious centered government.
n 1630, the elders of the church proclaimed that in order to be able to vote, one must be a member of the Congregational Church. Soon the colony became known as the Bible Commonwealth.In 1636, the dissenter Roger Williams, preached to the people that the church and the state should be two separate things. Williams was then thrown out of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. A little while later Anne Hutchinson and many others fled the colony to escape the restrictions of the church government. Life in the colony was demanding. The Puritans believed in hard work and and everyone was required to work from sunrise until sunset. There was very little time for fun and going to Sunday services was a must. Amusement and dancing was frowned upon by the society. The colony even had a law against dressing stylishly, although style did change after the colony got more money.
ne of the most important things this colony is responsible for is the first democratic meetings in America, the town meeting. At these meetings, every member of the church had a right to speak. Decisions were made by voting and the majority had the rule, whether right or wrong. In some other towns, though, men who owned a lot of land and other property, also had the right to vote.
n the beginning, the meetings only went over the local problems but in 1634, some bold people decided to tell these Puritan leaders that they got to let each town send two people to talk for that town in the general court. These people were to be chosen at the town meeting and represented their interests at court.
n conclusion, the Massachusetts Bay Colony was a large and important colony in Massachusetts. It was an unsuccessful tempt at Utopia, but it did introduce America to democratic government.