Since King Charles had a catholic wife and favored the catholic religion, hostility towards the puritans and protestants alike greatly increased. They were highly literate and skilled, unlike the immigrants to Virginia, 75 percent of whom were servants.”. Dowley, Tim. According to the book British Atlantic, American Frontier, English emigration stopped for the rest of the colonial period: “The outbreak of the English Civil War in 1642 brought the migration to a close; for the rest of the colonial period, only a few hundred settlers trickled in, mostly Scots-Irish who settled at Londonderry, New Hampshire.”. Parliament protected itself against the king. Boston was made the capital in 1632. John Winthrop and Deputy Gov. Thomas Meador started the first Militia to defend against Indian attacks. Adams Media Corporation, 1992. Exile and Journey in Seventeenth-Century Literature. Byington, Ezra Hoyt. Having moved overseas, they continued to omit such extravagances as fine brocades, rich laces, ribbons, and feathers.…. British Atlantic, American Frontier: Spaces of Power in Early Modern British America. of Plymouth in Massachusetts were, like their counterparts in Virginia, dependent upon private investments from profit-minded backers to finance their colony. in journalism. The Puritans established a theocratic government with the franchise limited to church members. 58, No. The grant was similar to that of the Virginia Company in 1609, the patentees being joint proprietors with rights of ownership and government. 6, World Publishing Company, 1914. It changed character and emphasis almost decade-by-decade over that time. Embarkation of the Pilgrims, oil painting by Robert W. Weir, circa 1844. This was problematic for the separatists because, at that time, the church and state were one in England and the act of separating from the Church of England was considered treasonous. Puritanism has a historical importance over a period of a century, followed by fifty years of development in New England. By moving the Massachusetts Bay Company’s General Court from England to America, the Puritans converted it from an instrument of the company to a legislative and administrative assembly free from royal oversight. During the early seventeenth century, East Anglia was a center of religious nonconformism. The charter neglected to say that the company had to remain in England to conduct the business so the company took a vote in August of that year and decided to move the entire company to New England. The Puritans proceeded reluctantly to the place of embarkation, with their eyes looking longingly toward the distant refuge of the Pilgrim Fathers across the billowy deep, yet moist with tears as they turned their backs upon their native land and upon scenes that were dear to them: their hearts swelling with grief as the shores of ‘Dear Old Mother England’ faded from their sight, yet rising to lofty purposes and sublime resignation as they abandoned home and country to enjoy the blessings of religious freedom in a strange land. Bremer, Francis J. The colonists made their living through farming, fishing, and trade. These factors were the establishment of the Long Parliament in 1640 and the outbreak of the English Civil War in 1642. Omissions? Charles Phillips. Anti-Federalists also expressed fears—here touches of class conflict certainly arose—that the new government would fall into the hands of merchants and men of money. In 1625, the religious climate in England worsened when King Charles I ascended the throne. In 1629 the Massachusetts Bay Company had obtained from King Charles I a charter empowering the company to trade and colonize in New England between the Charles and Merrimack rivers. Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. In September of 1620, the separatists traveled to the New World on a rented cargo ship called the Mayflower and landed off the coast of Massachusetts in November, where they established Plymouth Colony, the first colony in New England. The Puritan penchant for simpler dress had begun before their departure for America. Although his mother in law WAS incarcerated by those lunatics after being accused of witchcraft.