Custom «Massachusetts Bay Colony» Essay Paper Sample

Also known as the Massachusetts Company, Massachusetts colony was a settlement comprising of English descendants who settled on North Americas East Coast. In the 17^th Century. This was at the time known as New England which was currently set on the present Cities of Salem and Boston though the region is now referred to as the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, which is among the 50 States of the United States.

A city on a hill

The idea of the naming of the Massachusetts Bay colony as a city on a hill was described by John Winthrop aboard a ship en-route to Salem from England. This had a reason that Massachusetts Bay colony charter would be transported from England to Salem with an aim of establishing the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. This followed remarks by John Winthrop naming the Massachusetts Bay Colony "a City on a hill" after building his house on top of a hill aimed at being closer to God.

This meant that Massachusetts Bay colony would act as the central governing point for all other Commonwealth of Massachusetts thus the charter was granted to the colony of Massachusetts General Court with authority to have officers elected in a bid to create laws that would govern the colony.

Purpose of Massachusetts Bay colony at the time of its founding

The colony consisted of puritans whose origins were from England. Their aim was to preserve the purity of the Church of England from the remnants of the Catholic Church. As this was the case, they went against King Charles as he had made a promise to his wife that he would practice the doctrines of the Catholic faith. This led to the fleeing of Puritans from England as King James I and his son Charles I had the intensions to suppress the movement of the Puritans.

The Massachusetts Bay colony was a place where Puritans held their first thanksgiving in a bid to preserve the Church of England. This was followed by the Great Migration of ministers who fled the repressive leadership and the policies of religious acts that had been put in place in England. The fleeing of these ministers meant that they would be accompanied by their flocks hence led to the population growth of Puritans in at the Massachusetts Bay Colony.

Among these Puritans were John Cotton, Thomas Hooker and Roger Williams who went on to become Puritans leaders in the Massachusetts Congregations. At the Massachusetts Bay colony, the Puritans were organized and went on to have companies that would help cater for their financial issues thus helping them plan for their investments.

With reference to the creation of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, there have been revolutions and the adoption of laws which govern the regions. Puritans had since tried to preserve the Massachusetts Bay colony thought with the involvement of suppression from King Charles thwarted their wishes.

Puritans who were very strict on the Puritan theocracy tried to involve themselves in activities to help improve Massachusetts Bay Colony hence appointed a Governor and put in place laws which would help in planning for the taxes collected. This was overseen by Governor John Winthrop who was elected as the first governor. Through Christianity models, John Winthrop's remarks on the "city on a hill" is a view taken into consideration by Puritans as their strong religious beliefs made them feel that their proximity to God was obvious.