Before landing they drew up and subscribed to a (.11111111flet or frame of government for the new settlement, and elected John Carver Covernor for oin. year. Shortly after lauding they entered into a treaty of peace with the Indian chief 1\las-a soit ;111(1 his tribe, which remained unbroken for a long time. NVititin four months forty-four of the colonists (lied from exposure to the cold and the lack of wholesome food, and for two years they sobered litany privations, but in 1023 they WI-1(' relieved by a bountiful harvest. tither. from the Leyden Church joined 111(.111. and by 1031 six hundred persons—nearly the whole of that bouly—had emigrated. In 1021 the property of the Colony, which had been held as common, was divided among the settlers; in 1027 the rights of the trading company WP1r bought out. and two years later J1 patent eontirming the colo nists' right to the territory they had 0(4-aided was issued to Governor Bradford and others. The Colony grew up in practical independenec. and. organized as a perfect detnoeraey, it carried on its government withont any royal sanction. By 1640 there were eight towns with 2300 inhabi tants in the Plymouth Colony. nutside the lim its of the Colony several scattered settlements were made in Boston Harbor between 1623 and /628.
In 162S an expedition organized by an English company and commanded by John Endicott land ed at Salem. The Minpany had obtained a grant of the territory lying between the Atlantic and Pacific and extending to a point three miles south of the river Charles and three miles north of the river Merrimac. Atter persistent efforts a royal patent was obtained for Governor and company' of the Massachusetts Bay, and the associates were constituted a body politic, with a Governor, deputy, and eighteen assistants to he annually elected, and a general assembly of the freemen, with legislative powers to meet four times in a year, or oftener if necessary. Meas ures contrary to English laws and statutes were forbidden by the charter, but religious liberty was not named in the document, though this was the ultimate aim of the emigrants. In 1629 the colony was reenforced and the government and patent of the company were transferred from London to New England. The old officers re signed, giving place to others chosen from among those who were about to emigrate, John Win throp being elected Governor. The Colony grew rapidly. The conflict between the Puritans and Charles I. brought about a large emigration to Massachusetts, and between 1630 and 1640 about 20,000 persons arrived in the Colony. Charles town, Boston, Watertown, Dorchester, Roxbury, Mystic, Saugus (Lynn), and other places were set tled at this period. The settlers of Massachusetts Bay, as distinguished from the Plymouth pilgrims, were wealthy, and as a rule of a higher social class. They came in congregations under the lead of their mini•sters.who were graduates of the Eng lish universities. Fraternal relations were quick ly established between the two colonies, however. Education was fostered from the beginning. Har vard College was founded in 1636. and in 1642 a system of public schools was organized. Having no charter to occasion disputes. Plymouth Col ony prospered peacefully and monotonously, and its history is unmarred by records of religious narrowness; hut INIassachusetts Bay was in tur moil from the first, owing to its theocratic gov ernment and the stern and arbitrary conduct of the magistrates. It was the desire to escape from the yoke of the Massachusetts theocracy that led to the settlement. of Rhode Island and Connecticut. Prejudiced by the dissensions be tween magistrates and people. and by the fear that the Colony would become independent, the Crown demanded hack the charter in 1634; hut the colonists evaded the order, made preparations to resist, and were fortunate in having attention diverted from them by the political troubles in England. To strengthen itself, the Bay Govern ment exacted an oath of allegiance in T633-34, and that he had opposed this oath as well as the patent was the main reason for the banishment of linger Williams (q.v.). The banishment of Anne Entehinson (q.v.) and the hanging of Quakers were excused by the authorities on the ground that their teachings endangered the sta bility of the government; and the same spirit was at the basis of the act which made church membership a qualification for the franchise, and finally made the Congregational the established Church of the Colony 0651). In 1643 Massa chusetts, Bay united with Plymouth, Connecticut, and New Haven to form the New England Con federacy. for protection against the Indians and the Dutch.
The restoration of the Stuarts was followed by fresh disputes with the Crown, hut in 1662 the King confirmed the Massachusetts charter, and made a conditional promise of amnesty for past political offenses. He insisted. however, upon his right to interfere in the affairs of the Colony, re the complete toleration of the Church of ngland, the taking of an oath of allegiance. and the administration of justice in his name. Com missioners were sent over from England to inves tigate the affairs of the Colony, but they met with defiance from the magistrates and could accom plish nothing. The contest with the Crown con tinued in spite of the pressure of the Indian War (1675-76), in which the New England colonies were plunged. (See PHILIP, KING.) Charles 11. was incensed at the independent course of the Colony in assuming certain sovereign powers, as it had done in coining money, or taking posses sion of the Maine settlements. The English mer chants were irritated by the active trade that was carried on illegally with the West Indies. and Europe. Edmund Randolph (q.v.) urged on the English Government against the Colony, and Massachusetts, under its theocracy, on its side, would make no concession. In 1684 the of the Colony was declared forfeited, the General Court was dissolved, and a royal commission superseded the charter government. In 1686 Sir Edmund Andros was made Governor, and ruled without restraint and without sense. When news of the lauding of William of Orange in England arrived. the people of Boston threw Andros into prison, reinstated the old magistrates, and revived the General Court. In 1692 a new charter was granted uniting Massachusetts Bay and 193-m outh. Its terms, however, were less favorable
than the old charter, in that the Governor, Dep uty Governor, and Secretary were to be appointed by the King, and the members of the Assembly were to be elected by freeholders instead of church members. In 1692-93 the witchcraft delu sion broke out in Salem and vicinity. hut the ex citement was short-lived. and was confined to a limited area. (See WIMICRAFT.) In 1703-04 and 1722-25 there were wars with the Indians. The Colony aided England zealously in her contest with France. notably in the capture of Port Royal (1690)., and of Louisburg (1745). (See PEPPERRELL. WILLIAM.) In the early French and Indian wars the settlers of western Massaelm setts suffered greatly at the bands of the Indians: towns like Haverhill and Deerfield were sub jected to pillage, many of the inhahitants were massacred, and the survivors led away into cap tivity. In 1765 the population of Massachusetts was about 240,000. falling into well defined classes, but all equal in political power. and held firmly together by the (mew' -.mess of a common origin and the possession of a common creed. The austerity of seventeenth-century Puritanism had passed away in great measure, but Church and State were still eonneet ed. and the Great. Revival of 1740 showed how deeply faith lay rooted in the hearts of the people. The first. printing press had been brought over in 1639, and a newspaper, the Poston News Let ler, was issued in 1704. Educational institutions were being constantly founded. Property was well diffused, though for half a century after 1690 the Colony suffered from a reckless tinancial policy, which flooded the country with paper money. t? resistance to the arbitrary nets of the British Parliament. .Nlassachusetts was the pioneer. The stru-gle against the writs of assistance and the fatuous speech of James Otis (May. 1761) marked the opening of the contest which in inde pendence. The opposition to the Stamp Aet, the Boston massacre, the destruction of the tea in Boston Harbor, the closing of the port of Bos ton. and the virtual annulment of the charter. fol in rapid succession. In October, 1774. the General Court resolved itself into a Provincial Congress and proceeded to erect an independent State government. The organization of a militia and the storing of supplies led to 1.exington and Concord. (For military operations during the lievolut ion. see UNITED STATES. ) Lt the war ...%lassachusetts took the leading part, though her population was by no means united in the cause of the Revolution. Among the Loyalists who were banished or who volun tarily abandoned their homes were many of the most prominent and wealthy families. In 1780 a constitution w•as adopted, and by the Bill of Rights, prefixed to it. slavery, as was subse quently decided by the courts, was abolished. In 1786 the rising known as Shays's Rebellion. oc casioned by heavy taxes and the poverty of the people, occurred in the western part of the State. The Anti-Federalist element in the State was powerful till 1797, and the United States Constitution was ratified in January. 1788, by the close vote of 187 to 168. After 1797 the Fed eralist Party Ileea me predinninant, the opposition to the War of 1S1•? was bitter, and delegates from Massachusetts participated in the Hartford Convention (q.v.). The State remained stub bornly Federalist long after the party had dis appeau•ed everywhere else. and as a result it took little interest in national affairs. With the pass ing of the Fetleralist Party greater liberty of came into the tields of politics and re ligion. In I515 'dissenters' were released from paying taxes to support Congregational minis ters. and in 1833 the Congregational Church was dis•'stablisltcd. Educational development contin ued under all rfgintes. In 1793 Williams College and in 1521 Amherst College were founded, and in 1537 a State board of education was created. The anti-slavery movement had its birth in %Iassac•Irtsctts, and at Roston William Lloyd (.arrison began the puhlication of the Liberator on January 1, 1531. grew• rapidly after 1540, and was favored in its growth by such episodes as the capture of the runaway slave Shadraelt in the streets of Boston in 1851. and of Anthony Burns in 1554. In the Civil War. tinder the administration of the patriotic I.overnor. John A. Andrew, the State contributed nearly Itio.MIO Men to the Union armies.
One of the most important public works ever undertaken by the State was the construction of the lloosac Tunnel, which was completed in 1.873. Legislation since t lie Civil War II:I s dealt largely with the questions of the liquor trade. the regu lation of corporations. nmnicipal government. the civil service, and labor. .\s early as 1853 a law• reducing working day from twelve hours to ten was passed. Since then the State has been active in caring for the industrial classes, to such an extent, indeed. that after 1895 the depressed condition of the textile trades was attributed by some to the fact that employers were unduly hampered by oppressive State regulations passed to protect labor, and could not meet the competi tion of the manufactures of the South. In 1898 and subsequent years a succession of strikes among, the mill operatives caused great distress among the working classes. The period after the Civil War witnessed the rise of many political movements. The temperance question came into prominence in 1867: the question of the admission of women to the suffrage was agi tated up to 1850: the National Labor Party ex erted great influenee in 1878. From 1855 to 1874 the State government was Republican. In 1574 the Democrats elected their• candidate for Gover nor on an anti-prohibition platform: in 18i they were victorious with Benjamin F. Butler as their candidate. In 1890 the revelation of cor ruption in the Legislature brought about the choice of a Demoeratie Goventor in the person of William E. Russell. whose great popularity caused him to be reelected in 1891 and 1892. Since then the State has been Republican by heavy majorities. In national elections Massa uhusetts has been Federalist. Whig, and Republi can, with the exception of the years 1804 (Jeffer son). 1820 (Monroe). 1824 and 1828 Polio Quincy Adams). The list of colonial and State Governors of Massachusetts is as follows: