US History

U.S. History Study Guide

Facts to Remember • First permanent English settlement in the NewWorld • It provided great wealth to England from the cash crop, tobacco. • The House of Burgesses was the first example of representative self-government in the New World • The importance of Captain John Smith and John Rolfe Massachusetts Plymouth Plantation In 1620, people seeking to start a new life of religious freedom sailed across the Atlantic on the Mayflower. Most of these settlers were Separatists, people who wanted to separate from the Church of England. The Separatists renounced the Church of England (Anglican Church) and established their own self-governing congregations. Among the Separatist groups were Pilgrims, Quakers, and Baptists. The majority of people on the Mayflower were Pilgrims. The Separatists were much different from the Puritans, The Puritans only wanted to “purify” the Church of England (Anglican Church) not separate from it. In November 1620, the Mayflower landed at Plymouth Bay. Unfortunately, this was outside the bounds of the British possession and they had no legal right to settle there, the leaders of the Pilgrims insisted that all males sign the Mayflower Compact. This established the colony of Plymouth Plantation, as a “civil body politic” under the sovereignty of James I of England and made the contract with the Virginia Company of London void. The Mayflower Compact is often described as the precursor to the United States Constitution and America’s first example of true self-government. The Pilgrims were unprepared for the harsh winter and about half of the settlers died within that year. Those who survived owed their lives to the aid of some English-speaking Native Americans, who taught the Pilgrims how to grow corn. After that terrible first winter, Plymouth quickly grew and prospered. Within a few years, the colony expanded into Cape Cod and the southeastern part of modern Massachusetts. In 1691, Plymouth Colony would become part of the larger Massachusetts Bay Colony. Facts to Remember • The Mayflower Compact was the first example of true self government, influencing the development of colonial government and the United States of America. 3.7 The Massachusetts Bay Colony In 1628, the Puritans left England and settled north of the Plymouth Plantation. The Puritans wanted their colony to be a theocracy (a government driven by the Bible), and emphasized religion over trade. The Massachusetts Bay Colony operated according to a system called congregationalism, in which

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