Life in the 1600s in Massachusetts

Pilgrims were the first Europeans to arrive in Massachusetts in 1630. The Native Americans were there before them. Native Americans taught them how to plant crops such as beans and corn. If the Native Americans did not teach them how to plant crops a lot more pilgrims would've died.

Traders from different towns transported many things down the river to the harbor.  Massachusetts had a trade network called the “Triangular Trade.” They traded slaves so they can buy molasses. They used molasses to make rum. They took slaves to the West Indies to sell them.

We read about the first colonies and took notes on the vocabulary and what we learned.

This is a map that was in our book that shows where the first colonies were.

These people were Puritans. They lived in small towns. They dressed in simple clothes, because there was laws against wearing  fancy clothes. The Puritans governed them selves by making fair laws that the others could agree on. People who disobeyed the laws or rules were punished and usually whipped. Puritans disliked those laws and rules. In about 1563 Puritans decided they wanted to live by their own rules and laws and live a life they wanted to live. Mary Dyer was a famous Quaker preacher. She lived from 1611 to 1660. She died because of her beliefs. "Mary Dyer's death led to many protests against the anti-Quaker laws in Massachusetts." (p.26)  Mary Dyer's death made people in other colonies have religious freedom. Mary Dyer was born in 1611 and she died in 1660. Mary believed it was important to accept people of all faiths, this quality is called TOLERANCE. Mary was born in Britain (England).

"In the 1600s, life for many people in Britain was hard.  Thousands of people were out of work and homeless."  (p.8)  A lot of the laws and rules were rules people thought were unfair to live by. The king wanted everybody to have the same religious beliefs and go to the same christian church. That is why many British people came to North America on the Mayflower.

All quotes were taken from the National Geographic book set on Colonial America: "Massachusetts," by Vineeta Rai.