Ch 4 Lesson 2 – The New
England Colonies Student Notes
Student Name: _________________________________________________
Class: ________________________________________________________
Date: ________________________________ Period: _________________
The photograph above shows the layout of the Mayflower. It’s approximate hull length was 90
feet. That’s about the distance from my classroom door to the office at the corner of the
hallway. 102 people packed themselves into that ship for three months. What would that be
like? What challenges would you face?
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Students will know…
… the reasons colonists migrated to America
… complex relationship between colonists and Native Americans
… the society, culture and economy of the New England colonies
Key Words:
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Dissent
Persecute
Puritans
Mayflower Compact
This information can be found on pages 114 – 118 in your textbook
 England’s first colonists came in search of wealth. The next wave came searching for
religious freedom.
o England had been a protestant country since 1534. At
that time, King Henry VII broke away from the Roman
Catholic Church and formed the Anglican Church
o He was considered to be an indulgent man, who cared
little for the Church’s rules. He was married 6 times.
He beheaded two of his wives when they no longer
suited him. He famously left the Catholic Church
when the pope would not grant him an annulment from his first wife.
o Many people dissented, or disagreed with the King’s new religious beliefs.
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Some people remained Catholic; others wanted to reform the Anglican Church.
 The protestant people who pushed for reform were known as Puritans.
Some Puritans tried to set up their own churches – these people were
known as Separatists.
 The Separatists were persecuted, or mistreated, for their beliefs. To
preserve their faith and their English culture, some Separatists decided to
move to America.
 In 1620 a group of Separatists were able
to get headrights (land grants) from the
Virginia Company.
o We refer to this particular group of
Separatists as the Pilgrims (the
word pilgrim refers to a person
who goes on a religious journey).
o 102 of these folks boarded a ship called the Mayflower and sailed to America.
 The Mayflower was originally a wine ship before it was used by the
Pilgrims. The ship had three masts, weighed 180 tons, and was 90-feet long
and 26-feet wide. It sailed to North America alone on September 16, 1620.
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 The ship first landed on
November 21, 1620, at presentday Provincetown, Cape Cod,
but then continued to Plymouth.
Two people died and one baby
was born by the time the
Mayflower anchored at
Plymouth.
o While still on the ship, the Pilgrims
signed a document later called the Mayflower Compact. This document set up an
organized, orderly government.
Predicting: __________________________________________________________________________________________
o Although the Pilgrims were trying to get to Virginia, they sailed a little off course
and wound up in Cape Cod Bay. They arrived in late fall and had little time to
prepare for winter.
o Nearly half of the Pilgrims died from sickness during the first winter.
 The following spring, two Native Americans named Squanto and Samoset came to help
them. They taught the Pilgrims to grow crops and find food, and they helped them
make peace with the Wampanoag people.
o In the fall of 1621, the Pilgrims and their new friends shared a feast. This feast
became known as Thanksgiving.
 In 1629, a group of Puritans formed the Massachusetts Bay Company. They received a
royal charter to establish a colony north of Plymouth.
o During the 1630s, more than 15,000 Puritans came to Massachusetts to escape
religious persecution in England. Many of them settled in a new city named
Boston.
o This movement of people became known as the Great Migration.
 Other colonies were formed in New England by people who had similar desires are the
Pilgrim but didn’t share their strict Puritan beliefs.
o Connecticut, Rhode Island, and New Hampshire were all founded by people who
wanted religious freedom but didn’t believe the same things as the Puritans in
Massachusetts.
 Throughout this time, settlers moved into lands previously held by Native Americans.
Often, the competition for land resulted in conflict.
o In 1675, a leader from the Wampanoag tribe, named Metacomet, waged war
against the New England colonies. This war lasted for 14 months and resulted in
the colonists defeating the Natives in New England.
Sequencing: _________________________________________________________________________________________
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Practice Questions:
1. Examine the following words: Dissent and Persecute. What do they have in common?
In England, Puritans were persecuted because they dissented, and disagreed with the beliefs
of the Anglican Church.
2. Why do you think the Pilgrims were willing to endure such hardship?
Their faith meant more to them than their comfort and safety.
3. How could you describe the importance of religious freedom in American history? How
did it impact the New England colonies?