Episode 7: Connecticut and Rhode Island

  Listen on: iTunes Subscribe on Android Stitcher and more   The Saybrook Patent The Earl of Warwick had, in 1631, granted a piece of land in modern Connecticut to a group of his friends and family.  He’d lost leadership of the Council for New England as a result of the dubiously legal act, but in 1635, colonists Read more about Episode 7: Connecticut and Rhode Island[…]

Massachusetts Bay 6: The King’s Threat

  Listen on: iTunes Subscribe on Android Stitcher and more   Laud’s investigation When Archbishop Laud investigated the Massachusetts Bay Colony’s activities, he quickly discovered its charter had been moved to America.  Alarmed by the quantity and type of people moving to New England, he moved quickly to take over.  A permanent commission was created, with final say Read more about Massachusetts Bay 6: The King’s Threat[…]

Massachusetts Bay 5: Raising the stakes

Listen on: iTunes Subscribe on Android Stitcher and more   Internal dissent and external threats Massachusetts Bay was big enough and wealthy enough to avoid the bulk of the serious physical hardship which had characterized earlier settlements, but its size and political nature led to other concerns.  Gorges and the colony’s exiles worked against the Colony’s charter in Read more about Massachusetts Bay 5: Raising the stakes[…]

Massachusetts Bay 4: Commonwealth

Listen on: iTunes Subscribe on Android Stitcher and more   Years of building With things going well for Puritans in England, migration slowed significantly from 1631-32, and colonists were able to spend their time building the colony.  They constructed permanent residences, and a couple new towns, but also the much more complex process of building a commonwealth.  They Read more about Massachusetts Bay 4: Commonwealth[…]

Massachusetts Bay 3: The Winthrop Fleet

Listen on: iTunes Subscribe on Android Stitcher and more   The first self-governing colony In 1630, 1500 Puritans sailed for New England.  Their charter had had a loophole allowing them to move the company to New England, making Massachusetts Bay the first colony completely governed from America (unbeknownst to the king).  With 4 months to prepare for winter, Read more about Massachusetts Bay 3: The Winthrop Fleet[…]

Massachusetts Bay 2: The founding of Salem

Listen on: iTunes Subscribe on Android Stitcher and more   Paving the way Two years before the plans for the Massachusetts Bay Company were finalized, John Endicott went to Naumkeag – which he renamed Salem – to help relieve the area’s first Puritan settlement, created by John Lyford and some of his associates.  He would also help pave Read more about Massachusetts Bay 2: The founding of Salem[…]

Massachusetts Bay 1: King Charles and the Puritans

Listen on: iTunes Subscribe on Android Stitcher and more   The origins of the Great Migration King Charles was an Arminian – a Protestant who believed in high church ritual, Episcopal succession, social hierarchy, and royal prerogative.  The Puritans believed in the opposite – simple services, no bishops, and a society built around the family unit and local Read more about Massachusetts Bay 1: King Charles and the Puritans[…]

Plymouth 1: The Brownist Emigration

[mc4wp_form id=”123″] Listen on: iTunes Subscribe on Android Stitcher and more The Brownist Emigration Brownism was the most severe form of political agitation of its time, and one which its opponents believed would lead to social turmoil, endless denominational fighting, rebellion against the monarchy, civil war, anarchy and dictatorship. In the roughest part of England, a rural area Read more about Plymouth 1: The Brownist Emigration[…]

Jamestown 10: The Virginia Company – King vs. Parliament

    [mc4wp_form id=”123″] Listen on: iTunes Subscribe on Android Stitcher and more   Another collapse … This is it, the final (final) episode on Jamestown.  It’s here that everything comes together, and the seeds of future adventures are planted. When the Sea Venture sank off the coast of Bermuda, the Virginia Company once again began to collapse.  Read more about Jamestown 10: The Virginia Company – King vs. Parliament[…]

Jamestown 9: The politics of Virginia in England

  [mc4wp_form id=”123″] Listen on: iTunes Subscribe on Android Stitcher and more The History of the Virginia Company of London In this two-part episode, we discuss the politics of colonization in England.  England hadn’t successfully set up any New World colonies when Gosnold and Archer started to push for a new attempt, and the colony immediately became the Read more about Jamestown 9: The politics of Virginia in England[…]