Massachusetts

=**Massachusetts**= __Geography__ The Colony of Massachusttes was located New England, which is north eastern North American. Colonial Massachusetts had many bodies of water areas to enjoy the water such as bays beaches. The Charles river is the largest river within Massachusetts. The Appalachian Mountains are also within the state of Massachusetts. The Farming conditions were not good due to rocky soil and many rapid rivers. The geography of Massachusetts led to the colony being more or a fishing colony and less of a farming colony becasue water was abundant and the soil was rocky.
 * 1620-1780**

__History__ Massachusetts was colonized by the Puritan settlers, also known as pilgrims, From England in 1620. They came over on the Mayflower and landed in Cape Cod Bay. The Puritans came for religious freedom because in England they were not allowed to practice thier religion freely. They signed the Mayflower compact which was the first form of government in the colonies at the time. When they got there, there were an abundance of Native Americans living in that reigion. Unfortunately, when the settlers started thriving in this reigion, the Native americans including the Wampanoags, were relatively wiped out due to the harsh treatment and foriegn diseases in which they were never exposed to before.

__Economics__ The colonists survived and made a living off of farming, trading furs, lumbering, ship building and fishing. Their main way of survival was fishing due to their abundance waters. The principle form of commerce in colonial Massachusetts was trading fish and finished goods they made like ships. Slavery was in the massachusetts colony from its beginnings but then slowly stopped using it as time passed.

__Social__ The main laguage that was spoken was english, with some local native american languages spoken also. The main religion was Puritan due to the large amount of settlers that came over from Britain at the beggining of the colony. The role of women was to be good mothers and to take care of the house. They cooked and cleaned and did all of the household activities.

__Political__ The charter that was given to the colonies was a royal charter because the colony was assigned to a royal appointee who goverened the colony. The Colonists originally set up the mayflower compact which said that they had to give up personal rights for the great good of the colony, as the time went on the colony continued to have a similar style of government. They aslo had a directy democracy in the small towns within Massachusetts.

__Terms__ 1. Triangle Trade- A three way trade route between The Colonies, England, and West Africa. The raw materials came from The Colonies, which went to England. Then the manufactured goods from England went to West Africa and then slaves went back to The Colonies. 2. Salutary Neglect- British policy of not strictly enforcing laws to maintain colonial loyalty. 3. Mercantilism- Raw materials are taken from the colonies and given to the mother country and then the finished goods are sold to the Colonies. 4. Great Awakening- Religious revival movement begun in Massachussets. 5. Cash crops- Crops that could be sold for a lot of money like tobacco and cotton.

=Road to Revolution= __French and Indian War__ The colony was involved in fighting alongside the Britiah in the French and Indian war. They also supplied Britain with the things they needed for the war. As a result of the French and Indian war, Massachusetts was subjected to many taxes. These included the stamp act and the molasses act. They also lost respect for Briatain after they had seen them fight in the war. They thought that their style of fighting was old and outdated. The Massachusetts colony had many Patriots in their country and was extremely for the revolution.

__Revolution__ Although a few Revolutionary leaders came from Massachusetts, Samuel Adams was a major leader. He was a major politician in colonial Massachusetts and was a part of setting up many of the revolts within the Revolution, such as the Boston massacre. The Colony of Massachusetts supported the revolution and had many actions within the colony. The first clash of the American Revolutionary war took place in Massachusetts at the battle of Lexington and Concord. One major military action that took place was the battle at Bunker Hill. This was a major fight which took place as the seige of Boston was going on and although the colonist lost, the Bristish had suffered the loss of many respected generals. The Colony Immediatley after the Revolution Massachusetts an economic depression especially the farmers. They also were now faced with taxes to pay off the Revolutions debts. The Colony of Massachusetts supported the Constitution.

"Massachusetts." //American History//.ABC-CLIO, 2011. Web. 25 Sept. 2011.