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England to New England - Bringing One's Culture to America
from Inquiry Unlimited.
The people and their lives prior to emigrating to the new colony:
- Read from the background secondary source literature of the1600s/1700s
- Definitely include "Eating the Plates,""Colonial Living" (Tunis) and "If You Lived in Colonial Times" (McGovern)
- Secondary source pictures of the times
- "Colonial Living" by Tunis - using the opaque projector, observe the clothes, houses, work patterns, use of fireplaces for heat and light in the colonial areas
- Read aloud "If You Lived in Colonial Times" (McGovern)
Where they came from and where they were going - maps/geographical comparisions
- Comparison of counties and towns of England to those in the
Massachusetts Bay area and New England
- Primary source documents - use of maps
- England 1603 - 1660
- Massachusetts Bay/England
- Massachusetts Bay Colony 1630 - 1642
- Home origins of Winthrop Fleet - 1630
- New England circa 1675
- Colonizing life in North America
- Primary source documents - advertisements/broadsides
- What Every Planter Should Bring to New England
- Household implements for a family of 6 persons
- Passengers Bound of New England
- Passengers Bound for Virginia
- Internet sources:
NEWPORTIA COLONY PROFILE
Dear Massachusetts Bay Colony,
It is with great pleasure that we, the residents of Newportia Colony, do write to you this 8th day of February in the year of our Lord 1750. We hope that this letter finds you in good health and that all within are prospering.
We are mailing you pictures of ourselves and personal profiles which I hope you will find helpful in getting to know us. A bit later, we will be mailing a map of our colony and other information to you.
The following is our Colony Profile.
Colony Charter: Newportia (Pennsylvania) Colony
Date Founded: 1736
Date Today: February 8, 1750
Number of Colonists: Originally, we arrived with 150 men, women and
children, but lost many our first year at Newportia due to lack of experience
and poor conditions. Currently, we number 115.
Composition of Colonists: The group who founded our colony consisted of 9
families from England, 5 families of German origin, and 1 from Ireland, 1
from Scotland, 2 from Holland, 9 from France, and 1 originally from Africa.
Location:
Newportia Colony is located in the southeastern corner of the area known as
Pennsylvania. The colony area is located between the Susquehanna River and
the Delaware River and bordered on the northeast by the Schuykill River.
The area along the Delaware River is part of the Atlantic Coastal Plain,
low and flat. Westward it slopes upward to the base of the Blue Mountains.
The Blue Mountains are rugged highlands that extend from northeast to south
central area called Pennsylvania, meaning "Penn's Woods", named by King
Charles II of England in honor of Admiral William Penn.
Climate:
The climate is humid, with long, hot summers and mild winters in the Coastal
area, but with colder and shorter winters in the Plateau regions. The
weather is extremely variable. There is often snow in the winter and the
summer brings many thunderstorms. The average temperature is between 26 -32
degrees F. in January and between 70-76 degrees F in July. There are 34-51
inches of rain recorded.
Natural Resources:
Much of the land is covered by a vast forest, a mixture of deciduous and
evergreen trees, both hard wood and soft wood trees. Maple syrup can be
found nearby. Wild berries, cranberries, wild ginger, and wintergreen
grow throughout the region. Wildlife includes white-tailed deer, black
bears, beavers, rabbits, squirrels, and raccoons, opossum, moles, muskrats,
and skunks found in forested regions. Game birds include woodcocks, wild
turkeys, ring-neck pheasants, bobwhite quail, Canadian geese, and ducks.
Edible mushrooms are readily available and soil is good for corn, hay, oats,
wheat, and barley. Fruits which have been found to grow successfully are
peaches, grapes, cherries, tomatoes, and pears. Soil is rich and fertile,
thus farming is good. Tobacco is also grown in some southern areas.
The region is rich in mineral wealth. Resources include anthracite, coal,
petroleum and natural gas. Limestone is also found nearby.
Water transportation is readily available in navigable rivers leading to the
Atlantic Ocean.
History:
Original colonists are a mixture of German-speaking immigrants from Germany,
Switzerland, and Alsace who settled in this region when the colony was
founded in 1736. Some Holland Dutch joined the colony along with Swedes,
English, and Scotch-Irish and French. Half of the residents belong to the
religious organization called the Quakers established by William Penn. He
wanted a place where all religions would be tolerated. The region of
Newportia, originally under Dutch rule, is now under the rule of the throne
of England.
200 brave men, women, and children left the harbor of Plymouth, England to
settle in this area to found Newportia Colony, although many died on the
voyage and in the first years. The closest settlement to Newportia is
Philadelphia founded in 1682 by William Penn. Newportia Colony voted to
adopt Penn's motto of "Mercy, Justice, Truth, Peace, Love, Plenty," and
participated in signing the treaty of friendship with the Indians in the
area. Penn is attempting to get residents of Newportia Colony to join in
under his rule to be part of his "Holy Experiment ." However, many
colonists prefer to remain independent in Newportia.
Colonists of Newportia Colony came to the Americas seeking refuge and
religious freedom and seeking opportunities to make a living. The majority
came over on the ship, The Chester, leaving Plymouth Harbor, England in
the spring of 1736 and arriving in the summer where they travelled up
Delaware Bay to the Delaware River. The colonists proceeded on westward
where they located a suitable area for their colony. Because of the
diversity of the immigrants, many spread out over the area with only a few
concentrating in Newportia to establish a town. Because the Quaker
religion was accepting of others different from themselves, colonists
generally got along well. Those in the surrounding areas did, however,
participate in the governing, defense, and establishing of rules for the
colony.
After you have had an opportunity to learn about the origins of our colony,
we hope you will send us some problems or challenges you feel we, as a new
colony, would have to face. We will then hold a town meeting and inform you
of our solutions. You may expect that we also will send you some
situations/problems to resolve.
Our best wishes to the Massachusetts Bay Colony.
Sincerely,
Newportia Colony
MASSACHUSETTS COLONY PROFILE
Greetings, Newportians,
It is a great pleasure to speak to our friends in the south on this 11th day of February in the year of our Lord 1750. We hope that Newportians continue to meet success and flourish during these times.
We know that you await information about us as your new friends.
Colony Charter: Massachusetts Bay Colony - A Puritan colony
Date of Charter: March 4, 1628
Date Today: February 11, 1750
Number of Colonists: Currently in 1750, Boston has approximately 15,000 people
Original composition of Colonists: The original group who founded our colony came to the Massachusetts Bay Colony on a fleet of eleven ships. The fleet included people who paid for their passage; those who had professions and trades and were to get land grants; and indentured servants carried at the expense of their masters who were to receive 50 acres of land for each servant transported.
Borders: Our charter from King Charles extends north to the Merrimack River, the Charles River near the Massachusetts Bay Colony, and south to the Plymouth Colony Charter. Other rivers in the area that were later used were: the Concord, Nashua, Deerfield, Westfield, Housatonic, Blackstone, Chicopee, and Taunton Rivers.
Control: Our Charter put the members of our Massachusetts Bay Colony in charge with one Governor, one Deputy Governor, and 18 Assistants chosen by the freemen of the Company.
Charter Content: Included in the Charter was how decisions would be made; when elections would take place; what benefits members of the company would get; what type of trading we could do; how we would avoid paying taxes; the types of laws of the plantation; how the fish trade would be changed
Location:
Our ancestors sailing with John Winthrop crossed the Atlantic Ocean. They passed Cape Cod and entered Massachusetts Bay as they sailed to Salem. They then entered Boston Bay and settled in Charlestown. Due to bad water, they were invited to move to the Shawmut Peninsula (now Boston) where William Blackstone (Blaxton) was living alone. They settled there.
Others of the people in the Company fanned out and settled in towns they named after many of the towns in England. Towns such as: Dorchester, Roxbury, Watertown, Cambridge, Newtown, Dedham, Braintree, Mt. Wollaston, Merry Mount, Weymouth, Hingham, Medford, Concord, Gloucester, Marblehead, Lynn, Ipswich, Rowley, Haverhill, Hampton, and Salisbury.
Climate: The climate has four seasons: summer, fall, winter, and spring. The shortest day of the year occurs in December with approximately 9 hours and 14 minutes. The longest day of the year is in June with approximately 15 hours and 17 minutes. The weather varies. There is snow in the winter. The average summer temperature is 72 degrees F. The average winter temperature low is 29 degrees F.
Natural Resources: Fishing is plentiful with scallops, cod, lobsters, crabs, clams, flounder, and haddock. There is a mixture of deciduous and evergreen trees, both hard wood and soft wood trees. Pines, oaks, and maples abound making shipbuilding properous. Cranberries grow in the bog areas.
Wildlife includes beavers, foxes, white-tailed deer, porcupines, raccoons, skunks, rabbits, muskrats, pheasants, wild ducks, geese, seagulls, herons as well as many other kinds of birds, rattlesnakes and other snakes.
The glacial deposits have left gravel, granite, sand, building stone, limestone, and clay deposits. Farming is difficult along the coastline.
History:
Fisherman had come to the area in the early 1600s since there was much cod. The Pilgrims settled in our area at Plymouth in 1620. Fellow Puritans settled in Salem in 1628. Boston was founded in 1630 as a Puritan town with settlers from towns in England with such names as Boston, Dorchester, Gloucester, Plymouth, Taunton, and counties such as Suffolk, Norfolk, Essex, Gloucester, Lincoln, Kent, and Somerset. Pennacooks, Nipmucs, Nausets, and Wampanoags were living in the area.
When the our ancestors settled, they formed schools and colleges. They began newspapers. In 1690, they became involved in King Philip's War with the natives.
There was no separation between church and state during this time. Our Puritan leaders used the Bible to exact punishment.
Through the years our ancestors have faced getting settled in, witch trials, hostile war with Metacom (King Philip) in the western and southern part of our colony.
Our colony members live spread out in and around Boston. It is to Boston that we come for meetings related to the entire colony. Each town sends representatives to Boston to make the laws, appear at court, and be heard. The meetings are held at the Town Meeting House.
Our best wishes to Newportia Colony. We look forward to our experiences, challenges, and activities with you.
Sincerely,
Massachusetts Bay Colony members
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