14 a short history of the united states
be governed and the principles on which their government would rest.
Relying on a written document as an authority became an American
custom in enunciating principles and practices by which the inhabit-
ants in the society would be governed.
It was the Pilgrims’ good fortune that they were met by two
English- speaking Indians—Squanto, a Pawtuxet tribesman, and
Samoset, a Pemaquid—who helped them arrange a peaceful agree-
ment with the surrounding Indian tribes. The Indians also taught
them how to raise corn and showed them the best places to fi sh and
hunt. The colony survived and prospered, and the colonists gave thanks
for their good fortune.
Back in England, King Charles I, who succeeded the “dread sover-
eign” James I, gave a group of Puritans permission to form a joint- stock
company in 1629 called the Massachusetts Bay Company, by which they
could establish a colony in an area north of Virginia that John Smith
had described in one publication as New England. John Winthrop, like
many other Puritans, had become deeply troubled about the moral life
in England and the future of religion. He decided to leave and take his
immediate family w ith him. As an influential administrator of the Com-
pany, he was chosen to lead a “Great Migration” of Puritans to America.
Numbering more than 1 , 000 men, women, and children aboard a fl eet
of 17 ships, these Puritans left England on May 22 , 1630 , with John
Winthrop as their governor, and arrived in America on June 12 , 1630 ,
eventually settling in Boston. Upon their arrival, Winthrop assured his
followers that if they bound themselves together “as one man,” God
would protect them and ensure their prosperity. “We shall be as a City
upon a Hill; the eyes of all people are upon us.... We shall be made a
story and a byword throughout the World.” They believed that they had
formed a covenant with God to build a society based on the teachings of
the Bible. Church, state, family, and individuals were bound together as
a unit to create a government and community in accordance with de-
mands of the Almighty. Many of the settlers were well educated and
had enough money to set themselves up in trade, commerce, or farming.
Within a few years the population of the colony numbered 20 , 000 , dis-
persed among several surrounding towns.
The Massachusetts Bay Company had decided to relocate its entire
operation to America, taking the charter along as well. That meant