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BOSTON

BOSTON. Founded in 1630 by a group of Puritans led by John Winthrop, Boston was intended to serve as an example to the Protestant world, especially to Anglicans. Boston was the initial settlement and the capital of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, whose towns spread rapidly west into the forests of Massachusetts.

Settled by families rather than soldiers or single men, Boston quickly established schools, churches, and social institutions, including a proto-democratic local government. The Great Migration, which brought more than twenty thousand Puritans to Massachusetts by 1640, contributed to the rapid growth of business, especially shipping and boat building. Like New York and Philadelphia, Boston engaged in extensive shipping and trade with England and the Caribbean. The rich forests of New England contributed wood for boat building, pitch and tar for repairs and export, and a variety of animal products. In addition, Bostonians were deeply involved in the shipping of rum, sugar, and slaves. Business was so successful, in fact, that by the end of the seventeenth century many Puritan leaders grew worried that material gain would weaken religious sentiment among the young.

By the middle of the eighteenth century, the "city on a hill" had indeed moved away from its Puritan roots. Populated by more than sixteen thousand literate, prosperous, politically active citizens of a variety of faiths, Boston became the earliest center of rebellion against Britain. The crown responded with a series of repressive measures, the ultimate effect of which was to radicalize both the local population and other British North American colonies. While Philadelphia gave the Revolution documents, Boston gave men such as John and Samuel Adams, John Hancock, and Paul Revere.

Although Boston's successes were not those envisioned by its founders, it was a remarkable example of orderly colony building in British North America. Free of most disease, growing fast in families and wealth, replete with colleges, churches, artisans, and craftsmen, Boston was unique among early colonies.

See also British Colonies: North America; New York; Philadelphia; Puritanism.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Morgan, Edmund Sears. The Puritan Dilemma; the Story of John Winthrop, edited by Oscar Handlin. Boston, 1958.

Nash, Gary B. The Urban Crucible: The Northern Seaports and the Origins of the American Revolution. Cambridge, Mass., 1979.

FIONA DEANS HALLORAN