First Charter of Massachusetts (March 4, 1629) was granted by King Charles I. In June of 1630, ten years after the Pilgrims founded the Plymouth Colony, Governor John Winthrop founded the Holy Commonwealth of Massachusetts with 700 people sailing in eleven ships. This began the Great Migration, which saw more than twenty thousand Puritans embark for New England in the pursuing sixteen years.
The First Charter of Massachusetts, March 4, 1629, stated:
<And forasmuch as the good and prosperous success of the plantation of the said parts of New England and for the directing, ruling, and disposeing of all other Matters and Things, whereby our said People, inhabitants there, may be so religiously, peaceably, and civilly governed, as their good Life and orderly Conversation, may win and incite the Natives of Country, to the Knowledge and Obedience of the only true God and Savior of Mankind, and the Christian Faith, which is our Royal Intention, and the Adventurers free Profession, is the principal End of this Plantation.> 1629MA001
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American Quotations by William J. Federer, 2024, All Rights Reserved, Permission granted to use with acknowledgement.
Endnotes:
1629MA001. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Massachusetts, First Charter, March 4, 1629, granted by King Charles I of England. Ebenezer Hazard, Historical Collection: Consisting of State Papers and other Authentic Documents: Intended as Materials for an History of the United States of America (Philadelphia: T. Dobson, 1792), Vol. I, p. 252. Benjamin Franklin Morris, The Christian Life and Character of the Civil Institutions of the United States (Philadelphia: George W. Childs, 1864), p. 56. William McDonald, ed., Documentary Source Book of American History, 1606-1889 (NY: The Macmillan Company, 1909), p. 26. Frances Newton Thorpe, ed., Federal and State Constitutions, Colonial Charters, and Other Organic Laws of the States, Territories, and Colonies now or heretofore forming the United States, 7 vols. (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1905; 1909; St. Clair Shores, MI: Scholarly Press, 1968). Henry Steele Commager, ed., Documents of American History, 2 vols. (NY: F.S. Crofts and Company, 1934; Appleton-Century-Crofts, Inc., 1948, 6th edition, 1958; Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, Inc., 9th edition, 1973), p. 16, 18. The Annals of America, 20 vols. (Chicago, IL: Encyclopedia Britannica, 1968), Vol. II, pp. 101, 103. Gary DeMar, God and Government-A Biblical and Historical Study (Atlanta, GA: American Vision Press, 1982), p. 112. "Our Christian Heritage," Letter from Plymouth Rock (Marlborough, NH: The Plymouth Rock Foundation), p. 2. Peter Marshall and David Manuel, The Light and the Glory (Old Tappan, NJ: Fleming H. Revell Company, 1977), p. 148.