Editing New Bedford, Massachusetts (section)

=== Old Dartmouth ===
[[File:A Deed Appointed to be Recorded (Dartmouth Purchase) 1652.pdf|thumb|Purchase deed from November 29, 1652, for Old Dartmouth.<ref name="gilderlehrman.org">{{Cite web|title=A Deed Appointed to be Recorded. {{!}} Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History|url=https://www.gilderlehrman.org/collection/glc02924002|access-date=August 22, 2021|website=www.gilderlehrman.org|archive-date=August 22, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210822052019/https://www.gilderlehrman.org/collection/glc02924002|url-status=live}}</ref>]]
In 1652, English colonists purchased [[Old Dartmouth]]—a region of {{convert|115,000|acres|km2}} that is now [[Dartmouth, Massachusetts|Dartmouth]], [[Acushnet, Massachusetts|Acushnet]], New Bedford, [[Fairhaven, Massachusetts|Fairhaven]], and [[Westport, Massachusetts|Westport]]—in a treaty between the Wampanoag, represented by Chief Ousamequin '''('''[[Massasoit]]) and his son [[Wamsutta]], and [[John Winslow (1597–1674)|John Winslow]], [[William Bradford (governor)|William Bradford]], [[Myles Standish]], Thomas Southworth, and John Cooke.<ref name="gilderlehrman.org"/><ref name=":4" /> While the Europeans considered themselves full owners of the land through the transaction, the Wampanoag have disputed this claim because the concept of [[land ownership]]—in contrast with hunting, fishing, and farming rights—was a foreign concept to them.<ref name=":4" />

==== Quakers ====
{{Further|New Bedford Meeting House}}Members of the [[Quakers|Religious Society of Friends]], also known as [[Quakers]], were among the early European settlers on the [[South Coast (Massachusetts)|South Coast]].<ref name=":5">{{Cite web|last=Wittenberg|first=Ariel|title=The story of Dartmouth's first settlers: The Quakers|url=https://www.southcoasttoday.com/article/20140602/NEWS/140609959|access-date=February 3, 2020|website=southcoasttoday.com|language=en|archive-date=February 3, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200203160504/https://www.southcoasttoday.com/article/20140602/NEWS/140609959|url-status=live}}</ref> They had faced persecution in the [[Puritans|Puritan]] communities of [[Plymouth Colony]] and [[Massachusetts Bay Colony]]; the latter banned the Quakers in 1656–1657.<ref name=":6">{{Cite book|last=Lukesh|first=Susan Snow|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4X_bCwAAQBAJ&q=Plymouth_Colony_and_Massachusetts_Bay_quaker_dartmouth_1652&pg=PA31|title=Frozen in Time: An Early Carte de Visite Album from New Bedford, Massachusetts|date=February 15, 2016|publisher=Lulu.com|isbn=978-1-4834-3920-4|language=en|access-date=September 3, 2021|archive-date=February 15, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230215201351/https://books.google.com/books?id=4X_bCwAAQBAJ&q=Plymouth_Colony_and_Massachusetts_Bay_quaker_dartmouth_1652&pg=PA31|url-status=live}}</ref> When the Massachusetts Bay Colony annexed the Plymouth Colony in 1691, Quakers already represented a majority of the population of Old Dartmouth.<ref name=":6" /> In 1699, with the support of [[Peleg Slocum]], the Quakers built their first [[meeting house]] in Old Dartmouth, where the [[Apponegansett Meeting House]] is now located.<ref>{{Cite book|author=Ricketson, Daniel|url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/1263627689|title=The history of New Bedford, Bristol County, Massachusetts including a history of the old township of Dartmouth and the present townships of Westport, Dartmouth, and Fairhaven, from their settlement to the present time|date=1858|publisher=D. Ricketson|oclc=1263627689|access-date=August 21, 2021|archive-date=February 15, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230215201353/https://worldcat.org/title/1263627689|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=":5" />

At first, the Old Dartmouth territory was devoid of major town centers, and instead had isolated farms and small, decentralized villages, such as [[Russells Mills Village Historic District|Russells' Mills]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Old Dartmouth Purchase|url=https://www.whalingmuseum.org/explore/exhibitions/harboring-hope-in-old-dartmouth/old-dartmouth-purchase|access-date=February 3, 2020|website=New Bedford Whaling Museum|language=en|archive-date=February 3, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200203160505/https://www.whalingmuseum.org/explore/exhibitions/harboring-hope-in-old-dartmouth/old-dartmouth-purchase|url-status=dead}}</ref> One reason for this is that the inhabitants enjoyed their independence from the Plymouth Colony and they did not want the Plymouth court to appoint them a minister.<ref name=":6" />

At this time, the economy primarily ran on agriculture and fishing. The availability of land attracted many Quakers and [[Baptists]] from [[Newport, Rhode Island|Newport]] and [[Portsmouth, Rhode Island|Portsmouth]] in [[Rhode Island]], as well as more waves of Puritan migration.{{citation needed|date=March 2021}}

==== King Philip's War ====
The rising European population and increasing demand for land led the colonists' relationship with the indigenous inhabitants of New England to deteriorate. European encroachment and disregard for the terms of the Old Dartmouth Purchase led to [[King Philip's War]] in 1675.<ref name=":3">{{Cite book|last1=Arato|first1=Christine A.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sypwQ2nRv4cC&pg=PA2 |title=Safety Moored at Last: History, existing conditions, analysis, preliminary preservation issues|last2=Eleey|first2=Patrick L.|date=1998|publisher=National Park Service|isbn=978-0-912627-66-3|language=en}}</ref> In this conflict, [[Wampanoag]] tribesmen, allied with the [[Narragansett people|Narragansett]] and the [[Nipmuc]], raided Old Dartmouth and other European settlements in the area.<ref name=":3" /> Europeans in Old Dartmouth garrisoned in sturdier homes—John Russell's home at [[Russells Mills Village Historic District|Russells Mills]], John Cooke's home in [[Fairhaven, Massachusetts|Fairhaven]], and a third garrison on [[Palmer Island Light|Palmer Island]].<ref name=":3" /><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.whalingmuseum.org/explore/exhibitions/harboring-hope-in-old-dartmouth/conflict|title=Conflict - Irreconcilable Differences|website=New Bedford Whaling Museum|language=en|access-date=February 3, 2020|archive-date=February 3, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200203160929/https://www.whalingmuseum.org/explore/exhibitions/harboring-hope-in-old-dartmouth/conflict|url-status=dead}}</ref>