Editing John Winthrop (section)

==Massachusetts Bay Colony==

===Arrival===
On April 8, 1630, four ships left the [[Isle of Wight]] carrying Winthrop and other leaders of the colony.  Winthrop sailed on the ''[[Arbella]]'', accompanied by his two young sons Samuel{{Efn|Samuel became a [[List of colonial governors and administrators of Antigua#Governors of Antigua (1632–1671)|governor of Antigua]].}} and Stephen.<ref name="autogenerated1">Bremer (2003), pp. 169, 188–189</ref>  The ships were part of [[Winthrop Fleet|a larger fleet]] totalling 11 ships that carried about 700 migrants to the colony.<ref>Holland, p. 29</ref>  Winthrop's son [[Henry Winthrop]] missed the ''Arbella''{{'s}} sailing and ended up on the ''Talbot'', which also sailed from Wight.<ref name=Mayo5961/><ref name=ProcMHS2/> A sermon titled [[A Model of Christian Charity|"A Modell of Christian Charitie"]], delivered either before or during the crossing, has historically been attributed to Winthrop, but the sermon's authorship is disputed; [[John Wilson (Puritan minister)|John Wilson]] or [[George Phillips (Watertown)|George Phillips]], two ministers who sailed with the ''Arbella'', may have authored the sermon.<ref>{{Harvtxt|McGann|2019|pp=28–31, 43–44}}; {{Harvtxt|Van Engen|2020|p=296}}.</ref>

"A Modell of Christian Charitie" described the ideas and plans to keep the Puritan society strong in faith, while also comparing the struggles that they would have to overcome in the New World with the [[Exodus narrative in Antebellum America|story of Exodus]]. The sermon used the now-famous phrase "[[City upon a Hill]]" to describe the ideals to which the colonists should strive, and that consequently "the eyes of all people are upon us."<ref>Bremer (2003), pp. 175–179</ref> The sermon also said, "In all times some must be rich some poore, some highe and eminent in power and dignitie; others meane and in subjection"; that is, all societies include some who are rich and successful and others who are poor and subservient—and both groups were equally important to the colony because both groups were members to the same community.<ref name="Winthrop, John">{{cite ODNB|last1=Bremer|first1=Francis|title=Winthrop, John|url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/29778?docPos=2|year=2004|doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/29778|access-date=October 11, 2014}}</ref>

[[Image:WinthropLanding.jpg|thumb|left|Engraving showing Winthrop's arrival at Salem]]
The fleet arrived at [[Salem, Massachusetts|Salem]] in June and was welcomed by John Endecott. Winthrop and his deputy [[Thomas Dudley]] found the Salem area inadequate for a settlement suitable for all of the arriving colonists, and they embarked on surveying expeditions of the area. They first decided to base the colony at [[Charlestown, Massachusetts|Charlestown]], but a lack of good water there prompted them to move to the [[Shawmut Peninsula]] where they founded what is now the city of [[Boston]].<ref>Mayo (1936), pp. 54–58</ref>  The season was relatively late, and the colonists decided to establish dispersed settlements along the coast and the banks of the [[Charles River]] in order to avoid presenting a single point that hostile forces might attack. These settlements became Boston, [[Cambridge, Massachusetts|Cambridge]], [[Roxbury, Boston|Roxbury]], [[Dorchester, Boston|Dorchester]], [[Watertown, Massachusetts|Watertown]], [[Medford, Massachusetts|Medford]], and [[Charlestown, Boston|Charlestown]].

The colony struggled with disease in its early months, losing as many as 200 people to a variety of causes in 1630, including Winthrop's son Henry, and about 80 others who returned to England in the spring due to these conditions.<ref name="Winthrop, John"/><ref name="B103"/>  Winthrop set an example to the other colonists by working side by side with servants and laborers in the work of the colony. According to one report, he "fell to work with his own hands, and thereby so encouraged the rest that there was not an idle person to be found in the whole plantation."<ref>Bremer (2003), p. 104</ref>

Winthrop built his house in Boston where he also had a relatively spacious plot of arable land.<ref>Bremer (2003), p. 205</ref>  In 1631, he was granted a larger parcel of land on the banks of the [[Mystic River]] that he called [[Ten Hills, Somerville, Massachusetts|Ten Hills Farm]].<ref>Manegold, pp. 26–27</ref>  On the other side of the Mystic was the shipyard owned in absentia by Matthew Cradock, where one of the colony's first boats was built, Winthrop's ''[[Blessing of the Bay]]''. Winthrop operated her as a trading and packet ship up and down the coast of New England.<ref>Hart, p. 1:184</ref>

The issue of where to locate the colony's capital caused the first in a series of rifts between Winthrop and Dudley. Dudley had constructed his home at Newtown (present-day [[Harvard Square]], [[Cambridge, Massachusetts|Cambridge]]) after the council had agreed that the capital would be established there. However, Winthrop decided instead to build his home in Boston when asked by its residents to stay there. This upset Dudley, and their relationship worsened when Winthrop criticized Dudley for what he perceived as excessive decorative woodwork in his house.<ref>Bremer (2003), p. 213</ref>  However, they seemed to reconcile after their children were married. Winthrop recounts the two of them, each having been granted land near [[Concord, Massachusetts|Concord]], going to stake their claims. At the boundary between their lands, a pair of boulders were named the Two Brothers "in remembrance that they were brothers by their children's marriage".<ref>Morison, p. 91</ref>  Dudley's lands became [[Bedford, Massachusetts|Bedford]], and Winthrop's [[Billerica, Massachusetts|Billerica]].<ref>Jones, p. 251</ref>

===Colonial governance===
[[Image:JohnWinthrop 1873 OurYoungFolks.png|thumb|right|upright|Engraving depicting Winthrop being carried across the [[Mystic River]]]]
The colony's charter called for a governor, deputy governor, and 18 assistant magistrates who served as a precursor to the idea of a [[Governor's Council]]. All these officers were to be elected annually by the [[freeman (Colonial)|freemen]] of the colony.<ref>Morison, p. 84</ref>  The first meeting of the [[Massachusetts General Court|General Court]] consisted of exactly eight men. They decided that the governor and deputy should be elected by the assistants, in violation of the charter; under these rules, Winthrop was elected governor three times. The general court admitted a significant number of settlers, but also established a rule requiring all freemen to be local church members.<ref>Morison, p. 85</ref>  The colony saw a large influx of immigrants in 1633 and 1634, following the appointment of strongly anti-Puritan [[William Laud]] as [[Archbishop of Canterbury]].<ref>Morison, p. 82</ref>
[[File:John Winthrop Home Site Charlestown.jpg|thumb|left|Site of the "Great House" near the corner of New Rutherford Avenue and Chelsea Avenue, Charlestown, Massachusetts.  This was the home of John Winthrop and also served as the first seat of government in the colony.]]

When the 1634 election was set to take place, delegations of freemen sent by the towns insisted on seeing the charter, from which they learned that the colony's lawmaking authority, the election of governor, and the election of the deputy all rested with the freemen, not with the assistants.  Winthrop acceded on the point of the elections, which were thereafter conducted by secret ballot by the freemen, but he also observed that lawmaking would be unwieldy if conducted by the relatively large number of freemen. A compromise was reached in which each town would select two delegates to send to the general court as representatives of its interests.<ref>Bremer (2003), p. 218</ref>  In an ironic twist, Thomas Dudley, an opponent of popular election, won the 1634 election for governor, with [[Roger Ludlow]] as deputy.<ref>Bremer (2003), p. 243</ref>  Winthrop graciously invited his fellow magistrates to dinner, as he had done after previous elections.<ref>Bremer (2003), p. 241</ref>

In the late 1630s, the seeming arbitrariness of judicial decisions led to calls for the creation of a body of laws that would bind the opinions of magistrates. Winthrop opposed these moves, and used his power to repeatedly stall and obstruct efforts to enact them.<ref name=B305/>  His opposition was rooted in a strong belief in the [[common law]] tradition and the desire, as a magistrate, to have flexibility in deciding cases on their unique circumstances. He also pointed out that adoption of written laws "repugnant to the laws of England" was not allowed in the charter, and that some of the laws to be adopted likely opposed English law.<ref name=B306>Bremer (2003), p. 306</ref>  The [[Massachusetts Body of Liberties]] was formally adopted during [[Richard Bellingham]]'s governorship in 1641.<ref name=B305>Bremer (2003), p. 305</ref>  Some of the laws enacted in Massachusetts were cited as reasons for vacating the colonial charter in 1684.<ref>Osgood, p. 3:334</ref>

In the 1640s, constitutional issues arose concerning the power of the magistrates and assistants. In a case involving an escaped pig, the assistants ruled in favor of a merchant who had allegedly taken a widow's errant animal. She appealed to the general court, which ruled in her favor. The assistants then asserted their right to veto the general court's decision, sparking the controversy. Winthrop argued that the assistants, as experienced magistrates, must be able to check the democratic institution of the general court, because "a democracy is, amongst most civil nations, accounted the meanest and worst of all forms of government."<ref name=Mor92>Morison, p. 92</ref>

Winthrop became the focus of allegations about the arbitrary rule of the magistrates in 1645, when John was formally charged with interfering with local decisions in a case involving the [[Hingham, Massachusetts|Hingham]] militia.<ref>Bremer (2003), p. 361</ref>  The case centered around the disputed appointment of a new commander, and a panel of magistrates headed by Winthrop had several parties imprisoned on both sides of the dispute, pending a meeting of the court of assistants. Peter Hobart, the minister in Hingham and one of several Hobarts on one side of the dispute, vociferously questioned the authority of the magistrates and railed against Winthrop specifically for what he characterized as arbitrary and tyrannical actions. Winthrop defused the matter by stepping down from the bench to appear before it as a defendant. He successfully defended himself, pointing out that he had not acted alone, and also that judges are not usually criminally culpable for errors that they make on the bench. He also argued that the dispute in Hingham was serious enough that it required the intervention of the magistrates.<ref>Bremer (2003), p. 362</ref>  Winthrop was acquitted and the complainants were fined.<ref>Bremer (2003), p. 363</ref>

One major issue that Winthrop was involved in occurred in 1647, when a petition was submitted to the general court concerning the limitation of voting rights to freemen who had been formally admitted to a local church. Winthrop and the other magistrates rejected the appeal that "civil liberty and freedom be forthwith granted to all truly English", and even fined and imprisoned the principal signers of the petition.<ref>Hart, pp. 1:122–123</ref>  William Vassal and Robert Child, two of the signatories, pursued complaints against the Massachusetts government in England over this and other issues.<ref>Moore, p. 263</ref>

===Religious controversies===
{{further |Calvinism}}
[[Image:Anne Hutchinson on Trial.jpg|thumb|right|Depiction of [[Anne Hutchinson]]'s trial, c. 1901]]
In 1634 and 1635, Winthrop served as an assistant, while the influx of settlers brought first [[John Haynes (governor)|John Haynes]] and then [[Henry Vane the Younger|Henry Vane]] to the governorship.  Haynes, Vane, [[Anne Hutchinson]], and pastors [[Thomas Hooker]] and [[John Wheelwright]] all espoused religious or political views that were at odds with those of the earlier arrivals, including Winthrop.<ref>Bremer (2003), pp. 281–285</ref> Hutchinson and Wheelwright subscribed to the [[Antinomianism|Antinomian]] view that following religious laws was not required for salvation, while Winthrop and others believed in a more [[Legalism (theology)|Legalist]] view. This religious rift is commonly called the [[Antinomian Controversy]], and it significantly divided the colony; Winthrop saw the Antinomian beliefs as a particularly unpleasant and dangerous heresy.<ref>Bremer (2003), p. 285</ref>  By December 1636, the dispute reached into colonial politics, and Winthrop attempted to bridge the divide between the two factions. He wrote an account of his religious awakening and other theological position papers designed to harmonize the opposing views. (It is not known how widely these documents circulated, and not all of them have survived.) In the 1637 election, Vane was turned out of all offices, and Dudley was elected governor.<ref>Bremer (2003), p. 291</ref>

Dudley's election did not immediately quell the controversy.  First John Wheelwright and later Anne Hutchinson were put on trial, and both were banished from the colony.<ref name=B293/>  (Hutchinson and others founded the settlement of [[Portsmouth, Rhode Island|Portsmouth]] on [[Aquidneck Island|Rhode Island]]; Wheelwright founded first [[Exeter, New Hampshire]] and then [[Wells, Maine]] in order to be free of Massachusetts rule.)<ref>Bremer (2003), p. 299</ref><ref>Golson, pp. 61–62</ref> Winthrop was active in arguing against their supporters, but Shepard criticized him for being too moderate, claiming that Winthrop should "make their wickedness and guile manifest to all men that they may go no farther and then will sink of themselves."<ref name=B293>Bremer (2003), p. 293</ref> Hooker and Haynes had left Massachusetts in 1636 and 1637 for new settlements on the [[Connecticut River]] (the nucleus of the [[Connecticut Colony]]);<ref>Moore, pp. 300–302</ref> Vane left for England after the 1637 election, suggesting that he might seek a commission as a governor general to overturn the colonial government.<ref>Winship, p. 9</ref> (Vane never returned to the colony, and became an important figure in Parliament before and during the [[English Civil War]]s; he was beheaded after the [[Stuart Restoration|Restoration]].)<ref>Moore, pp. 321–333</ref>

In the aftermath of the 1637 election, the general court passed new rules on residency in the colony, forbidding anyone from housing newcomers for more than three weeks without approval from the magistrates. Winthrop vigorously defended this rule against protests, arguing that Massachusetts was within its rights to "refuse to receive such whose dispositions suit not with ours".<ref name=B294>Bremer (2003), p. 294</ref> Ironically, some of those who protested the policy had been in favor of banishing Roger Williams in 1635.<ref name=B294/> Winthrop was then out of office, and he had a good relationship with Williams. The magistrates ordered Williams' arrest, but Winthrop warned him, making possible his flight which resulted in the establishment of [[Providence Plantations]].<ref>Bremer (2003), p. 251</ref>{{Efn|Providence Plantation later united with the settlements on Rhode Island (now called Aquidneck Island) to create the [[Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations]].}} Winthrop and Williams later had an epistolary relationship in which they discussed their religious differences.<ref>Bremer (2003), p. 252</ref>

===Indian policy===
Winthrop's attitude toward the local Indian populations was generally one of civility and diplomacy. He described an early meeting with one local chief:

<blockquote>[[Chickatabot]] came with his [chiefs] and squaws, and presented the governor with a hogshead of Indian corn. After they had all dined, and had each a small cup of sack and beer, and the men tobacco, he sent away all his men and women (though the governor would have stayed them in regard of the rain and thunder.) Himself and one squaw and one [chief] stayed all night; and being in English clothes, the governor set him at his own table, where he behaved himself as soberly ... as an Englishman. The next day after dinner he returned home, the governor giving him cheese, and [[pea]]se, and a mug, and other small things.<ref>Moore, pp. 246–247</ref></blockquote>

The colonists generally sought to acquire title to the lands that they occupied in the early years,<ref>Moseley, p. 52</ref> although they also practiced a policy that historian [[Alfred A. Cave|Alfred Cave]] calls ''[[vacuum domicilium]] (empty of inhabitants)'': if land is not under some sort of active use, does not have fixed habitation, structures, or fences, it was considered to be free for the taking.<ref>Alfred A. Cave. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/1184402 Canaanites in a Promised Land: The American Indian and the Providential Theory of Empire], ''American Indian Quarterly,'' vok. 12, No. 4 (Autumn, 1988), pp. 277–297. {{JSTOR|1184402}}</ref><ref>Paul Corcoran. [https://digital.library.adelaide.edu.au/dspace/bitstream/2440/44958/1/hdl_44958.pdf John Locke on the Possession of Land: Native Title vs. the ‘Principle ’ of Vacuum domicilium], Proceedings, Australasian Political Studies Association Annual Conference, 2007</ref> This also meant that lands, which were only used seasonally by the Indians (e.g., for fishing or hunting) and were empty otherwise, could be claimed. According to Alfred Cave, Winthrop asserted that the rights of "more advanced" peoples superseded the rights of the Indians.<ref>Cave, pp. 35–36</ref>

However, cultural differences and trade issues between the colonists and the Indians meant that clashes were inevitable, and the [[Pequot War]] was the first major conflict in which the colony engaged. Winthrop sat on the council which decided to send an expedition under John Endecott to raid Indian villages on [[Block Island]] in the war's first major action.<ref>Bremer (2003), p. 267</ref> Winthrop's communication with Williams encouraged Williams to convince the [[Narragansett people|Narragansetts]] to side with the colonists against the Pequots, who were their traditional enemies.<ref>Bremer (2003), p. 269</ref>  The war ended in 1637 with the destruction of the Pequots as a tribe, whose survivors were scattered into other tribes or shipped to the [[West Indies]].<ref>Bremer (2003), p. 271</ref>

===Slavery and the slave trade===
In the aftermath of the [[Pequot War]] of 1636–38, many of the captured Pequots warriors were shipped to the West Indies as slaves. Winthrop kept one male and two female Pequots as slaves.<ref>Manegold (January 18, 2010), ''New England's scarlet 'S' for slavery''; Manegold (2010), ''Ten Hills Farm: The Forgotten History of Slavery in the North'', 41–42 Harper (2003), ''Slavery in Massachusetts''; Bremer (2003), p. 314</ref><ref name="gallay">Gallay, Alan. (2002) ''The Indian Slave Trade: The Rise of the English Empire in the American South 1670–1717''. Yale University Press: New York. {{ISBN|0-300-10193-7}}, pp. 7, 299–320</ref>

In 1641, the [[Massachusetts Body of Liberties]] was enacted, codifying rules about slavery, among many other things. Winthrop was a member of the committee which drafted the code, but his exact role is not known because records of the committee have not survived.  C. S. Manegold writes that Winthrop was opposed to the Body of Liberties because he favored a common law approach to legislation.<ref>Manegold (January 18, 2010), ''New England's scarlet 'S' for slavery''; Manegold (2010), ''Ten Hills Farm: The Forgotten History of Slavery in the North'', 41–42 Harper (2003), ''Slavery in Massachusetts''; Bremer (2003), pp. 304, 305, 314</ref>

===Trade and diplomacy===
Rising tensions in England culminated in [[English Civil War|a civil war]] and led to a significant reduction in the number of people and provisions arriving in the colonies. The colonists consequently began to expand trade and interaction with other colonies, non-English as well as English. This led to trading ventures with other Puritans on [[Barbados]], a source of [[cotton]], and with the neighboring French colony of [[Acadia]].<ref>Moseley, p. 99</ref>

French Acadia covered the eastern half of present-day Maine, as well as [[New Brunswick]] and [[Nova Scotia]]. It was embroiled in [[Acadian Civil War|a minor civil war]] between competing administrators; English colonists began trading with [[Charles de Saint-Étienne de la Tour]] in 1642, and his opponent [[Charles de Menou d'Aulnay]] warned Boston traders away from de la Tour's territories. In June 1643, de la Tour came to Boston and requested military assistance against assaults by d'Aulnay.<ref>Bremer (2003), p. 343</ref>  Governor Winthrop refused to provide official assistance, but allowed de la Tour to recruit volunteers from the colony for service.<ref name=B344>Bremer (2003), p. 344</ref>

This decision brought on a storm of criticism, principally from the magistrates of [[Essex County, Massachusetts|Essex County]], which was geographically closest to the ongoing dispute.<ref>Bremer (2003), p. 345</ref>  John Endecott was particularly critical, noting that Winthrop had given the French a chance to see the colonial defenses.<ref name=B344/>  The 1644 election became a referendum on Winthrop's policy, and he was turned out of office.<ref>Bremer (2003), p. 346</ref>  The Acadian dispute was eventually resolved with d'Aulnay as the victor. In 1646, Winthrop was again in the governor's seat when d'Aulnay appeared in Boston and demanded reparations for damage done by the English volunteers. Winthrop placated the French governor with the gift of a [[Litter (vehicle)|sedan chair]], originally given to him by an English privateer.<ref>Bremer (2003), p. 347</ref>

===Property and family===
[[Image:FortWinthrop.png|thumb|right|The 19th century [[Fort Winthrop]], constructed on [[Governors Island (Massachusetts)|Governors Island]] and formerly owned by Winthrop]]
In addition to his responsibilities in the colonial government, Winthrop was a significant property owner. He owned the Ten Hills Farm, as well as land that became the town of Billerica, [[Governors Island (Massachusetts)|Governors Island]] in Boston Harbor (now the site of [[Logan International Airport]]), and [[Prudence Island]] in [[Narragansett Bay]].<ref>Moore, pp. 264–265</ref>  He also engaged in the [[fur trade]] in partnership with [[William Pynchon]], using the ship ''Blessing of the Bay''.<ref name=B252_3>Bremer (2003), pp. 252–253</ref>  Governors Island was named for him and remained in the Winthrop family until 1808, when it was purchased for the construction of [[Fort Winthrop]].<ref>Stanhope and Bacon, pp. 122–123</ref>

The farm at Ten Hills suffered from poor oversight on Winthrop's part. The steward of the farm made questionable financial deals that caused a cash crisis for Winthrop. The colony insisted on paying him his salary (which he had refused to accept in the past) as well as his expenses while engaged in official duties. Private subscriptions to support him raised about £500 and the colony also granted his wife {{convert|3,000|acre|km2}} of land.<ref>Moore, p. 264</ref>

His wife Margaret arrived on the second voyage of the ''Lyon'' in 1631, but their baby daughter Anne died during the crossing. Two more children were born to the Winthrops in New England before Margaret died on June 14, 1647.<ref>Anderson, p. 2039</ref><ref>Bremer (2003), p. 187</ref> Winthrop married his fourth wife Martha Rainsborough some time after December 20, 1647, and before the birth of their only child in 1648. She was the widow of Thomas Coytmore and sister of [[Thomas Rainsborough|Thomas]] and [[William Rainborowe]].<ref>Anderson, p. 2040</ref>  Winthrop died of natural causes on March 26, 1649, and is buried in what is now called the [[King's Chapel Burying Ground]] in Boston.<ref>Moore, p. 265</ref>  He was survived by his wife Martha and five sons.<ref>Moore, pp. 271–272</ref>