Course:History 344 Nasty Families/Professions/Companies/Massachusetts Bay company
The Massachusetts Bay company was founded in 1629. They were a stock trading company that had been chartered by the English crown in order to colonize part of New England[1]. The company was largely puritan as they were the main stockholders. The puritans wished to make the company and colony into a religious commonwealth, which worked to some extent
Due to the charter for the company not stating where the company stockholders should meet they became the only company to not be under the control of a board of governors in England.
The company also founded the Massachusetts Bay colony. The The company and the colony were synonymous until 1684 when the charter was removed. However by that time things had already move around in that they started out in Cape Ann though in 1630 the colonists started out for New England and settled in Boston[2].
The Massachusetts Bay Company served as a vital trade point between the New World and Old World for geo-strategic purposes other trade directly tied to the reason. The colony/company was able to engage in trade - as minimal it may have been - with Caribbean nations which had to this stage been predominantly utilized by Spanish traders and colonizers[3].
Combining this with the profitability of Massachusetts itself as the settlers continued to cultivate the land, which was able to cultivate valuable crops. With prevelent trade and good quality commodities this became a profitable company to invest in for gentry and common men alike[4].
BN: Needs better sources.
- ↑ http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/article/massachusetts-bay-company
- ↑ http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/history/A0832127.html
- ↑ Labaree, Benjamin (1979). Colonial Massachusetts: a History
- ↑ Ibid