The Fathers of New England: A Chronicle of the Puritan Commonwealths

In Short

Charles McLean Andrews provides a clear, measured account of the founding and growth of the New England colonies throughout the seventeenth century. Covering the initial arrivals at Plymouth and Massachusetts Bay through the rise of Connecticut, Rhode Island, and New Haven, the narrative details the religious schisms, violent Indian wars, and escalating political struggles with England. Andrews traces how small corporate charters transformed into self-reliant commonwealths whose fierce independence collided with the administrative ambitions of the English Crown, ending the initial era of Puritan isolation.

The Story

The narrative opens in early seventeenth-century England, where economic shifts, land hunger, and religious tensions drive adventurous and devout citizens toward the Western Continent. A small band of Separatists, after fleeing to Holland, secures backing from London merchants and sails to America aboard the Mayflower, founding Plymouth in 1620. Their initial attempt at holding land and labor in common breeds immediate discontent, forcing Governor William Bradford to assign individual plots to restore industry and peace.

A decade later, political and religious repression under Charles I triggers a far larger migration. Led by John Winthrop, the Massachusetts Bay Company transfers its royal charter and governing apparatus directly to New England in 1630. The Bay Colony rapidly establishes a tight, intolerant orthodoxy where church and state align. Dissenters like Roger Williams, who preaches religious liberty, and Anne Hutchinson, who rejects the legalistic religious authority of the clergy, are exiled. These expulsions spur the founding of neighboring settlements: Williams plants Providence, Hutchinson's followers move to Rhode Island, and Thomas Hooker leads congregations down to the fertile Connecticut Valley, while John Davenport establishes the rigid, commercial-minded colony of New Haven.

As these distinct commonwealths expand, regional friction demands cooperation. In 1643, they form the United Colonies of New England to coordinate mutual defense against local Native American tribes, the neighboring Dutch at New Amsterdam, and French territorial encroachments along the eastern coast. Internal unity remains fragile, plagued by boundary disputes and factional infighting, such as William Coddington's attempt to rule Rhode Island under a separate commission.

The political landscape shifts dramatically with the restoration of the English monarchy in 1660. Connecticut, led by John Winthrop the Younger, secures a liberal royal charter that swallows up New Haven. Meanwhile, Massachusetts defies royal authority by ignoring demands to reform its restricted franchise, allow the Anglican Book of Common Prayer, and respect parliamentary trade acts. Violent conflicts with Native Americans further strain the region, culminating in the Pequot War of 1637 and the devastating King Philip's War in 1675, which leaves settlements burned and the native population decimated.

Exasperated by the stubborn resistance in Boston, the English Crown revokes the Massachusetts Bay charter in 1684. King James II merges the northern colonies into a centralized administrative unit known as the Dominion of New England, dispatching Sir Edmund Andros to serve as Governor-General. Andros imposes autocracy, levies taxes without assemblies, and challenges historic land titles, deeply alienating the colonists until the Glorious Revolution in England sparks a Boston uprising that overthrows his regime, forever ending the isolated era of the Puritan commonwealths.

How It Unfolds

The migration begins Engulfed by religious pressure and economic hardship under Stuart rule, groups of Separatists and nonconforming Puritans cross the Atlantic to secure religious freedom and landed property. They transport their families, livestock, and corporate charters to build permanent settlements along the rugged coastline of New England.

Orthodoxy drives exile In Massachusetts Bay, the strict enforcement of religious conformity leads the clergy and magistrates to banish individuals who challenge the ruling order. Roger Williams, Anne Hutchinson, and their followers are driven into the wilderness, where they lay the foundations for Providence, Rhode Island, and new settlements.

Expansion breeds confederation As new settlements take root in Connecticut and New Haven, the colonies recognize the necessity of formal military and political cooperation. In 1643, four major settlements create the United Colonies of New England to settle border disputes and coordinate defense against regional rivals.

Restoration brings royal pressure The return of Charles II to the English throne initiates a period of heightened royal oversight that threatens local colonial autonomy. While Connecticut deftly uses diplomacy to win an expansive charter, Massachusetts defies royal commissioners sent to enforce navigation laws and grant religious toleration to non-Puritans.

Conflict consumes the frontier Expanding English settlements encroach upon native lands, triggering brutal military campaigns across the regional frontier. The complete destruction of the Pequot nation in 1637 and the widespread bloodshed of King Philip's War in 1675 reshape the physical landscape and extinguish native power in New England.

The Crown revokes the charter Decades of evasion, illicit trade, and local stubbornness exhaust the patience of English administrators in London. In 1684, the English Court of Chancery officially forfeits the original Massachusetts charter, paving the way for direct royal control over the commonwealth.

The Dominion falls Sir Edmund Andros arrives in Boston to govern a unified Dominion of New England with autocratic authority, stripping towns of their self-governance and traditional property rights. The arbitrary regime triggers immense popular resentment, ending in a swift colonial rebellion when news of King James II's overthrow reaches Boston.

The People

• John Winthrop seeks to build a godly, well-ordered commonwealth under the Massachusetts Bay charter. Facing religious dissenters, internal political rivalries, and royal scrutiny, he maintains his authority through decisive leadership, leaving Massachusetts as the dominant economic and political power in the region.
• William Bradford aims to maintain a pious, self-sustaining Separatist community at Plymouth against starvation and debt. Hindered by an unworkable joint-stock arrangement with London merchants, he abolishes communal property, distributing land to individual households to ensure the colony's survival.
• Anne Hutchinson seeks to teach a faith grounded in an inner covenant of grace rather than outward legalistic conformity. Opposed by the ruling Boston magistrates and ministers who view her popularity as a threat to public order, she stands trial, suffers excommunication, and is banished from the colony.
• Roger Williams desires complete religious liberty and the total separation of church and state, free from magistrate interference. Blocked by the authoritarian Massachusetts leadership, he flees south to found Providence and repeatedly travels to England to secure royal patents protecting his individualistic colony.
• John Winthrop the Younger works to protect Connecticut's independence and expand its territorial borders. Navigating royal diplomacy in London, he successfully secures a highly liberal charter that absorbs the neighboring New Haven colony and cements Connecticut's legal rights.
• Sir Edmund Andros attempts to execute royal orders to consolidate the northern colonies into a single defensive and economic dominion. Confronted by stubborn Puritan resistance, his rigid military style and lack of diplomatic tact alienate the colonists, resulting in his eventual arrest and overthrow.

In Its Own Voice

When Plymouth attempted to hold all land and labor in common, the experiment quickly collapsed into bitter personal resentment:

For the yong-men that were most able and fitte for labour and service did repine that they should spend their time and streingth to worke for other mens wives and children, with out any recompence.

Religious nonconformists who fled persecution in England quickly created their own rigid system of enforcement upon arriving in the New World:

She was a nonconformist among those who, refusing to conform to the Church of England, had now themselves become conformists of the strictest type.

The typical seventeenth-century settler lived in a precarious world governed by intense religious dread and limited scientific knowledge:

To the awe inspired by the covenant with God was added the terror aroused by the dread power of Satan; and witchcraft inevitably took its place in the annals of New England Puritanism as it had done for a century in the annals of the older world.

What It's Really About

The central theme is the inevitable collision between religious isolationism and imperial state-building. Andrews demonstrates how the Puritan emigrants sought to construct an ideal, self-governing commonwealth isolated from the corruptions of the broader world. However, this vision was constantly undermined from within by intense individualism and religious schisms, and from without by the economic demands of the English Empire. The narrative argues that the legalistic, insular nature of the early Massachusetts leadership made them blind to wider administrative realities. Ultimately, the book examines how local traditions of self-governance survived and adapted even when their original theological justifications were forcibly stripped away by royal authority.

Why Read It Today

This volume appeals to readers who enjoy clear, analytical institutional history free from romanticized mythology or modern ideological posturing. Andrews treats the Puritans neither as democratic heroes nor as mere religious fanatics, presenting their administrative and legal developments with cool, precise clarity. Readers experience the seventeenth century through its structural realities—charter negotiations, land distribution systems, boundary rivalries, and imperial policies.

The narrative does not conceal the harsher aspects of the era, illustrating the severe intolerance that led to the exile of dissenters, the horrific execution of alleged witches, and the brutal extermination of native populations during frontier wars. The prose relies on period terminology and dense historical detail, requiring attentiveness as it moves through intricate colonial politics. Yet, it remains deeply rewarding for anyone interested in how early American political institutions were hammered out through practical governance, ideological stubbornness, and constant conflict with the British Crown.