The Peoples of Colonial Massachusetts: English, Scots, Irish & Others

Who Settled the Bay Colony?

Colonial Massachusetts (1620–1776) drew from a narrower European pool than later U.S. immigration waves, but with significant internal diversity.

1. English — The Dominant Majority

• Origins: East Anglia (Puritan core: Suffolk, Norfolk, Essex), West Country (Somerset, Devon, Dorset), London & Home Counties.
• Classes: Gentry (Winthrop, Dudley, Bradstreet), Yeomen/artisans (carpenters, weavers, blacksmiths), Indentured servants (4–7 yr contracts), Poor/removed (parish-sponsored).
• Motivations: Religious freedom (Puritans), economic opportunity, forced migration.
• Share: ~60–70% of 17th-century migrants.

2. Scots — The Second Wave

• Origins: Lowlands (Ayrshire, Lanarkshire, Lothian, Borders) — not Highlands.
• Status: Many indentured servants or tenant farmers displaced by enclosure/union.
• Presbyterian dissenters (Covenanters) fled persecution (1660s–1680s).
• Ulster-Scots (Scotch-Irish): Some via Northern Ireland (1718+).
• Share: ~15–20% by 1700.

3. Irish — The Marginalized Minority

• Origins: Both Gaelic Catholic (South/West) and Anglo-Irish Protestant (East/Ulster).
• Timing: Small numbers 17th century; increased post-1690 (Williamite War) and 18th century.
• Discrimination: Penal Laws (Catholics), anti-Irish prejudice, restricted to laboring roles.
• Share: ~5–10% by 1750; undercounted (often listed as "English" if Protestant).

4. Other Europeans — Niche but Notable

• Germans (Palatines): ~3,000 arrived 1710 (Queen Anne's sponsorship); settled East Camp (Germantown), NY border; some moved to MA.
• French Huguenots: Post-1685 Revocation of Edict of Nantes; Oxford, Narragansett settlements; assimilated quickly.
• Dutch: Pre-1664 (New Netherland); Albany, Kingston roots; some in western MA.
• Portuguese / Azoreans: Whaling crews (Nantucket, New Bedford) — late 18th century.
• Jews (Sephardic): Newport (RI) community traded with Boston; few in MA proper.

Africans — Enslaved, Not Immigrants

• First recorded 1638 (Desire); ~2,000 by 1700; ~5,000 by 1776.
• Urban (Boston) & rural; skilled (ropewalks, shipyards) & domestic.
• Legal status: Chattel slavery (Mass. Body of Liberties 1641).

Native Peoples — Displaced, Not Settlers

Massachusett, Wampanoag, Nipmuc, Pennacook, Pocumtuc — decimated by epidemics (1616–19, 1633–34), war (Pequot 1637, King Philip 1675–76), land loss. Survivors: praying towns (Natick, Ponkapoag), marginalization.

By 1776: Massachusetts ~300,000 — overwhelmingly English-descent, with Scots-Irish frontier push, growing African population, and fading Native presence.