Three Founding New England Colonies

Three of the earliest and most significant New England colonies:

1. Plymouth Colony (1620) — Pilgrims (Separatists), Mayflower Compact, William Bradford. Merged into Massachusetts Bay 1691.
2. Massachusetts Bay Colony (1630) — Puritans (Non-separating), Great Migration, John Winthrop ("City upon a Hill"), Boston capital. Royal colony 1691.
3. Connecticut Colony (1636) — Thomas Hooker's congregation, Fundamental Orders (1639 — first written constitution), Hartford. Charter 1662.

Other Early New England Colonies

• Rhode Island (1636) — Roger Williams (Providence), Anne Hutchinson (Portsmouth) — religious liberty.
• New Haven Colony (1638) — Theocratic, strict — merged into CT 1665.
• New Hampshire (1623/1679) — Mason/Gorges grants → royal province.
• Maine (1620s/1652) — Gorges/Rigby → absorbed by MA.

New England Confederation (1643)

MA Bay, Plymouth, CT, New Haven — mutual defense (vs. Natives, Dutch, French), dispute resolution. First intercolonial union.