University of Massachusetts
University of Massachusetts: History of Migration and Immigration Laws in the Us
Provides a brief history of the migration and immigration laws starting in 1790, with brief descriptions of each law. Includes court decisions.
Independence Hall Association
U.s. History: New England Colonies: Massachusetts Bay the City on the Hill
Learn a little about Puritan beliefs and see the importance of religion and the clergy in Massachusetts Bay Colony.
Massachusetts Historical Society
Masshist: Massachusetts Historical Society
Site devoted to teaching the history of the state of Masssachusetts.
The History Cat
The History Cat: The Constitutional Convention: Creating the Constitution
Explains why the Articles of Confederation were not strong enough to hold the country together. One result was a farmers' rebellion in Massachusetts led by Daniel Shays, which was precipitated by a debt crisis that caused many farmers to...
Independence Hall Association
U.s. History: Shays' Rebellion
Read about the Massachusetts government's handling of the crushing debt felt by the farmers in western Massachusetts and the resulting rebellion by those farmers.
Digital History
Digital History: Dimensions of Change in Colonial New England
Dissension in Massachusetts Bay Colony resulted in the formation of other New England colonies. Read about their formations, and the impact on the Native Americans in the area.
History Tools
History Tools: Winthrop Defends Right of Puritans to Settle on Indian Land [Pdf]
Primary source material with modernized spellings. Passage written by John Winthrop defending the right of Puritans to settle in Massachusetts Bay territory which was already occupied by Native Americans, 1629.
Independence Hall Association
U.s. History: New England Colonies: Reaching to Connecticut
Read about how the colony of Connecticut grew from an expansion of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. See how Thomas Hooker's idea of government resulted in a model of colonial charters, and find out how two very different settlements in...
University of Groningen
American History: Essays: The Intolerable Acts
This resource gives a comprehensive account of the Intolerable Acts, why they were passed, colonists' reactions, and particulars surrounding the Massachusetts Government Act and other Coercive Acts with text links and references.
Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia Britannica: 300 Women Who Changed History: Anne Hutchinson
Encyclopedia Britannica provides a biography of Anne Hutchinson (1591-1643), the woman expelled from the Massachusetts Bay Colony for "Traducing the ministers," of the Puritan Colony. She and other religious dissenters founded Rhode Island.
Other
Primary Research Through the History of Beverly
At Beverly High School in Massachusetts, students learn history through their own primary research on local history topics. This article and links from it explain how it's done.
The History Cat
The History Cat: History of Colonial America: The Thirteen Colonies
Compares life in the three regions of the thirteen British colonies - the New England colonies (Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Connecticut), the Middle Colonies (New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and New Jersey), and the...
University of California
History Project: The Antinomian Controversy
Using ten primary source documents, high school students will write a 2 1/2 page interpretive history of Puritan Society focusing on the antinomian controversy in Massachusetts.
University of Groningen
American History: Biographies: George Herbert Walker Bush (1924 )
America's 41st President, George Bush, was born on June 12, 1924, in Milton, Massachusetts, into a wealthy family as George Herbert Walker Bush.
University of Groningen
American History: Biographies: John Fitzgerald Kennedy
John Fitzgerald Kennedy was born on May 29th 1917 at Brookline (Massachusetts). His father Joseph Kennedy was an ambitious politician, who became from son of a pubkeeper to a millionaire. He married the daughter of the mayor of Boston,...
University of Groningen
American History: Outlines: Colonization
For a variety of reasons, those who came to settle the early colonies sought a new homeland. Puritans, for example, established several settlements in Massachusetts. These English colonists were a pious, self-disciplined people who...
Digital History
Digital History: Regional Contrasts
Read about the populations of the New England colonies as compared to the Southern colonies in the 1600s. See how the numbers of Native Americans decreased dramatically particularly in Massachusetts Bay Colony.
University of Groningen
American History: Outlines: Colonial Economy
Whatever early colonial prosperity there was resulted from trapping and trading in furs. In addition, the fishing industry was a primary source of wealth in Massachusetts. But throughout the colonies, people relied primarily on small...
Smithsonian Institution
National Portrait Gallery: Black List Project: Governor Deval Patrick
Making history as the first African American governor of Massachusetts, dip into a biography featuring Governor Deval Patrick.
University of Groningen
American History: Outlines: Settlers, Slaves and Servants
Men and women with little active interest in a new life in America were often induced to make the move to the New World by the skillful persuasion of promoters. William Penn, for example, publicized the opportunities awaiting newcomers...
University of Groningen
American History: Documents: New England Articles of Confederation 1643
View the complete text of the New England Articles of Confederation 1643, an alliance of the English colonies of Massachusetts Bay, Plymouth, Connecticut, and New Haven.
Other
Do History: Martha Ballard's Diary Online
This site invites viewers "to piece together the life and world of an "ordinary" person from the past." The site boasts thousands of original documents that include diaries, maps, letters, and court records of a midwife from...
Open Door Team
Open Door Web Site: Massachusetts
Read about the colony the Puritans made, the Massachusetts Bay Colony, a place Puritans could practice their own religion freely.