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A History of Boston, MA

When it comes to the founding of Trimountaine (later renamed Boston after a town in England), it is important to note that it was the Puritans of the Massachusetts Bay Colony who did the settling rather than the Pilgrims. The official founding date stands at September 17, 1630. The Pilgrims, for the record, settled into Plymouth Colony a decade earlier.

Puritans coming to Boston

The main distinction between the two was religion. The Puritans were English Protestants who were considered activists within the Church of England who sought individual piety and collective purity within the bounds of worship. On the other hand, the Pilgrims hailed from the Brownist English Dissenters who sought religious freedom, pursuing refuge first in The Netherlands and, then, in the New World.

Archaeology shows that Native Americans occupied the Shawmut Peninsula — the area nestled between the Massachusetts Bay and the Back Bay that is now Boston — as far back as 5,000 BC. But then came the Europeans.

In addition to instigating the Cambridge Agreement as one of the city's founding documents, John Winthrop, the first governor of this new Massachusetts Bay Colony, claimed in his "A Model of Christian Charity" sermon that Boston enjoyed an agreement with God. Such was the Puritanical idea of their mission in this new land that the citizens fell in line.

One of the structures set in place to impose the proper ethics upon the young was Boston Latin School. Established in 1635, it was the first public school in America. Ten years later, Roxbury Latin School joined the fray and, as it still operates today, is the country's oldest school.

In 1691, the Puritans joined forces with the Pilgrims, combining their colonies into the Province of Massachusetts Bay. Boston, then, stood as British North America's largest city for about 50 years until Philadelphia overtook it.

As a key foothold in the north, Boston was part of four different French and Indian Wars over the course of the next century. Finally, England proved victorious over France and its allies. With that behind them, the British began the practice of taxation as a means to control the thirteen colonies and the American Revolution began in 1775.

Among the battles fought in and around Boston were the Battle of Lexington and Concord, the Battle of Bunker Hill, and the Siege of Boston, in addition to the Boston Massacre and the Boston Tea Party. One of America's most iconic historical moments also took place in Boston with Paul Revere's midnight ride on April 7, 1775 to warn the Massachusetts Provincial Congress of British troop advances.

Once the Revolution had passed, Boston solidified its position as a key international port city with trades of rum, fish, tobacco, and salt. Then, though, came the Embargo Act of 1807 and the War of 1812 which dampened the harbor's bustling business.

Manufacturing soon found its footing, though trade continued to be an important economic driver. Also in the 19th century, culture and education gained their own traction in Boston that continues on in contemporary times. On March 4, 1822, the city was officially incorporated as The City of Boston.

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