Using an intensely local lens, McWilliams explores the century-long process whereby the Massachusetts Bay Colony went from a distant outpost of the incipient British Empire to a stable society integrated into the transatlantic economy. An inspiring story of men and women overcoming adversity to build their own society, From the Ground Up reconceptualizes how we have normally thought about New England's economic development

John Winthrop's plan for "the Citty upon a Hill" was grand and based on noble motives. He wanted a place where he and other Puritans could live and prosper without religious persecution. That place was the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Winthrop and his fellow Puritans landed in Massachusetts Bay in 1630. Soon they had organized a government, started towns, and were sending goods back to England. Decades later, Boston, Massachusetts, was a hotbed of radical activity during the years before the Revolutionary War. The war started with the battles of Lexington and Concord in the Massachusetts countryside not far from Boston. The freedom that came for America after that struggle went far toward achieving the dream of John Winthrop. The United States of America became a sort of "citty upon a hill," where all men and women had the right to live peacefully without persecution.

Comprehensive, reliable account of 17th-century life in one of the country's earliest settlements. Contemporary records, over 100 historically valuable pictures vividly describe early dwellings, furnishings, medicinal aids, wardrobes, trade, crimes, more.

Early American colonists were optimistic adventurers who helped build a new settlement. But they also experimented with creating a new society. The Charter of the Massachusetts Bay Colony was the first political document written in the United States, a first attempt at self-government. Discover who wrote this document and why, and how it influenced the creation of the United States government.

Traces the history of the United States from the arrival of the first Indian people to the present day.

A picture of some phases of life in the early days of the Massachusetts Bay Colony is presented in the following pages. It follows many of the every day happenings, the manners and customs of daily life. Few realize how modern are the furnishings and comforts of our present-day houses and how different was the home life of our ancestors. Chairs were unknown in ordinary English households until a generation or so before the sailing of the Mayflower. Hats were worn at meals and the use of table forks did not become general until the last of the 1600s. Food was placed in the mouth with the knife or the fingers. This is a collection of source materials, somewhat digested, rather than a comprehensive, well-balanced narrative of daily life in the Colony. Contents: Every Day Life in the Massachusetts Bay Colony The Voyage To Massachusetts Their Early Shelters and Later Dwellings How They Furnished Their Houses Counterpanes and Coverlets Concerning Their Apparel Pewter in the Early Days The Farmhouse and the Farmer Manners and Customs Sports and Games Trades and Manufactures Concerning Shipping and Trade From Wampum To Paper Money Herb Tea and the Doctor Crimes and Punishments

Readers learn about colonial life and the events that led to revolution and statehood.