Winthrop's Journal, History of New England, 1630-1649: Volume 1

‘there does not remain a document upon the beginnings in any part of the world, of such immense importance’ – The New England Historical Register

On April 8th, 1630, John Winthrop and his seven hundred fellow travelers began their voyage to start a new life in the wilderness of North America.

Arriving on the eastern seaboard in June they eventually decided to base their Massachusetts Bay Colony around Boston, where Winthrop would build his house and aid in the building of their settlement.

Over the course of the next ten years a further twenty-thousand immigrants arrived in New England and established themselves under the leadership of the colony.

Despite the fact that these Puritans had escaped the religious persecution they had suffered in England, their lives in the Americas were frequently plagued with disease, crop failures and conflicts with the natives.

Yet, the Massachusetts Bay Colony survived and thrived through the early seventeenth century. Winthrop, who became governor of the colony three times, records fascinating details of colonial life, from minor everyday moments through to the wider religious and political events that shaped their new world in the Americas.

Winthrop’s Journal is essential reading for anyone interested in the history of New England and how the early settlers of America survived their first trials and tribulations.

John Winthrop (12 January 1587 – 26 March 1649) was an English Puritan lawyer and one of the leading figures in founding the Massachusetts Bay Colony, the second major settlement in New England, following Plymouth Colony. Winthrop led the first large wave of immigrants from England in 1630 and served as governor for 12 of the colony's first 20 years. Winthrop kept a journal of his life and experiences, starting with the voyage across the Atlantic and continuing through his time in Massachusetts, originally written in three notebooks. The first two notebooks were published in 1790 by Noah Webster. The third notebook was long thought lost but was rediscovered in 1816, and the complete journals were published in 1825 and 1826 by James Savage as The History of New England from 1630–1649. By John Winthrop, Esq. First Governor of the Colony of the Massachusetts Bay.