Nauset Bay Colony | ||||||
Colony of England | ||||||
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Map of major settlements in Nauset Bay in 1655. | ||||||
Capital | Cambridge | |||||
History | ||||||
• | Established | 1620 | ||||
• | Disestablished | N/A |
The Nauset Bay Colony (1620 - Present) is an English settlement on the east coast of North America established in the seventeenth century, and situated around the Nauset Bay. The initial lands of the settlement were located on the Shawmut Peninsula, a small northern branch of the larger Nauset Peninsula, which is divided from the mainland by the Nauset Bay and the Charles River. In this location the city of Cambridge was founded in 1620, which would become the capital of the Nauset Bay Colony. West of Cambridge along the Charles River the second major city, Concord, would be founded in 1622. Over the course of the next two decades almost all settlement in the region would sprout out from these two locations.
The territory nominally administered by the colony included much of the lands later claimed by surrounding colonies, such as Unamia in the south and New Berkshire in the north. This would lead to several territorial disputes as the colony continued to expand and grow. The first of these disputes with Unamia would be resolved in 1651, which determined the border of the Nauset Bay Colony to be just north of Davenport, in the south, and along the Mystic River in the north.
History[]
Foundation[]
Borealian Confederation[]
In 1652 the Borealian Confederation was founded as a loose alliance of northern English colonies. The alliance was formed to coordinate military and administrative matters in the wake of the Anglo-Dutch Wars, and in conflict against the native tribes of the region. Although not particularly powerful in the day-to-day policies of each individual colony, a confederation government was created consisting of commissioners from each colony, which would convene annually, or during times of crisis. The members of the confederation were as follows:
- Nauset Bay
- Unamia
- New Berkshire
- New Haven
The Borealian Confederation would be heavily tested by the outbreak of King Ezra's War in 1668, in which the Borealian colonies were tasked with defending themselves against an organized alliance of native tribes and the Dutch Republic's colony of New Netherlands, located south of Borealia. During this time the confederation met regularly to organize troop movements and issue commands. It was also during this time that new rules were created requiring that all members provide a certain number of militiamen and pay a certain amount to a central treasury, both proportional to the number of able-bodied males in each respective colony.
King Ezra's War[]
- Main article: King Ezra's War (Settlers of the New World Map Game)
King Ezra's War was a major conflict in early English colonial history, that greatly shaped the future of the Nauset Bay colony and the other colonies of the Borealia region. Beginning in 1668, the war saw Nauset Bay and its neighboring colonies engaged in a conflict against native chieftain Wamsutta, known to the English as King Ezra, the leader of a large native confederacy of several tribes, as well as numerous other native allies, and the Dutch Republic's colony of New Netherlands, located south of the Borealian colonies.
Dominion of Borealia[]
Governors[]
Royal Charter (1620 - 1685)[]
- Matthew Carver (1620 - 1622)
- Josiah Haynes (1622 - 1625)
- John Leverett (1625 - 1633)
- Thomas Bradstreet (1627 - 1628)
- Symonds Symonds (1630 - 1631)
- Sir Henry Vane the Younger (1631 - 1638)
- John Leverett (1635 - 1636)
- Francis Endecott (1637 - 1638)
- Symonds Symonds (1638 - 1640)
- John Bradford (1640 - 1649)
- Thomas Bradstreet (1649 - 1650)
- Francis Endecott (1650 - 1651)
- John Bradford (1651 - 1653)
- Joseph Bellingham (1653 - 1655)
- Edmund Gage (1654)
- John Leverett (1655 - 1658)
- Edward Norton (1659 - 1663)
- Joseph Bradstreet (1663 - 1670)
- William Stoughton (1666)
- John Burnet (1668 - 1669)
- Joseph Bellingham (1670)
- John Leverett (1670 - 1673)
- William Bradford (1673 - 1675)
- Thomas Winslow (1675 - 1679)
- Edmund Gage (1679 - 1680)
- Increase Holt (1680 - 1685)
Borealian Governors (1620 - 1685)[]
- Joseph Edmund (1685 - 1700)
- Percy Kirke (1688), Acting
- Nathaniel Wade (1688 - 1689), Acting
- Increase Holt (1700 - Present), in rebellion