Massachusetts Bay Company

Massachusetts Bay Company, English joint stock company set up by royal charter in 1629 and styled the “Governor and Company of the Massachusetts Bay in New England.” The charter gave the company self-government, subject only to the king; it effectively became the constitution of the colony. In 1630 almost 1,000 immigrants landed in Massachusetts, led by John Winthrop, who became the first governor. The franchise was then restricted to Puritan “freemen,” and the colony became an independent Calvinistic theocracy; it coined its own money and restricted freedom of worship. As a result, the charter was revoked in 1684 and Massachusetts became a royal colony