The
Province of Massachusetts Bay was a
crown colony chartered October 7, 1691 in
British America by
William and Mary, the joint monarchs of the
Kingdom of England and the
Kingdom of Scotland. The charter was put into effect on May 14, 1692 and included the former
Massachusetts Bay Colony and
Plymouth Colony, as well as the
Province of Maine,
Martha's Vineyard,
Nantucket, and what is now
Nova Scotia. (Nova Scotia was separated in 1696, and became the
Province of Nova Scotia in 1713.) The
Province of New Hampshire gained its independence from Massachusetts Bay at the time of the creation of the Province of Massachusetts Bay.
The name Massachusetts comes from the
Massachusett, an
Algonquian tribe. The name has been translated as "at the great hill", "at the place of large hills", or "at the range of hills", with reference to the
Blue Hills, or in particular,
Great Blue Hill.
From 1691, the history of the Province of Massachusetts Bay is usually considered to be the same as that of
Massachusetts. The 1691 "" was amended by
King George I's "
Explanatory Charter" which expanded on the original rights granted to the colony.
The royal government of the Province of Massachusetts Bay existed until approximately October 7, 1774 when the
General Court of Massachusetts established the
Massachusetts Provincial Congress in response to the tightening control of the crown, and as a preceding act to the revolt of the
American Revolutionary War.
The
Constitution or Form of Government for the
Commonwealth of Massachusetts was agreed upon in Cambridge in October 1779 and adopted by the delegates nine months later in June 1780 to go into effect "the last Wednesday of October next".
See also
