Governor John Winthrop

Definition

John Winthrop was an English Puritan lawyer and one of the leading figures in founding Massachusetts Bay Colony, serving as governor for over a decade.

Analogy

Imagine Governor John Winthrop as a team captain. He led his team (the colonists) in a new game (life in America), setting rules and guiding them towards their goals.

Related terms

City upon a Hill: A phrase from Jesus's Sermon on the Mount used by John Winthrop to describe how their colony should serve as a model of Christian charity.

Puritans: A group of English Protestants who sought to purify the Church of England from its Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and needed to become more Protestant.

Great Migration: The movement of 6,000 Puritans from England to North America between 1629 - 1640, largely due to religious persecution under Charles I.