ABSTRACT
Creating a New Society e original plan for settling New England was underscored by purely economic motives. Simultaneously with the foundation of the Virginia Company, a sister company, primarily made up of West Country merchants was formed with the aim of establishing a trading colony in New England. It was intended that the colonists be self-sufficient in order to keep trading costs to a minimum. However, the company did not last long because most of the merchants bought themselves out in order to pursue more lucrative ventures elsewhere.1 It was only in 1628 when very different groups of migrants showed an interest in New England that the idea of a permanent settlement became truly viable. Charles I did not want to become personally involved in the colony, so by chartering a joint stock company he created the political framework for the settlement of New England. e religious migrants bought out the former non-Puritan founders of the Dorchester Company and elected John Winthrop as governor in the summer of 1629.
