why did the massachusetts colony start?

The British colony in Massachusetts started because of money. English "gentlement" flocked to the colony in hopes to make a quick buck with cash crops. Some women also came, but the vast majority were men.

Of course, there were many varied (and potentially life-threatening) factors at work once they arrived, but that exceeds the scope of the question.

Well basically the English got a little tired of these dour conservative right-wing psycho-Christians (the Puritans) bumming everybody out and confusing everyone by wearing buckles on their hats. So one day, they got together and said "Hey, I've got an idea: why don't you freaky little wierdos get in a big, leaky, rickety boat and get the **** off the island?! We'll stay here and have the Renaissance while you're having a witch trial. Let us know how that goes."

Colonial Massachusetts

http://colonialancestors.com/ma/massachusetts.htm

http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Oracle/5650/mass.h...

http://www.usahistory.info/New-England/Massachuset...

The American Colonies

The history of the original 13 colonies is a tangled tale indeed. There are many ways to view the events and, in hind sight, it is easy to think you understand. But no one knew where they were headed at the time and it could have ended up very different.

http://www.dasd-ew.org/history.htm#colonial

http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/modsbook12.html

http://www.usgennet.org/usa/topic/colonial/index.h...

http://www.timepage.org/spl/13colony.html

http://www.kidsolr.com/history/

Good luck.

Kevin, Liverpool, England.

you're an 8th grader, huh?