Detail of the Honorable John Winthrop, Esq from an engraving by Amos Doolittle
John Winthrop Jr. (1606-1676)
On November 4, 1631, English-born John Winthrop Jr. arrived on the shores of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, where his father was governor. Four years later, Winthrop received a commission to found a colony in Connecticut. This colony eventually became Saybrook. Eleven years later, Winthrop founded New London, Connecticut, and operated a gristmill there that became the first monopoly granted in New England. Active in Connecticut politics for the rest of his life, Winthrop served as the Connecticut Colony’s governor in 1657 and then again from 1659 until his death in 1676. During this time, Winthrop acquired a charter that united the Connecticut and New Haven colonies, and he became a commissioner of the United Colonies of New England.
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The Charter of 1662
The Connecticut Charter, which provided the basis for Connecticut government until 1818, was secured because of Connecticut's realization after the restoration of Charles II to the English throne in 1660 that the government of the colony lacked any legal foundation. …[more]
