Iron in the new world’s veins: Government, ironworks, and community in the Massachusetts Bay colony

Authors

Abigail Adam, James Madison UniversityFollow

Preferred Name

Abigail Adam

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.

ORCID

https://orchid.org/0009-0002-3262-5374

Date of Graduation

5-9-2024

Semester of Graduation

Spring

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Department

Department of History

Second Advisor

Andrew Witmer

Third Advisor

Gabrielle M. Lanier

Abstract

The Massachusetts Bay Company conceived of a colonial iron industry as early as 1628; two years before its leaders migrated to the New World. The colony’s founders continued their efforts to establish a functioning iron industry in subsequent decades. With the General Court’s support, John Winthrop Jr. engaged in business with the London-based Company of Undertakers to make the iron industry a reality. Nevertheless, previous scholarship has neglected the iron industry’s place in the Massachusetts Bay Colony’s establishment. Yet surviving court records and correspondence indicates that these two bodies are inseparable. Indeed, the General Court used the ironworks to materially and ideologically support their colony. In essence, the colony’s founders considered the iron industry to be a core part of the colonization process.

To make iron production a reality, the General Court utilized investors. By negotiating with the Company of Undertakers, they crafted the iron industry into an idea. These parties discussed the ironworks’ access to resources, responsibilities to the colony, and ability to derive profit. The investors subsequently transformed the industry into a reality by building Braintree and Hammersmith. However, this came with new and unanticipated challenges. As the undertakers attempted to renegotiate their previous agreement, the court contended with undertaker Robert Child’s seditious behavior and the ironworks’ voracious use of water. The court also faced unruly ironworkers who routinely violated the law and disrupted society. The next decade, lawsuits between agent John Gifford, the Company of Undertakers, and various creditors plagued the colony. The General Court changed the investors’ legal status to ensure the iron industry’s survival.