John Winthrop

In 1629, the Massachusetts Bay Company was created to oversee the affairs of colonists in New England. The following year, on board the Arabella, John Winthrop and others sailed to America. In the 20 years that he governed Massachusetts, he imposed his ideas on the citizens of the colony, and its subsequent success came to reflect his leadership and decisions. Among the countless number of aspirations he held for the colony, he hoped for widespread education, and universal practice of the "Golden Rule." He also desired Massachusetts to become a "city upon a hill," that is, he wanted th…