[25] He was also appointed to the county commission of the peace, a position that gave him a wider exposure among other lawyers and landowners and a platform to advance what he saw as God's kingdom.

Her family was initially opposed to the match on financial grounds;[35] Winthrop countered by appealing to piety as a virtue which more than compensated for his modest income.

Charles was opposed to all manner of recusants and supported the Church of England in its efforts against religious groups such as the Puritans that did not adhere fully to its teachings and practices.

[38] This atmosphere of intolerance led Puritan religious and business leaders to consider emigration to the New World as a viable means to escape persecution.

[59] "A Modell of Christian Charitie" described the ideas and plans to keep the Puritan society strong in faith, while also comparing the struggles that they would have to overcome in the New World with the story of Exodus.

They first decided to base the colony at Charlestown, but a lack of good water there prompted them to move to the Shawmut Peninsula where they founded what is now the city of Boston.

[61] The season was relatively late, and the colonists decided to establish dispersed settlements along the coast and the banks of the Charles River in order to avoid presenting a single point that hostile forces might attack.

The colony struggled with disease in its early months, losing as many as 200 people to a variety of causes in 1630, including Winthrop's son Henry, and about 80 others who returned to England in the spring due to these conditions.

[75] His opposition was rooted in a strong belief in the common law tradition and the desire, as a magistrate, to have flexibility in deciding cases on their unique circumstances.

Winthrop argued that the assistants, as experienced magistrates, must be able to check the democratic institution of the general court, because "a democracy is, amongst most civil nations, accounted the meanest and worst of all forms of government.

"[2] Winthrop became the focus of allegations about the arbitrary rule of the magistrates in 1645, when John was formally charged with interfering with local decisions in a case involving the Hingham militia.

[80] One major issue that Winthrop was involved in occurred in 1647, when a petition was submitted to the general court concerning the limitation of voting rights to freemen who had been formally admitted to a local church.

Winthrop and the other magistrates rejected the appeal that "civil liberty and freedom be forthwith granted to all truly English", and even fined and imprisoned the principal signers of the petition.

Haynes, Vane, Anne Hutchinson, and pastors Thomas Hooker and John Wheelwright all espoused religious or political views that were at odds with those of the earlier arrivals, including Winthrop.

)[91] In the aftermath of the 1637 election, the general court passed new rules on residency in the colony, forbidding anyone from housing newcomers for more than three weeks without approval from the magistrates.

[99] However, cultural differences and trade issues between the colonists and the Indians meant that clashes were inevitable, and the Pequot War was the first major conflict in which the colony engaged.

Winthrop sat on the council which decided to send an expedition under John Endecott to raid Indian villages on Block Island in the war's first major action.

[105] Rising tensions in England culminated in a civil war and led to a significant reduction in the number of people and provisions arriving in the colonies.

[107] Governor Winthrop refused to provide official assistance, but allowed de la Tour to recruit volunteers from the colony for service.

[120] Winthrop rarely published and his literary contribution was relatively unappreciated during his time, yet he spent his life continually producing written accounts of historical events and religious manifestations.

Winthrop kept a journal of his life and experiences, starting with the voyage across the Atlantic and continuing through his time in Massachusetts, originally written in three notebooks.

Gradually, the focus of his writings shifted from his personal observations to broader spiritual ideologies and behind-the-scenes views of political matters.

This work was republished by Joshua Scottow in the 1696 compilation MASSACHUSETTS: or The first Planters of New-England, The End and Manner of their coming thither, and Abode there: In several EPISTLES.

Vane's opponents sought to "tie Toleration round the neck of Independency, stuff the two struggling monsters into one sack, and sink them to the bottom of the sea.

"[132] According to biographer Francis Bremer, Winthrop's writings echoed those of other Puritans which "were efforts both to discern the divine pattern in events and to justify the role [which] New Englanders believed themselves called to play.

"[128] Winthrop was historically credited for writing "A Modell of Christian Charitie" and its reference to a "city upon a hill", imagery that became an enduring symbol in American political discourse.

Winthrop's reputation suffered in the late 19th and early 20th century, when critics pointed out the negative aspects of Puritan rule, including Nathaniel Hawthorne and H. L. Mencken, and leading to modern assessments of him as a "lost Founding Father".

[136] Many modern politicians's speeches refer to writings attributed to Winthrop, such as those of John F. Kennedy, Ronald Reagan, Michael Dukakis, and Sarah Palin.

His son John was the first governor of the Saybrook Colony, and later generations of his family continued to play an active role in New England politics well into the 19th century.

Twentieth century descendants include former US Senator from Massachusetts and former Secretary of State John Kerry, educator Charles William Eliot, and Downton Abbey creator, Julian Fellowes.