Politics in Massachusetts Colony: A Timeline

• 1629
• In England, King Charles I disolves Parilament and arrests Puritans
• Massachusetts colony established by Puritans escaping religious pursecution in England,
• Charter of 1629: legal foundation of the new colony
• 1642
• In England, Parilament organizes under Oliver Cromwell against King Charles I; English Civil War begins. Puritans side with Parliament
• 1649
• In England, King Charles I beheaded, his family flees to France in exile; Oliver Cromwell assumes control of Government
• 1660
• Restoration of English crown; Charles II, son of Charles I, returns from exile and takes the throne
• Throughout his reign, Charles II places restrictions of Massachusetts' powers and freedoms
• 1675
• King Philip's War (Native American cheiftain Metacomet) begins; Native tribes, armed with European guns, band together against English settlers, killing over 1000; War lasts approximately 3 years
• 1684
• Charles II revokes Massachusetts' charter as punishment for ignoring the Navigation Acts
• 1685
• James II succeeds his brother, Charles II, as King; he is openly Catholic and hostile towards Puritans. He combines all New England colonies into a super colony, The Dominion of New England, under the control of a royally appointed governor, Sir Edmund Andros
• 1688
• The Glorious Revolution: James II is unpopular in England; Parliament encourages his Protestant daughter, Mary, and her husband, William, to seize control. James II flees to France and the crown is transfered without bloodshed
• New Englanders rejoice; Dominion of New England disbanded and Andros arrested; Simon Bradstreet and Thomas Danforth, who had been Governor and Deputy Governor respectively before the Dominion of New England, resume control of government
• 1691
• William and Mary write new charter: Massachusetts and Plymouth colonies are combined, voting rights extended to all land owners (previously restricted to Puritan church members), retain right to elected assembly but governor is appointed by crown. Simons and Danforth are replaced by William Phips and William Stoughton.

Resources

I'm finding that this topic is a researcher's dream. There are so many sources that it's hard to know where to stop. I have especially found a number of primary resources which you will find links to in a new section on the side bar. These sources will be especially useful to the actors playing ministers and judges. I won't have time to relay all the great information in these sources to the actors but I want to share these links so you will have the chance to explore them on your own.
Malleus Maleficarum: The Hammer of Witches  by Heinrich Kramer was written in the 1400s and served as a guide for witch hunters.
A Modest Enquiry into the Nature of Witchcraft... is John Hale's book about his participation in the Salem Witch Trials.
The Wonders of the Invisible World by Cotton Mather and Increase Mather. Increase and Cotton Mather were widely known and respected ministers in the 1600's and 1700's (Cotton Mather was a sort of role model to Benjamin Franklin when he aspired to be a minister in his early life before turning to politics). Their religious authority would have influenced the actions of the ministers and judges in the Salem Trials.