Why was the Massachusetts Bay Company granted a charter?
Then, what effect did the Massachusetts Charter of 1691 have in New England?
Increasing estrangement between the colony and England resulted in the annulment of the company's charter in 1684 and the substitution of royal government under a new charter granted in 1691. The charter of 1691 merged the Plymouth colony and Maine into the Massachusetts Bay Colony.
Consequently, how did the charter of the Massachusetts Bay Company influence the colony's first government?
It meant that the colonists would be responsible to no company officials, only themselves. The clergy had no official power in the government but had influence over the church members who were able to vote.
Charter colony is one of three classes of colonial government established in the 17th century English colonies in North America, the other classes being proprietary colony and royal colony. The colonies of Virginia, Rhode Island, Connecticut, and Massachusetts Bay were at one time or another charter colonies.