document_title: Massachusetts Bay Colony

question_text: what members of the community has the most power in the massachusetts bay colony

text: Massachusetts Bay Colony

text: History[edit]

text: Prior to the arrival of European colonists on the eastern shore of New England, the area around Massachusetts Bay was the territory of several Algonquian-speaking tribes, including the Massachusetts, Nausets, and Wampanoags. The Pennacooks occupied the Merrimack River valley to the north, and the Nipmucs, Pocumtucs, and Mahicans occupied the western lands of Massachusetts, although some of those tribes were under tribute to the Mohawks, who were expanding aggressively from upstate New York.[3] The total Indian population in 1620 has been estimated to be 7,000.[4] This number was significantly larger as late as 1616; in later years, contemporaneous chroniclers interviewed Indians who described a major pestilence which killed as many as two-thirds of the population. The land-use patterns of the Indians included plots cleared for agricultural purposes and woodland territories for hunting game. Land divisions among the tribes were well understood.[4]

text: During the early 17th century, several European explorers charted the area, including Samuel de Champlain and John Smith.[5] Plans began in 1606 for the first permanent British settlements on the east coast of North America. On April 10, 1606, King James I of England granted a charter forming two joint-stock companies.[6] Neither of these corporations was given a name by this charter, but the territories were named as the "first Colony" and "second Colony", over which they were respectively authorized to settle and to govern.  Under this charter, the "first Colony" and the "second Colony" were to be ruled by a Council composed of 13 individuals in each colony. The charter provided for an additional council of 13 persons named "Council of Virginia" which had overarching responsibility for the combined enterprise.[7]

text: The "first Colony" ranged from the 34th- to 41st-degree latitude north; the "second Colony" ranged from the 38th- to 45th-degree latitude. (Note that the "first Colony" and the "second Colony" overlapped. The 1629 charter of Charles I asserted that the second Colony ranged from 40th to 48th degrees north latitude, which reduced the overlap.) Investors from London were appointed to govern over any settlements in the "first Colony"; investors from the "Town of Plimouth in the County of Devon" were appointed to govern over any settlements in the "second Colony". The London Company proceeded to establish Jamestown.[8] The Plymouth Company under the guidance of Sir Ferdinando Gorges covered the more northern area, including New England, and established the Sagadahoc Colony in 1607 in Maine.[9]  The experience proved exceptionally difficult for the 120 settlers, however, and the surviving colonists abandoned the colony after only one year.[10]  Gorges noted that "there was no more speech of settling plantations in those parts" for a number of years.[11]  English ships continued to come to the New England area for fishing and trade with the Indians.[12]

text: Plymouth Colony[edit]

text: In December 1620, a group of Pilgrims established Plymouth Colony just to the south of Massachusetts Bay, seeking to preserve their cultural identity and attain religious freedom.[13] Plymouth's colonists faced great hardships and earned few profits for their investors, who sold their interests to them in 1627.[14] Edward Winslow and William Bradford were two of the colony's leaders and were likely the authors of a work published in England in 1622 called Mourt's Relation. This book in some ways resembles a promotional tract intended to encourage further immigration.[15]  There were other short-lived colonial settlements in 1623 and 1624 at Weymouth, Massachusetts; Thomas Weston's Wessagusset Colony failed, as did an effort by Robert Gorges to establish an overarching colonial structure.[16][17]

text: Cape Ann settlement[edit]

text: In 1623, the Plymouth Council for New England (successor to the Plymouth Company) established a small fishing village at Cape Ann under the supervision of the Dorchester Company, with Thomas Gardner as its overseer. This company was originally organized through the efforts of Puritan minister John White (1575–1648) of Dorchester, in the English county of Dorset. White has been called "the father of the Massachusetts Colony" because of his influence in establishing this settlement and despite the fact that he never emigrated.[18]  The Cape Ann settlement was not profitable, and the financial backers of the Dorchester Company terminated their support by the end of 1625. Their settlement was abandoned at present-day Gloucester, but a few settlers remained in the area, including Roger Conant, establishing a settlement a little further south, near the village of the Naumkeag tribe.[19]

text: Legal formation of the colony[edit]

text: Archbishop William Laud was a favorite advisor of King Charles I and a dedicated Anglican, and he sought to suppress the religious practices of Puritans and other nonconforming beliefs in England. The persecution of many Puritans in the 1620s led them to believe that religious reform would not be possible while Charles was king, and many decided to seek a new life in the New World.[20]

text: John White continued to seek funding for a colony. On 19 March 1627/8,[21] the Council for New England issued a land grant to a new group of investors that included a few from the Dorchester Company. The land grant was for territory between the Charles River and Merrimack River that extended from "the Atlantick and westerne sea and ocean on the east parte, to the South sea on the west parte."[22] The company to whom the grant was sold was styled "The New England Company for a Plantation in Massachusetts Bay".[23] The company elected Matthew Cradock as its first governor and immediately began organizing provisions and recruiting settlers.

text: The company sent approximately 100 new settlers with provisions to join Conant in 1628, led by Governor's Assistant John Endecott, one of the grantees.[24] The next year, Naumkeag was renamed Salem and fortified by another 300 settlers led by Rev. Francis Higginson, one of the first ministers of the settlement.[25] The first winters were difficult, with colonists struggling against starvation and disease, resulting in numerous deaths.[26][27]

text: The company leaders sought a Royal Charter for the colony because they were concerned about the legality of conflicting land claims given to several companies (including the New England Company) for the little-known territories of the New World, and because of the increasing number of Puritans who wanted to join them. Charles granted the new charter on 4 March 1628/9,[28] superseding the land grant and establishing a legal basis for the new English colony at Massachusetts. It was not apparent whether Charles knew that the Company was meant to support the Puritan emigration, and he was likely left to assume that it was purely for business purposes, as was the custom. The charter omitted a significant clause: the location for the annual stockholders' meeting.  Charles dissolved Parliament in 1629, whereupon the company's directors met to consider the possibility of moving the company's seat of governance to the colony.  This was followed by the Cambridge Agreement later that year, in which a group of investors agreed to emigrate and work to buy out others who would not emigrate.

text: The Massachusetts Bay Colony became the first English chartered colony whose board of governors did not reside in England. This independence helped the settlers to maintain their Puritan religious practices without interference from the king, Archbishop Laud, or the Anglican Church. The charter remained in force for 55 years; Charles II revoked it in 1684.[29] Parliament passed legislation collectively called the Navigation Acts which attempted to prevent the colonists from trading with any nation other than England. Colonial resistance to those acts led King Charles to revoke the Massachusetts charter and consolidate all the colonies in New England, New York, and New Jersey into the Dominion of New England.

text: Colonial history[edit]

text: A flotilla of ships sailed from England beginning in April 1630, sometimes known as the Winthrop Fleet. They began arriving at Salem in June and carried more than 700 colonists, Governor John Winthrop, and the colonial charter.[30] Winthrop delivered his famous sermon "City upon a Hill" either before or during the voyage.[31]

text: For the next ten years, there was a steady exodus of Puritans from England, with about 20,000 people emigrating to Massachusetts and the neighboring colonies during the Great Migration.[32] Many ministers reacted to the repressive religious policies of England, making the trip with their congregations, among whom were John Cotton, Roger Williams, Thomas Hooker, and others. Religious divisions and the need for additional land prompted a number of new settlements that resulted in Connecticut Colony (by Hooker) and the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations (by Williams and others). Minister John Wheelwright was banished in the wake of the Antinomian Controversy (like Anne Hutchinson), and he moved north to found Exeter, New Hampshire.

text: The advent of the Wars of the Three Kingdoms in 1639 brought a halt to major migration, and a significant number of men returned to England to fight in the war. Massachusetts authorities were sympathetic to the Parliamentary cause and had generally positive relationships with the governments of the English Commonwealth and the Protectorate of Oliver Cromwell. The colony's economy began to diversify in the 1640s, as the fur trading, lumber, and fishing industries found markets in Europe and the West Indies, and the colony's shipbuilding industry developed. The growth of a generation of people who were born in the colony and the rise of a merchant class began to slowly change the political and cultural landscape of the colony, even though its governance continued to be dominated by relatively conservative Puritans.

text: Colonial support for the Commonwealth created tension after the throne was restored to Charles II in 1660. Charles sought to extend royal influence over the colonies, which Massachusetts resisted along with the other colonies. For example, the Massachusetts Bay colony repeatedly refused requests by Charles and his agents to allow the Church of England to become established, and the New England colonies in general resisted the Navigation Acts, laws that restricted colonial trade to England alone.

text: All of the New England colonies were ravaged by King Philip's War (1675–76), when the Indians of southern New England rose up against the colonists and were decisively defeated, although at great cost in life to all concerned. The Massachusetts frontier was particularly hard hit, with several communities being abandoned in the Connecticut and Swift River valleys. By the end of the war, most of the Indian population of southern New England made peace treaties with the colonists.

text: Revocation of charter[edit]

text: Following the English Restoration in 1660, matters of colonial administration drew the king's attention. Massachusetts in particular was reluctant to agree that the king had any sort of authority to control its governance.[33] This led to crises in the 1660s and late 1670s in which steps were first planned, and then executed in England to vacate the colonial charter.  The Lords of Trade had decided for a variety of reasons to consolidate the New England colonies; they issued quo warranto writs in 1681 for the charters of several North American colonies, including Massachusetts.[34] The Massachusetts writ was never served for technical reasons, and the charter was not formally vacated until the chancery court issued a scire facias writ formally annulling the charter on June 18, 1684.[35] The proceedings were arranged so that the time had expired for the colonial authorities to defend the charter, before they even learned of the event.[36]

text: Unifications and restoration[edit]

text: From 1686, the colony's territory was administratively unified by James II of England with the other New England colonies in the Dominion of New England. The dominion was governed by Sir Edmund Andros without any local representation beyond hand-picked councillors, and was extremely unpopular in New England. Massachusetts authorities conspired to have Andros arrested in April 1689 after the 1688 Glorious Revolution in England, and they reestablished government under the forms of the vacated charter.  However, dissenters from the Puritan rule argued that the government lacked a proper constitutional foundation, and some of its actions were resisted on that basis. The years from 1689 to 1692 were also difficult ones, since the colony was at the forefront of King William's War, and its frontier communities were ravaged by attacks organized in New France and conducted by French and Indian raiding parties.

text: King William III issued a charter in 1691, despite efforts by Massachusetts agents to revive the old colonial charter. It was chiefly negotiated by Increase Mather in his role as the colony's ambassador-extraordinary,[37] unifying Massachusetts Bay with Plymouth Colony, Martha's Vineyard, Nantucket, and territories that roughly encompass present-day Maine, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia to form the Province of Massachusetts Bay. This new charter additionally extended voting rights to non-Puritans, an outcome that Mather had tried to avoid.[38]

text: Life[edit]

text:
Part of a series onPuritansThe Puritan (1887), a statue in Springfield, Massachusetts by Augustus Saint-Gaudens
Background[show]
Christianity
Protestantism
Reformation
English Reformation
Calvinism
Anglicanism
Arminianism
Arminianism in the Church of England
English Dissenters
Independents
Nonconformism
English Presbyterianism
Ecclesiastical separatism
17th-century denominations in England

Crucial themes[show]
Definitions of Puritanism
Impropriation
Puritan Sabbatarianism
Millennialism
Puritan choir
Puritan work ethic
Merton thesis

History[show]
under Queen Elizabeth I
under King James I
under King Charles I
Cromwellian era and after
in North America

Confessions[show]
Westminster Confession of Faith
Savoy Declaration
Cambridge Platform

England[show]
Scrooby Congregation
Trial of Archbishop Laud
Marian exiles
Vestments controversy
Martin Marprelate
Millenary Petition
Grand Remonstrance
English Civil War
English Restoration
Act of Uniformity 1662
Great Ejection
Elizabethan Religious Settlement

America[show]
Providence Island Company
Massachusetts Bay Colony
Salem witch trials
immigration to New England
culture in New England
Christmas prohibition
Praying town
Half-Way Covenant
American exceptionalism

Elsewhere[show]
Troubles at Frankfurt

Notable individuals[show]
Peter Bulkley
John Bunyan
William Bradford
Anne Bradstreet
John Cotton
Oliver Cromwell
John Endecott
Jonathan Edwards
Anne Hutchinson
Cotton Mather
Increase Mather
James Noyes
Thomas Parker
Roger Williams
John Winthrop
Robert Woodford

Works[show]
The Godly Man's Picture
The Pilgrim's Progress
Paradise Lost
Foxe's Book of Martyrs

Continuing movements[show]
Congregational churches (U.S.)
other Reformed churches
vte

text: Life could be quite difficult in the early years of the colony. Many colonists lived in fairly crude structures, including dugouts, wigwams, and dirt-floor huts made using wattle and daub construction. Construction improved in later years, and houses began to be sheathed in clapboard, with thatch or plank roofs and wooden chimneys.[39] Wealthier individuals would extend their house by adding a leanto on the back, which allowed a larger kitchen (possibly with a brick or stone chimney including an oven), additional rooms, and a sleeping loft. These houses were the precursors to what is now called the saltbox style of architecture.[40] Interiors became more elaborate in later years, with plaster walls, wainscoting, and potentially expensive turned woodwork in the most expensive homes.[41]

text: Colonists arriving after the first wave found that the early towns did not have room for them. Seeking land of their own, groups of families would petition the government for land on which to establish a new town; the government would typically allow the group's leaders to select the land. These grants were typically about 40 square miles (10,000 ha), and were located sufficiently near other towns to facilitate defense and social support. The group leaders would also be responsible for acquiring native title to the lands that they selected.[42] By this means, the colony expanded into the interior, spawning settlements in adjacent territories as well.[43]

text: The land within a town would be divided by communal agreement, usually allocating by methods that originated in England. Outside a town center, land would be allocated for farming, some of which might be held communally. Farmers with large plots of land might build a house near their properties on the outskirts of the town.[44] A town center that was well laid out would be fairly compact, with a tavern, school, possibly some small shops, and a meeting house that was used for civic and religious functions.[41] The meeting house would be the center of the town's political and religious life. Church services might be held for several hours on Wednesday and all day Sunday. Puritans did not observe annual holidays, especially Christmas, which they said had pagan roots. Annual town meetings would be held at the meeting house, generally in May, to elect the town's representatives to the general court and to transact other community business. Towns often had a village green, used for outdoor celebrations and activities such as military exercises of the town's trainband or militia.

text: Marriage and family life[edit]

text: Many of the early colonists who migrated from England came with some or all of their family.[45] It was expected that individuals would marry fairly young and begin producing offspring. Infant mortality rates were comparatively low, as were instances of childhood death.[46] Men who lost their wives often remarried fairly quickly, especially if they had children needing care. Older widows would also sometimes marry for financial security. It was also normal for older widowed parents to live with one of their children. Due to the Puritan perception of marriage as a civil union, divorce did sometimes occur and could be pursued by both genders.[47]

text: Sexual activity was expected to be confined to marriage. Sex outside of marriage was considered fornication if neither partner was married, and adultery if one or both were married to someone else. Fornication was generally punished by fines and pressure to marry; a woman who gave birth to an illegitimate child could also be fined. Adultery and rape were more serious crimes, and both were punishable by death. Rape, however, required more than one witness, and was therefore rarely prosecuted. Sexual activity between men was called sodomy, and was also punishable by death.[48]

text: Within the marriage, the husband was typically responsible for supplying the family's financial needs, although it was not uncommon for women to work in the fields and to perform some sort of home labor (for example, spinning thread or weaving cloth) to supplement the family income. Women were almost exclusively responsible for seeing to the welfare of the children.

text: Children were baptized at the local meeting house within a week of being born. The mother was usually not present because she was still recovering from the birth, and the child's name was usually chosen by the father. Names were propagated within the family, and names would be reused when infants died. If an adult died without issue, his (or her) name could be carried on when the siblings of the deceased named children in his memory.

text: Most children received some form of schooling, something which the colony's founders believed to be important for forming a proper relationship with God. Towns were obligated to provide education for their children, which was usually satisfied by hiring a teacher of some sort. The quality of these instructors varied, from minimally educated local people to Harvard-educated ministers.

text: Government[edit]

text: The structure of the colonial government changed over the lifetime of the charter. The Puritans established a theocratic government with the franchise limited to church members. Winthrop, Dudley, the Rev. John Cotton, and other leaders zealously sought to prevent any independence of religious views, and many with differing religious beliefs—including Roger Williams of Salem and Anne Hutchinson of Boston, as well as unrepentant Quakers and Anabaptists—were banished. By the mid-1640s Massachusetts Bay Colony had grown to more than 20,000 inhabitants.[49]

text: The charter granted the general court the authority to elect officers and to make laws for the colony. Its first meeting in America was held in October 1630, but it was attended by only eight freemen.[50] They formed the first council of assistants, and voted (contrary to the terms of the charter) that the governor and deputy should be elected by them, from their number.[51] This was modified in the next session of the general court, in which the governor and deputy were to be elected by the general court.[52]

text: An additional 116 settlers were admitted to the general court as freemen in 1631, but most of the governing power, as well as the judicial power, remained with the council of assistants.[53]  They also enacted a law specifying that only those men who "are members of some of the churches" in the colony were eligible to become freemen and gain the vote.[51] This restriction on the franchise was not liberalized until after the English Restoration.[52] The process by which individuals became members of one of the colony's churches involved a detailed questioning by the church elders of their beliefs and religious experiences; as a result, only individuals whose religious views accorded with those of the church leadership were likely to become members and gain the ability to vote in the colony.[54] After a protest over the imposition of taxes by a meeting of the council of assistants, the general court ordered each town to send two representatives, known as deputies, to meet with the court to discuss matters of taxation.[55]

text: Questions of governance and representation arose again in 1634, when several deputies demanded to see the charter, which the assistants had kept hidden from public view. The deputies learned of the provisions that the general court should make all laws, and that all freemen should be members of the general court.  They then demanded that the charter be enforced to the letter, which Governor Winthrop pointed out was impractical given the growing number of freemen. The parties reached a compromise, and agreed that the general court would be made up of two deputies elected by each town.[55] The 1634 election resulted in the election of Dudley as governor, and the general court proceeded to reserve for itself a large number of powers, including those of taxation, distribution of land, and the admission of freemen.[56]

text: The transformation was complete: a trading company had become a (somewhat) representative democracy. A legal case in 1642 brought about the separation of the council of assistants into an upper house of the general court. The case involved a widow's lost pig and had been overturned by the general court; but the assistants had sat in judicial decision on the case and voted as a body to veto the general court's act.[57] The consequence of the ensuing debate was that the general court voted in 1644 that the council of assistants would sit and deliberate separately from the general court (they had sat together until then), the concurrence of both bodies being required for the passage of legislation. Judicial appeals were to be decided by a joint session, since otherwise the assistants would be in the position to veto attempts to overturn their own decisions.[58] A group of emigrants had bought all the Massachusetts Bay Company's stock and brought the Charter to America in 1630; neither the English king nor Parliament nor an English company exerted any influence in Massachusetts Bay Colony.[59] So it was in effect a self-ruling republic for some decades, also practicing separation of powers.

text: Laws and judiciary[edit]

text: In 1641, the colony formally adopted the Massachusetts Body of Liberties,[60] written or compiled as its first code of laws by Nathaniel Ward.[61] This document consisted of 100 civil and criminal laws based upon the social sanctions recorded in the Bible.[62] These laws formed the nucleus of colonial legislation until independence, and contained some provisions that were later incorporated into the United States Constitution, such as the ideas of equal protection and double jeopardy.[61]

text: On the other hand, Massachusetts Bay was the first colony to legalize slavery with provision 91 of the Massachusetts Body of Liberties, which developed protections for people who were unable to perform public service.[63] Another law was developed to protect married women, children, and people with mental disabilities from making financial decisions.[63] Colonial law differentiated among types of mental disabilities, classifying them as "distracted persons," "idiots," and "lunaticks".[63] In 1693, "poor laws" enabled communities to use the estates of people with disabilities to defer the cost of community support of those individuals.[63][64][65] Many of these laws remained until the American Revolution.[63]

text: Many behaviors were frowned upon culturally which modern sensibilities might consider relatively trivial actions, and some led to criminal prosecution. These included sleeping during church services, playing cards, and engaging in any number of activities on the Sabbath. Conversely, there were laws which reflected attitudes that are still endorsed by popular sensibilities in 21st century America, against things such as smoking tobacco, abusing one's mother-in-law, profane dancing, and pulling hair.[66] Children, newcomers, and people with disabilities were exempt from punishment for such infractions.[63]

text: The colony's council of assistants sat as the final court of appeal and as the principal court for criminal issues of "life, limb, or banishment" and civil issues where the damages exceeded £100.[62] Lesser offenses were heard in county courts or by commissioners appointed for hearing minor disputes. The lower courts were also responsible for issuing licenses and for matters such as probate. Juries were authorized to decide questions of both fact and law, although the court was able to decide in the event that a jury failed to reach a decision.[67] Sentences for offenses included fines and corporal punishments such as whipping and sitting in the stocks, with the punishments of banishment from the colony and death by hanging being reserved for the most serious offenses.[68] Evidence was sometimes based on hearsay and superstition. For example, the "ordeal of touch" was used in 1646, in which someone accused of murder is forced to touch the dead body; if blood appears, the accused is deemed guilty. This was used to convict and execute a woman accused of murdering her newborn child.[69] Bodies of individuals hanged for piracy were sometimes gibbeted (publicly displayed) on harbor islands visible to seagoing vessels.[70]

text: Notable criminal prosecutions[edit]

text: One of the first people to be executed in the colony was Dorothy Talbye, who was apparently delusional. She was hanged in 1638 for murdering her daughter, as the common law of Massachusetts made no distinction at the time between insanity (or mental illness) and criminal behavior.[71] Midwife Margaret Jones was convicted of being a witch and hanged in 1648 after the condition of patients allegedly worsened in her care.[72]

text: The colonial leadership was the most active in New England in the persecution of Quakers. In 1660, one of the most notable instances was English Quaker Mary Dyer who was hanged in Boston for repeatedly defying a law banning Quakers from the colony.[73] Dyer was one of the four executed Quakers known as the Boston martyrs. Executions ceased in 1661 when King Charles II explicitly forbade Massachusetts from executing anyone for professing Quakerism.[74]

text: New England Confederation[edit]

text: In 1643, Massachusetts Bay joined Plymouth Colony, Connecticut Colony, and New Haven Colony in the New England Confederation, a loose coalition organized primarily to coordinate military and administrative matters among the Puritan colonies.[75] It was most active in the 1670s during King Philip's War.[76] (New Hampshire had not yet been organized as a separate province, and both it and Rhode Island were excluded because they were not Puritan.)[77]

text: Economy and trade[edit]

text: In the early years, the colony was highly dependent on the import of staples from England and was supported by the investments of a number of wealthy immigrants. Certain businesses were quick to thrive, notably shipbuilding, fisheries, and the fur and lumber trades. As early as 1632, ships built in the colony began trading with other colonies, England, and foreign ports in Europe. By 1660, the colony's merchant fleet was estimated at 200 ships and, by the end of the century, its shipyards were estimated to turn out several hundred ships annually.[78] In the early years, the fleet principally carried fish to destinations from the West Indies to Europe.[79] It was common for a merchant to ship dried fish to Portugal or Spain, pick up wine and oil for transport to England, and then carry finished goods from England or elsewhere back to the colony.[80]  This and other patterns of trade became illegal following the introduction of the Navigation Acts in 1651, turning colonial merchants who continued these trading patterns into de facto smugglers.  Many colonial authorities were merchants or were politically dependent on them, and they opposed being required by the crown to collect duties imposed by those acts.[81]

text: The fur trade only played a modest role in the colony's economy because its rivers did not connect its centers well with the Indians who engaged in fur trapping. Timber began to take on an increasingly important role in the economy, especially for naval purposes, after conflicts between England and the Dutch depleted England's supplies of ship masts.[82]

text: The colony's economy depended on the success of its trade, in part because its land was not as suitable for agriculture as that of other colonies such as Virginia, where large plantations could be established. The fishery was important enough that those involved in it were exempted from taxation and military service.[83] Larger communities supported craftsmen skilled in providing many of the necessities of 17th century life. Some income-producing activities took place in the home, such as carding, spinning, and weaving of wool and other fibers.[84]

text: Goods were transported to local markets over roads that were sometimes little more than widened Indian trails.[85] Towns were required to maintain their roads, on penalty of fines, and the colony required special town commissions to lay out roads in a more sensible manner in 1639. Bridges were fairly uncommon, since they were expensive to maintain, and fines were imposed on their owners for the loss of life or goods if they failed. Consequently, most river crossings were made by ferry. Notable exceptions were a bridge across the Mystic River constructed in 1638, and another over the Saugus River, whose upkeep costs were subsidized by the colony.[86]

text: The colonial government attempted to regulate the economy in a number of ways. On several occasions, it passed laws regulating wages and prices of economically important goods and services, but most of these initiatives did not last very long.[87] The trades of shoe-making and coopering (barrel-making) were authorized to form guilds, making it possible to set price, quality, and expertise levels for their work. The colony set standards governing the use of weights and measures. For example, mill operators were required to weigh grain before and after milling, to ensure that the customer received back what he delivered (minus the miller's percentage).[88]

text: The Puritan dislike of ostentation led the colony to also regulate expenditures on what it perceived as luxury items. Items of personal adornment were frowned upon, such as lace and costly silk outerwear in particular. Attempts to ban these items failed, and the colony resorted to laws restricting their display to those who could demonstrate £200 in assets.[89]

text: Demographics[edit]

text: Most of the people who arrived during the first 12 years emigrated from two regions of England. Many of the colonists came from the county of Lincolnshire and East Anglia, northeast of London, and a large group also came from Devon, Somerset, and Dorset in the southwest of England. These areas provided the bulk of the migration, although colonists also came from other regions of England.[90] The pattern of migration often centered around specific Nonconformist clergy who sought to leave England under threat from Archbishop Laud, who encouraged their flock to accompany them.[91] One characteristic unique to the New England colonies (as distinguished from some of the other English colonies) was that most of the immigrants were emigrating for religious and political reasons, rather than economic ones.[92]

text: The preponderance of the immigrants were well-to-do gentry and skilled craftsmen. They brought with them apprentices and servants, the latter of whom were sometimes in indentured servitude.[93] Few titled nobility emigrated, even though some supported the emigration politically and financially and also acquired land holdings in Massachusetts and other colonies.[94] Merchants also represented a significant proportion of the migrants, often the children of the gentry, and they played an important role in establishing the economy of the colony.[93]

text: With the start of the English Civil War in 1642, emigration came to a comparative standstill, and some colonists even returned to England to fight for the Parliamentary cause. In the following years, most of the immigrants came for economic reasons; they were merchants, seamen, and skilled craftsmen. Following the revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685, the colony also saw in an influx of French Protestant Huguenots.  During the period of the charter colony, small numbers of Scots immigrated, but these were assimilated into the colony.[95] The population of Massachusetts remained largely English in character until the 1840s.[96]

text: Slavery existed but was not widespread within the colony. Some Indians captured in the Pequot War were enslaved, with those posing the greatest threat being transported to the West Indies and exchanged for goods and slaves.[97] Governor John Winthrop owned a few Indian slaves,[98] and Governor Simon Bradstreet owned two black slaves.[99] The Body of Liberties enacted in 1641 included rules governing the treatment and handling of slaves.[100] Bradstreet reported in 1680 that the colony had 100 to 120 slaves, but historian Hugh Thomas documents evidence suggesting that there may have been a somewhat larger number.[101]

text: Geography[edit]

text: The Massachusetts colony was dominated by its rivers and coastline. Major rivers included the Charles and Merrimack, as well as a portion of the Connecticut River, which has been used to transport furs and timbers to Long Island Sound.  Cape Ann juts into the Gulf of Maine, providing harbors for fishermen plying the fishing banks to the east, and Boston's harbor provided secure anchorage for seagoing commercial vessels.  Development in Maine was restricted to coastal areas, and large inland areas remained under native control until after King Philip's War, particularly the uplands in what is now Worcester County.

text: Boundaries[edit]

text: The colonial charter specified that the boundaries were to be from three miles (4.8 km) north of the Merrimack River to three miles south of the southernmost point of the Charles River and thence westward to the "South Sea" (i.e., the Pacific Ocean).[22]  At the time, the course of neither of the rivers was known for any significant length, which eventually led to boundary disputes with the colony's neighbors.[102] The colony's claims were large, but the practicalities of the time meant that they never actually controlled any land further west than the Connecticut River valley. The colony also claimed additional lands by conquest and purchase, further extending the territory that it administered.

text: The southeastern boundary with the Plymouth Colony was first surveyed in 1639 and accepted by both colonies in 1640.[103] It is known in Massachusetts as the "Old Colony Line", and is still visible as the boundary between Norfolk County to the north and Bristol and Plymouth Counties to the south.[104]

text: The northern boundary was originally thought to be roughly parallel to the latitude of the mouth of the Merrimack River, since the river was assumed to flow primarily west. This was found not to be the case and, in 1652, Governor Endicott sent a survey party to locate the northernmost point on the Merrimack. At the point where the Pemigewasset River, the Merrimack's principal tributary, meets the Winnipesaukee River local Indians guided the party to the outlet of Lake Winnipesaukee, incorrectly claiming that as the Merrimack's source. The survey party carved lettering into a rock there (now called Endicott Rock), and its latitude was taken to be the colony's northern boundary. When extended eastward, this line was found to meet the Atlantic near Casco Bay in present-day Maine.

text: Following this discovery, the colonial magistrates began proceedings to bring existing settlements under their authority in southern New Hampshire and Maine.[105] This extension of the colonial claim conflicted with several proprietary grants owned by the heirs of John Mason and Sir Ferdinando Gorges.[106] The Mason heirs pursued their claims in England, and the result was the formation of the Province of New Hampshire in 1679.[107]  The current boundary between Massachusetts and New Hampshire was not fixed until 1741. In 1678, the colony purchased the claims of the Gorges heirs, gaining control over the territory between the Piscataqua and Kennebec Rivers.[108] The colony and later the province and state retained control of Maine until it was granted statehood in 1820.[109]

text: The colony performed a survey in 1642 to determine its southern boundary west to the Connecticut River.[110] This line, south of the present boundary, was protested by Connecticut, but stood until the 1690s, when Connecticut performed its own survey.[111]  Most of today's Massachusetts boundaries with its neighbors were fixed in the 18th century.[112] The most significant exception was the eastern boundary with Rhode Island, which required extensive litigation, including Supreme Court rulings, before it was finally resolved in 1862.[113]

text: Lands which had previously belonged to the Pequots to the southwest were divided after the Pequot War in present-day Rhode Island and eastern Connecticut. Claims were disputed in this area for many years, particularly between Connecticut and Rhode Island.[114][115] Massachusetts administered Block Island and the area around present-day Stonington, Connecticut as part of these spoils of war,[116][117] and was one of several claimants to land in what was known as Narragansett Country (roughly Washington County, Rhode Island). Massachusetts lost all of these territories in the 1660s, when Connecticut and Rhode Island received their royal charters.[118][119]

text: Timeline of settlement[edit]

text:
Weymouth (Wessagusset) – 1622 as part of Plymouth Colony; part of Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1630
Gloucester – 1623 (Dorchester Company)
Chelsea – 1624
Quincy – 1625
Naumkeag (later Salem) – 1626 (Dorchester Company)
Beverly – 1626 (originally a part of Salem, incorporated separately in 1668)
Charlestown – 1628 (first capital, now part of Boston)
Lynn – 1629
Saugus – 1629
Manchester-by-the-Sea (Jeffery's Creek) – 1629
Marblehead – 1629 (Settled as a plantation of Salem, incorporated separately in 1639)
Boston – 1630 (from Shawmut and Trimountaine)
Medford – 1630
Mystic (now part of Malden)[120] – 1630
Everett – 1630 (settlement)
Watertown – 1630 (on land now part of Cambridge)
Newtowne (now Cambridge) – 1630 (near Harvard Square)
Roxbury – 1630 (now part of Boston)
Dorchester – 1630 (now part of Boston)
Newton – 1630
Ipswich – 1633
Milton – 1634
Attleboro – 1634
Braintree – 1634
Agawam – 1635 (Settled as Agawam Plantation and originally administered by the Connecticut Colony; defected to Massachusetts with Springfield in 1640)
Concord – 1635
Hingham – 1635
Newbury – 1635
Dedham – 1635 (Settled as Contentment, renamed Dedham and incorporated in 1636)
Winthrop – 1635
Menotomy (now Arlington, then part of Newtowne) – 1635
Scituate – 1636 (Founded by the Men of Kent)
Andover – 1636 (Split into Andover and North Andover in 1856)
Springfield – 1636 (Settled as Agawam Plantation and originally administered by the Connecticut Colony; defected to Massachusetts and renamed Springfield in 1640)
Brookline – 1638 (Settled as Muddy River, considered part of Boston until it was renamed Brookline and incorporated in 1705)
Rowley – 1638
Salisbury – 1638
Reading – 1639 (Lynn Village, renamed and incorporated as Reading in 1644)
Sandwich – 1639 (First settled in 1637)
Sudbury – 1639
Winchester – 1640 (Founded as part of Charlestown, incorporated as Waterfield in 1640, incorporated 1850)
Chicopee – 1640 (Settled as Nayasett)
Haverhill – 1640
Braintree – 1640
Malden – 1640 (Founded as part of Charlestown, incorporated separately in 1649)
Woburn – 1640
Methuen – 1642 (founded as part of Haverhill, incorporated separately in 1725)
Longmeadow – 1644
Andover – 1646 (original settlement is now in North Andover)
Framingham – 1647
Natick – 1651
Eastham – 1651
Medfield – 1651
Billerica – 1653 (Founded as Shawshin, incorporated in 1655)
Chelmsford – 1653 (Incorporated in 1655)
Lancaster – 1653
Lowell – 1653 (Founded as East Chelmsford, was formally incorporated in 1826)
Northampton - 1654 (Incorporated in 1653)
Groton – 1655
Dunstable – 1656
Hadley – 1659
Middleton – 1659
Holliston – 1659
Marlborough – 1660
Westfield – 1660
West Springfield – 1660
Milford – 1662
Mendon – 1667
Middleborough – 1669
Worcester – 1673


document_title: List of best-selling albums

question_text: what is the highest selling album of all time

root

text: List of best-selling albums

text: Legend

text:
Colors

Studio albums

Greatest hits and compilations

Soundtracks

Live albums

tag: table

text: 40 million copies or more

text: *All sales figures are shown in millions

tag: p

text:
Artist
Album
Released
Genre
Total certified copies
(from available markets)*
Claimed sales*
Ref(s)

Michael Jackson
Thriller
1982
Pop, rock, R&B
7001463190000000000♠
show
47.3

US: 33 million[4]
JPN: 100,000[5]
UK: 4.2 million[6]
GER: 1.5 million[7]
FRA: 1 million[8]
CAN: 2 million[9]
AUS: 1.12 million[10]
MEX: 1.6 million[11]
NLD: 800,000[12]
ITA: 100,000[13]
SWE: 400,000[14]
ARG: 500,000[15]
SWI: 300,000[16]
AUT: 400,000[17]
FIN: 119,061[18]
NZ: 180,000[19][20]
HKG: 15,000[21]

66
[1]

AC/DC
Back in Black
1980
Hard rock
7001259000000000000♠
show
26.1

US: 22 million[4]
UK: 300,000[6]
GER: 1 million[7]
FRA: 600,000[8]
CAN: 1 million[9]
AUS: 840,000[10]
ITA: 50,000[13]
ARG: 160,000[22]
SWI: 100,000[16]
AUT: 50,000[17]

50
[23]

Pink Floyd
The Dark Side of the Moon
1973
Progressive rock
7001242100000000000♠
show
24.2

US: 15 million[4]
UK: 4.2 million[6]
GER: 1 million[7]
FRA: 400,000[8]
CAN: 2 million[9]
AUS: 980,000[10]
ITA: 100,000[13]
ARG: 120,000[22]
POL: 70,000[24]
AUT: 100,000[17]
NZ: 240,000[25]

45
[26]

Meat Loaf
Bat Out of Hell
1977
Hard rock, progressive rock
7001215050000000000♠
show
21.5

US: 14 million[4]
UK: 3 million[6]
GER: 500,000[7]
CAN: 2 million[9]
AUS: 1.68 million[10]
NZ: 255,000[25]

43
[27]

Whitney Houston / Various artists
The Bodyguard
1992
R&B, soul, pop, soundtrack
7001273460000000000♠
show
28.4

US: 18 million[4]
JPN: 2 million[28]
UK: 2.1 million[6]
GER: 1.5 million[7]
FRA: 1 million[8]
CAN: 1 million[9]
AUS: 350,000[10]
BRA: 750,000[29]
NLD: 100,000[12]
SWE 100,000[14]
SPA: 500,000[30]
ARG: 240,000[22]
SWI: 250,000[16]
AUT: 200,000[17]
NOR: 200,000[31]
FIN: 92,500[18]

42
[32]

Eagles
Their Greatest Hits (1971–1975)
1976
Country rock, soft rock, folk rock
7001321800000000000♠
show
32.2

US: 29 million[4]
UK: 600,000[6]
CAN: 2 million[9]
AUS: 560,000[10]
IFPI HKG: 15,000[21]

42
[33][34]

Bee Gees / Various artists
Saturday Night Fever
1977
Disco
7001215700000000000♠
show
21.6

US: 16 million[4]
UK: 2.1 million[6]
GER: 1.5 million[7]
FRA: 200,000[8]
CAN: 1 million[9]
AUS: 770,000[35]
HKG: 15,000[21]

40
[36][37]

Fleetwood Mac
Rumours
1977
Soft rock
7001279300000000000♠
show
27.9

US: 20 million[4]
UK: 3.3 million[6]
GER: 1.25 million[7]
FRA: 300,000[38]
CAN: 2 million[9]
AUS: 910,000[10]
NZ: 150,000[39]
HKG: 15,000[21]

40
[40][41]

text: 30–39 million copies

text:
Artist
Album
Released
Genre
Total certified copies
(from available markets)*
Claimed sales*
Ref(s)

Various artists
Grease: The Original Soundtrack from the Motion Picture
1978
Soundtrack
7001143900000000000♠
show
14.4

US: 8 million[4]
UK: 2.4 million[6]
GER: 1.25 million[7]
FRA: 400,000[8]
CAN: 1 million[9]
AUS: 980,000[10]
SPA: 300,000[30]
SWI: 25,000[16]
NZ: 15,000[19]
HKG: 15,000[21]

38
[42]

Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin IV
1971
Hard rock, heavy metal, folk rock
7001290200000000000♠
show
29.0

US: 23 million[4]
UK: 1.8 million[6]
GER: 750,000[7]
FRA: 600,000[38]
CAN: 2 million[9]
AUS: 630,000[10]
BRA: 100,000[29]
NLD: 100,000[12]
ARG: 60,000[22]
SWI: 50,000[16]

37
[43]

Michael Jackson
Bad
1987
Pop, funk, rock
7001192560000000000♠
show
19.3

US: 10 million[4]
UK: 3.9 million[6]
GER: 2 million[7]
FRA: 1 million[8]
CAN: 700,000[9]
AUS: 420,000[10]
MEX: 350,000[11]
SWE 200,000[14]
SPA: 300,000[30]
AUT: 200,000[17]
FIN: 51,287[18]
NZ: 135,000[44]
IFPI HKG: 15,000[21]

35
[45][46]

Alanis Morissette
Jagged Little Pill
1995
Alternative rock
7001247559000000000♠
show
24.4

US: 16 million[4]
UK: 3 million[6]
GER: 1 million[7]
FRA: 300,000[38]
CAN: 2 million[9]
AUS: 980,000[10]
NLD: 400,000[12]
SWE 200,000[14]
BRA: 100,000[29]
ARG: 60,000[22]
POL: 50,000[24]
SWI: 50,000[16]
NOR: 50,000[31]
AUT: 100,000[17]
FIN: 65,860[18]

33
[47]

Shania Twain
Come On Over
1997
Country, pop
7001295790000000000♠
show
29.6

US: 20 million[4]
JPN: 100,000 [5]
UK: 3.3 million[6]
GER: 750,000[7]
FRA: 300,000[38]
CAN: 2 million[9]
AUS: 1.05 million[10]
BRA: 100,000[29]
MEX: 100,000[11]
NLD: 400,000[12]
ITA: 50,000[13]
SWE 180,000[14]
SPA: 100,000[30]
BEL: 100,000[48][49]
ARG: 120,000[22]
SWI: 150,000[16]
AUT: 25,000[17]
NOR: 300,000[31]
DEN: 100,000[50]
FIN: 38,958[18]
NZ: 315,000[20]

33
[51]

Celine Dion
Falling into You
1996
Pop, soft rock
7001201770000000000♠
show
20.2

US: 11 million[4]
JPN: 800,000[5]
UK: 2.1 million[6]
GER: 1.25 million[7]
FRA: 1 million[38]
CAN: 1 million[9]
AUS: 910,000[10]
BRA: 100,000[29]
NLD: 600,000[12]
SWE: 200,000[14]
SPA: 200,000[30]
BEL: 200,000[48]
ARG: 60,000[22]
POL: 100,000[24]
SWI: 150,000[16]
NOR: 150,000[31]
AUT: 100,000[17]
FIN: 51,952[18]
NZ: 180,000[19]
HUN: 25,000[52]

32
[53]

The Beatles
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
1967
Rock
7001181700000000000♠
show
18.2

US: 11 million[4]
UK: 5.1 million[6]
GER: 500,000[7]
CAN: 800,000[9]
AUS: 280,000[10]
BRA: 100,000[29]
ARG: 300,000[22]
NZ: 90,000[20]

32
[54]

Eagles
Hotel California
1976
Soft rock
7001214810000000000♠
show
21.5

US: 16 million[4]
UK: 1.8 million[6]
GER: 500,000[7]
FRA: 1 million[8]
CAN: 1 million[9]
AUS: 560,000[10]
SPA: 400,000[30]
SWI: 100,000[16]
AUT: 25,000[17]
FIN: 30,933[18]
NZ: 135,000[19]
HKG: 15,000[21]

32
[55]

Various artists
Dirty Dancing
1987
Pop, rock, R&B
7001178775000000000♠
show
17.9

US: 11 million[4]
UK: 1.5 million[6]
GER: 2 million[7]
FRA: 1 million[8]
CAN: 1 million[9]
AUS: 770,000[10]
BRA: 100,000[29]
NLD: 100,000[12]
SWE 100,000[14]
POL: 50,000[24]
SWI: 250,000[16]
HKG: 7,500[21]

32
[56]

Adele
21
2011
Pop, soul
7001252610000000000♠
show
25.3

US: 14 million[4]
JPN: 100,000[57]
UK: 4.8 million[6]
GER: 1.6 million[7]
CAN: 800,000[9]
AUS: 980,000[10]
MEX: 300,000[11]
NLD: 450,000[58]
ITA: 480,000[13]
SWE: 120,000[59]
SPA: 300,000[30]
ARG: 80,000[60]
BEL: 180,000[49]
POL: 200,000[24]
SWI: 40,000[16]
NOR: 30,000[61]
AUT: 20,000[17]
RUS: 10,000[62]
DEN: 150,000[63]
POR: 40,000[64]
FIN: 83,234[18]
IRE: 270,000[65]
GRE: 6,000[66]
HUN: 12,000[67]
NZ: 180,000[68]
CHI: 20,000[69]
VEN: 10,000[70]

31
[71]

Celine Dion
Let's Talk About Love
1997
Pop, soft rock
7001192560000000000♠
show
19.3

US: 10 million[4]
JPN: 1 million[5]
UK: 1.8 million[6]
GER: 1.5 million[7]
FRA: 1 million[38]
CAN: 1 million[9]
AUS: 420,000[10]
NLD: 500,000[12]
SWE: 240,000[14]
SPA: 400,000[30]
BEL: 200,000[48]
ARG: 120,000[22]
POL: 200,000[24]
SWI: 300,000[16]
NOR: 200,000[31]
AUT: 100,000[17]
FIN: 97,744[18]
NZ: 135,000[72]
HKG: 40,000[21]
URY: 3,000[73]

31
[74]

The Beatles
1
2000
Rock
7001234020000000000♠
show
23.4

US: 12 million[4]
JPN: 2 million[5]
UK: 3.3 million[6]
GER: 1.65 million[7]
FRA: 600,000[38]
CAN: 1 million[9]
AUS: 700,000[10]
BRA: 250,000[29]
ITA: 50,000[13]
SWE 160,000[14]
SPA: 500,000[30]
ARG: 120,000[22]
POL: 100,000[24]
SWI: 150,000[16]
NOR: 150,000[31]
AUT: 150,000[17]
DEN: 200,000[75]
POR: 120,000[76]
FIN: 77,466[18]
NZ: 225,000[19]

31
[77]

ABBA
Gold: Greatest Hits
1992
Pop, disco
7001227100000000000♠
show
22.7

US: 6 million[4]
JPN: 600,000[78]
UK: 5.1 million[6]
GER: 2.5 million[7]
FRA: 1 million[38]
RUS: 10,000[79]
MEX: 250,000[11]
CAN: 1 million[9]
BRA: 100,000[29]
AUS: 1.19 million[10]
IND: 20,000[80]
ITA: 270,000[80][13]
SPA: 500,000[30]
NLD: 300,000[80]
SAF: 50,000[80]
SWE 500,000[14]
SWI: 500,000[16]
ARG: 240,000[22]
BEL: 350,000[48]
THL: 20,000[80]
NOR: 150,000[80]
AUT: 150,000[17]
DEN: 300,000[80]
KOR: 100,000[80]
TWN: 210,000[80]
POL: 100,000[24]
IRE: 90,000[80]
FIN: 145,962[18]
POR: 100,000[80][76]
NZ: 240,000[19]
HKG: 120,000[80]
SGP: 165,000[80]
HUN: 100,000[80]
CHI: 60,000[80]
ISR: 40,000[80]
CZE: 30,000[80]
MAL: 100,000[80]
VEN: 5,000[80]
ICL: 5,000[80]

30
[81]

Michael Jackson
Dangerous
1991
Rock, funk, pop
7001163020000000000♠
show
16.3

US: 7 million[4]
JPN: 400,000[5]
UK: 1.8 million[6]
GER: 2 million[7]
FRA: 1 million[38]
CAN: 600,000[9]
AUS: 700,000[10]
BRA: 100,000[29]
MEX: 600,000[11]
NLD: 300,000[12]
SWE 300,000[14]
SPA: 600,000[30]
SWI: 250,000[16]
AUT: 200,000[17]
FIN: 61,896[18]
NZ: 90,000[20]
CHI: 125,000[82]
MAL: 175,000[83]

30
[84]

Madonna
The Immaculate Collection
1990
Pop, dance
7001203000000000000♠
show
19.4

US: 10 million[4]
JPN: 800,000[5]
UK: 3.6 million[6]
GER: 750,000[7]
FRA: 1 million[8]
CAN: 700,000[9]
AUS: 840,000[85]
BRA: 500,000[29]
NLD: 300,000[12]
SWE 50,000[14]
SPA: 300,000[30]
ARG: 180,000[22]
SWI: 50,000[16]
AUT: 50,000[17]
DEN: 50,000[86]
FIN: 92,500[18]
NZ: 105,000[19]

30
[87]

The Beatles
Abbey Road
1969
Rock
7001144350000000000♠
show
14.4

US: 12 million[4]
GER: 500,000[7]
FRA: 150,000[8]
CAN: 1 million[9]
AUS: 210,000[10]
ARG: 500,000[15]
NZ: 75,000[20]

30
[88]

Bruce Springsteen
Born in the U.S.A.
1984
Heartland rock
7001195580000000000♠
show
19.6

US: 15 million[4]
UK: 900,000[6]
GER: 1 million[7]
FRA: 400,000[38]
CAN: 1 million[9]
AUS: 910,000[10]
FIN: 108,913[18]
NZ: 240,000[19]

30
[89]

Dire Straits
Brothers in Arms
1985
Roots rock, blues rock, soft rock
7001176610000000000♠
show
17.7

US: 9 million[4]
UK: 4.1 million[6]
GER: 500,000[7]
FRA: 1 million[38]
CAN: 1 million[9]
AUS: 1.19 million[10]
ARG: 30,000[22]
SWI: 350,000[16]
FIN: 116,784[18]
NZ: 360,000[25]
HKG: 15,000[21]

30
[90][91]

James Horner
Titanic: Music from the Motion Picture
1997
Soundtrack
7001181385000000000♠
show
18.1

US: 11 million[4]
JPN: 1 million[92]
UK: 900,000[6]
GER: 1.25 million[7]
FRA: 1 million[8]
CAN: 1 million[9]
AUS: 350,000[10]
NLD: 175,000[12]
SWE 160,000[14]
SPA: 400,000[30]
BEL: 150,000[48]
POL: 140,000[24]
ARG: 60,000[22]
SWI: 200,000[16]
AUT: 100,000[17]
NOR: 100,000[31]
FIN: 73,509[18]
NZ: 60,000[93]
HKG: 20,000[21]

30
[94]

Metallica
Metallica
1991
Heavy metal
7001204800000000000♠
show
21.2

US: 16 million[4]
UK: 600,000[6]
GER: 500,000[7]
FRA: 300,000[8]
CAN: 1 million[9]
AUS: 840,000[10]
MEX: 600,000[11]
NLD: 200,000[12]
ITA: 100,000[13]
SWE 100,000[14]
ARG: 300,000[22]
POL: 100,000[24]
SWI: 100,000[16]
NOR: 50,000[31]
AUT: 100,000[17]
FIN: 112,856[18]
NZ: 150,000[20]

30
[95]

Nirvana
Nevermind
1991
Grunge, alternative rock
7001167020000000000♠
show
16.7

US: 10 million[4]
JPN: 600,000[78]
UK: 1.2 million[6]
GER: 1 million[7]
FRA: 1 million[8]
CAN: 1 million[9]
AUS: 350,000[10]
BRA: 250,000[29]
MEX: 200,000[11]
ITA: 100,000[13]
SWE 200,000[14]
ARG: 300,000[22]
BEL: 150,000[49]
POL: 100,000[24]
SWI: 50,000[16]
AUT: 50,000[17]
FIN: 46,830[18]
NZ: 105,000[19]

30
[96]

Pink Floyd
The Wall
1979
Progressive rock
7001175650000000000♠
show
18.6

US: 11.5 million[4]
UK: 600,000[6]
GER: 2 million[7]
FRA: 1 million[8]
CAN: 2 million[9]
AUS: 770,000[10]
ITA: 100,000[13]
ARG: 200,000[97]
POL: 70,000[24]
SWI: 100,000[16]
NZ: 210,000[19]
HKG: 15,000[21]

30
[98]

Santana
Supernatural
1999
Latin rock
7001205400000000000♠
show
20.5

US: 15 million[4]
JPN: 200,000 [5]
UK: 600,000[6]
GER: 1 million[7]
FRA: 600,000[38]
CAN: 1 million[9]
AUS: 280,000[10]
BRA: 250,000[29]
MEX: 300,000[11]
NLD: 200,000[12]
SWE 80,000[14]
SPA: 300,000[30]
BEL: 100,000[48]
ARG: 120,000[22]
POL: 100,000[24]
SWI: 200,000[16]
AUT: 100,000[17]
FIN: 50,291[18]
NZ: 60,000[19]

30
[99]

Guns N' Roses
Appetite for Destruction
1987
Hard rock
7001215550000000000♠
show
21.6

US: 18 million[4]
JPN: 200,000[5]
UK: 900,000[6]
GER: 500,000[7]
FRA: 200,000[38]
CAN: 1 million[9]
BRA: 250,000[29]
MEX: 100,000[11]
ITA: 50,000[13]
SWE 50,000[14]
ARG: 180,000[22]
SWI: 50,000[16]
AUT: 50,000[17]
FIN: 25,000[18]

30
[100][101]

text: 20–29 million copies

text:
Artist
Album
Released
Genre
Claimed sales*
Ref(s)

Bon Jovi
Slippery When Wet
1986
Hard rock, glam metal
28
[102]

Mariah Carey
Music Box
1993
Pop, R&B
28
[103]

Eminem
The Eminem Show
2002
Hip Hop
27
[104][105]

Linkin Park
Hybrid Theory
2000
Nu metal, rap metal, alternative metal
27
[106]

Norah Jones
Come Away with Me
2002
Jazz
27
[107]

Eric Clapton
Unplugged
1992
Acoustic rock, acoustic blues
26
[108]

Madonna
True Blue
1986
Pop
25
[109]

Bob Marley & The Wailers
Legend: The Best of Bob Marley & The Wailers
1984
Reggae
25
[110]

Carole King
Tapestry
1971
Pop
25
[111]

Phil Collins
No Jacket Required
1985
Pop rock
25
[112]

Queen
Greatest Hits
1981
Rock
25
[113]

Simon & Garfunkel
Bridge over Troubled Water
1970
Folk rock
25
[114]

U2
The Joshua Tree
1987
Rock
25
[115]

Britney Spears
...Baby One More Time
1999
Pop
25
[116]

Elton John
Greatest Hits
1974
Pop
24
[117]

Backstreet Boys
Backstreet's Back / Backstreet Boys
1997
Pop
24
[118]

Backstreet Boys
Millennium
1999
Pop
24
[118]

Spice Girls
Spice
1996
Pop
23
[119][120]

Ace of Base
Happy Nation/The Sign
1993
Pop
23
[121]

Whitney Houston
Whitney Houston
1985
Pop, R&B
22
[122]

Oasis
(What's the Story) Morning Glory?
1995
Britpop, rock
22
[123]

Eminem
The Marshall Mathers LP
2000
Rap, hip-hop
21
[124]

Madonna
Like a Virgin
1984
Pop, dance
21
[125]

Bon Jovi
Cross Road
1994
Hard rock, glam metal
21
[126]

Adele
25
2015
Soul, pop, R&B
20
[127]

Boston
Boston
1976
Hard rock
20
[128]

Britney Spears
Oops!... I Did It Again
2000
Pop
20
[129]

Celine Dion
The Colour of My Love
1993
Pop
20
[130]

Def Leppard
Hysteria
1987
Hard rock, glam metal
20
[131]

George Michael
Faith
1987
Pop, R&B, funk, soul
20
[132]

Green Day
Dookie
1994
Pop punk, punk rock, alternative rock
20
[133]

Lionel Richie
Can't Slow Down
1983
Pop, R&B, soul
20
[134]

Mariah Carey
Daydream
1995
Pop, R&B
20
[135]

Michael Jackson
HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I
1995
Pop, pop rock, funk, R&B, new jack swing
20
[136]

Michael Jackson
Off the Wall
1979
Soul, disco, R&B
20
[137]

Shania Twain
The Woman in Me
1995
Country, pop
20
[138]

Supertramp
Breakfast in America
1979
Progressive rock, art rock
20
[139]

Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
1988
Folk rock
20
[140]

Various artists
Flashdance: Original Soundtrack from the Motion Picture
1983
Soundtrack
20
[141]

Whitney Houston
Whitney
1987
Pop, R&B
20
[142]

text: Timeline of the highest selling albums

text: The inclusion or exclusion of items from this list, or length of this list, is disputed. Please discuss this issue on the talk page. (July 2013)

text:
Timeline of the highest-selling album record

Year record set
Artist
Album
Record setting sales (millions)
Total sales (millions)
Ref(s)

1945
Various Artists
Oklahoma! (78 rpm album)
0.5
1.0
[143][144]

1956
Various Artists
Oklahoma! (LP album)
1.75
2.5
[145]

1956/1957
Various Artists
My Fair Lady
2
5
[146][147][148]

1960
Various Artists
South Pacific
2.25
3
[149]

1963
Vaughn Meader
The First Family
4
7.5
[150][151]

1968
Various Artists
The Sound of Music
8WW

[152]

1973
Carole King
Tapestry
10+

[153]

1975/1976
Various Artists
The Sound of Music
10–15SM-T

[154][155]

1976
Carole King
Tapestry
13.5SM-T
25
[156]

1979
Bee Gees/Various Artists
Saturday Night Fever
25–27
40
[157][158]

1984
Michael Jackson
Thriller
35
66
[159][1]

text:
WWIt is unclear whether this sales figure refers to worldwide sales or US sales.
SM-TThe exact year in which Tapestry regained the title of "best-selling album of all-time", if it ever regained it at all, is unclear. The album's 1976 sales claim is therefore only listed to be inclusive, as it is plausible that Tapestry had overtaken The Sound of Music in sales during this time period.

tag: ul

text: Best-selling album by year worldwide

text: The charts of the best-selling albums by year in the world are compiled by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry annually since 2001. These charts are published in their two annual reports, the Digital Music Report and the Recording Industry in Numbers. Both the Digital Music Report and the Recording Industry in Numbers were replaced in 2016 by the Global Music Report.[160]

text: Units sold include physical copies and digital downloads.

text:
Year
Album
Artist(s)
Sales
(millions)
Ref(s)

2001
Hybrid Theory
Linkin Park
8.5
[161]

2002
The Eminem Show
Eminem
13.9
[162]

2003
Come Away with Me
Norah Jones
18.0
[163][164]

2004
Confessions
Usher
12.0
[165]

2005
X&Y
Coldplay
8.3
[166]

2006
High School Musical
Various Artists
7.0
[167]

2007
High School Musical 2
6.0
[168]

2008
Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends
Coldplay
6.8
[169]

2009
I Dreamed a Dream
Susan Boyle
8.3
[170]

2010
Recovery
Eminem
5.7
[171]

2011
21
Adele
18.1
[162]

2012
8.3
[172]

2013
Midnight Memories
One Direction
4.0
[173]

2014
Frozen
Various Artists
9.0
[174]

2015
25
Adele
17.4
[175]

2016
Lemonade
Beyoncé
2.5
[176]

2017
÷
Ed Sheeran
6.1
[177]