People liked to think of themselves as loving, compassionate souls who often helped those in need.
The Gospel of Matthew spoke of a kingdom upon a hill, an ideal world filled with the greatest human goodness. At first, the townspeople of Salem had also hoped to build their hometown into a livable paradise. They accepted orphans from King Philip's War as well, but on one condition: the authorities would reduce the cost of road construction for them.
Cities had originally been defensive fortresses established by princes and nobles, only later developing into commercial and industrial centers. Around the fourteenth century, France and England diverged. In France, the burden mainly fell upon peasants, while England collected taxes on trade and customs duties. The prevailing principle among Western European feudal lords was, "There was no land without a lord." If a city did not stand on a lord's land but on the king's land, then the king's authority over it was equivalent to that of a lord.
To escape the excessive exploitation of lordly rights and their interference with commerce and industry, some cities purchased certain freedoms from lords and kings, confirming them through charters. These included personal freedom, freedom of land ownership, judicial independence, and fiscal independence. Though these cities obtained privileges, they had not left the feudal system and still had to pay taxes to feudal lords.
This money was not a customs duty. It was more like a "redemption fee," meaning that once it was paid, the king and lords would no longer come to collect taxes or interfere in ordinary civil trials within the municipality. Major criminal cases, however, remained the king's responsibility. When royal power was still strong, such as before the thirteenth century, England had few autonomous cities. They only gradually increased after the thirteenth century.