Essay Chesapeake Vs. New England Colonies

Virginia: was chartered in 1606 to the Virginia Company. The Company decided to attract colonists by awarded land in exchange for indenturing themselves to be a servant for four-seven years. A booming cash crop of tobacco and the possibility of owning land sent a flood of between 130,000 and 150,000 immigrants, mostly young men, to Virginia. Tobacco was a monoculture, however, and little else was cultivated. Malnutrition and exhaustion resulted in extreme death rates. If you happened to live to age 20, your life expectancy was only 48 years. Additionally, four in ten servants

Jamestown was originally an ideal place to strike it rich for the colonists. They didn't plan on staying long, therefore not bringing many women, as seen in Doc C. The early colony began to expand after the governors imposed laws and kept things running smooth. The Pilgrims who were seeking religious freedom from the Church of England established the Plymouth plantation in Massachusetts. The New England colonists brought more women because they planned on more of a permanent settlement; this is illustrated in the passenger list

While both colonies were settled in Eastern America, the regional geography had a hand in influencing this expansion. New England was known for its harsh climate, forcing its inhabitants to endure brutal winters, and miserably hot summers. Because many European immigrants sought arable land, the unyielding soil of New England impeded the immigrants agriculturally and forced them to depend on livestock. They criticized the Indians for “wasting” the land-not using what little arable land they had to its full potential. As a result, the New Englanders used up as much land as they could to make sure “[t]hat everyone shall have a share of the meadow or planting ground…” (Doc D). They felt it was their duty to clear woodlands and establish a settlement. Additionally, they turned to the coastline and built harbors to fish rather than farm, unlike their Southern counterparts. Geography had a different impact on the people of the Chesapeake region. The people of Chesapeake capitalized on their good soil, and, unlike the New Englanders, they grew tobacco. Tobacco proved very profitable and

Although the settlements of Chesapeake Bay and New England came from the same mother country their social structure was very different and as a result, affected the prosperity of the new born colonies. The New England colony’s population was very

Document F states, “The worst [among us were the gold seekers who] with their golden promises made all men their slaves in hope of recompenses.” This quote displays the major motive of emigrants to the Chesapeake region as gold seekers, or monetary prosperity. Documents G and H show that there were many indentured servants in the Chesapeake area. These indentured servants were often used for the tobacco farms. Since the soil was infertile in New England, the colonists there often focused on trade, small scale manufacturing, fishing, and other sea industries. The economy of each region impacted its social structure, which many indentured servants and slaves in the Chesapeake region while there was much more equality in New England.

Stated in the Articles of Agreement, in Springfield, Massachusetts "do mutually agree to certain articles and order to be observed and kept by us and by our successor" (Doc D.) The New England Colonies created and obeyed by their laws and orders. The Chesapeake colonies economically was very stable once they were settled. They focused on large scale plantations such a tobacco, rice and indigo. Therefore, The Chesapeake had slaves to work their plantations. In Governor Berkeley and His Council on Their Inability to Defend Virginia Against a Dutch Attack, states "(Besides Negroes) as there are freemen to defend the shores and all out frontiers." (Doc G.) This Document shows that they had many slave in the Chesapeake colonies. The New England colonies had more focus on small scale farming and manufacturing goods such as lumber, Shipbuilding and whaling. They did not have many plantation colonies. The New England colonies did not use any slave labor.

The colonies in the New World appeared completely different and the prospect of any unity between them seemed impossible. The colonies in New England and the Chesapeake exemplify the many differences in the culture and lifestyles of the settlers, created mainly because of the fact that their founding fathers had held separate intentions when they came to the New World.

The Chesapeake region was the first region to be colonized. The first settlers had a very hard time adapting to the moist swampy climate and lack of commerce and civility that they were used to in England. Most of the early settlers were gentlemen sent by companies such as the Virginia and London Companies. They were determined to find wealth in the North American wilderness, and suffered greatly due to famine and diseases like malaria. Most of these unlucky settlers were men, which was a drawback for the new colony of Virginia because there was very little reproduction. Document C, a ships list of emigrants bound for Virginia shows the lack of families travelling to Virginia, as well as the very few women, most of them single. The men fought over these

Document F states, "The worst [among us were the gold seekers who] with their golden promises made all men their slaves in hope of recompenses." This quote displays the major motive of emigrants to the Chesapeake region as gold seekers, or monetary prosperity. Documents G and H show that there were many indentured servants in the Chesapeake area. These indentured servants were often used for the tobacco farms. Since the soil was infertile in New England, the colonists there often focused on trade, small scale manufacturing, fishing, and other sea industries. The economy of each region impacted its social structure, which many indentured servants and slaves in the Chesapeake region while there was much more equality in New England.

Although the Chesapeake and New England colonies were the earliest English colonies to flourish in the New World, they were both extremely different in the ways that they developed. Similarities between the colonies can be found, but the colonies were mostly different. The colonies differed most in religion, society, culture, economy, and their relationships with the American Indians of the region. The reasons for such differences can be understood by realizing that the colonies were settled by incredibly different people who possessed different cultures, religious beliefs, and motivations for settling in their respective colonies in the first place. The Chesapeake and New England colonies had similarities and differences in their development, including how each colony affected nearby American Indians. Their differences and similarities can be understood by analyzing each colony’s geography, economy, religions, and cultures.

Some of the most populous colonies were the ones situated in the Chesapeake and New England areas. Although these colonies were both settled by the English and had other key similarities, there were also many differences between them. The New England and Chesapeake colonies both had an aristocracy that governed over them, and had frequent issues concerning the Native Americans that previously inhabited the lands. However, their political and economic systems were considerably different. Chesapeake had an oligarchy whose main export was tobacco, while New England had a theocracy whose exports included timber, fur, and fish. Therefore, although the colonies had similarities their differences outweighed the resemblances.

In the Chesapeake region almost everything was exactly opposite of New England. The immigrants were not idealists, but materialists, most of whom sought money. As John Smith mentions in his History of Virginia, many

In New England, the population was almost entirely English and white. Religious families, including Puritans, Quakers, and Catholics made up a large percentage of the population due to the reputation the New England colonies had as a place of religious freedom. In the Chesapeake colonies, the population was a majority white indentured servants and later had more black-slaves. With the boom in the tobacco industry, plantation owners relied on the cheap labor slaves or indentured servants provided. Both colonies take lead in driving off the natives and seizing their own land. Most of the population in both colonies were English/White.

A community is a group of people who work together towards a common goal and share a common interest. Lack of such a quality can and most likely will cause a struggling town or city to fall into the extremes of poverty and wealth. The New England community was so strong and so supportive in comparison to that of the Chesapeake Bay, that it is no wonder they developed into two distinctly different cultures before the year 1700. The Chesapeake region developed into a land of plantations and money-driven owners, with the elite wealthy, almost no middle class, and those in poverty creating the population. New England, on the other hand, had developed into a religion and family based society comprised of mostly middle class families by 1700.

Slavery was the main resource used in the Chesapeake tobacco plantations. The conditions in the Chesapeake region were difficult, which lead to malnutrition, disease, and even death. Slaves were a cheap and an abundant resource, which could be easily replaced at any time. The Chesapeake region’s tobacco industries grew and flourished on the intolerable acts of slavery.