preview

Compare And Contrast Chesapeake And New England Colonies

Decent Essays

While New England and the Chesapeake region were both settled and ruled by the English, by the year 1700 they evolved into two very separate, distinct societies due to geographic, political, religious, social, and economic differences. The first major cause of this differentiation was the very reason for the founding of the two regions. In 1607 the Virginia Company, a joint-stock company, had been formed to settle the colony of Virginia; the Company wanted this colony solely for economic gain. The first colonists spent their time searching for gold, instead of planting crops. As a result, half of the colony died and Captain John Smith came up with a way to save the colony by making a rule that anyone who did not work did not eat. This made the colonists plant food, and build shelters and fences to protect themselves from attack. (Captain John Smith, 1) In contrast to the gold-digging nature of Virginia, New England was founded out of …show more content…

New England had poor rocky soil and a shorter growing season, but it sufficed enough for families. However it had deep harbors and navigable rivers. This led to the development of small family farms, and to a great interest in trade and commerce. In addition, rich forests and good fishing grounds made ship building and fishing primary New England industries, along with farming and trading. In Virginia rich, fertile soil and a long growing season led to the creation of a plantation economy. Five years after Jamestown began, the Virginias discovered how well tobacco grew, and it became the primary cash crop of Virginia and caused a large growth in the number of plantations. In addition, with the new demand for cheap labor to take on the backbreaking work of tobacco cultivation, African slavery was introduced into the Virginia area in 1618. It soon spread to all the Southern

Get Access