Compare And Contrast Jamestown Vs Plymouth

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The Differences between Jamestown vs. Plymouth Jamestown and Plymouth were both founded by early European settlers that wanted to find a new land in which they could gain personal benefits, although each of the two groups had similar goals and their entire foundation of being in the new land was completely different. The settlers from both colonies were very similar in their way of living but a few differences such as reasons for colonization, religious differences, and relations with the Indians set them apart. Economic motivation is what inclined the English to colonize in Virginia. Queen Elizabeth I provided a patent to Walter Raleigh, leading to the organization of the move to Virginia. The first try in Virginia was the Roanoke colony, …show more content…

Captain John Smith led the colonists, due to his past experiences and being elected to do so by the London partners. However, the Jamestown colonists are a whole different story. Around the time of 1606, King James established a new religion that many people disagreed with. “These people became two distinct bodies or churches, and in regard of distance of place did congregate severally” (Norton Anthology of American Literature, 123). They began to meet separately since the amount of people who did not follow the Church of England was abundant. These people were called Separatists. Consequently, the members of this religious sect began to get “hunted and persecuted” (123). They were put in prison, their families were watched at all times, and a great deal of people began to flee. When this began, they started to hear of places that allowed religious freedom, Holland in particular. In result, that’s where they went off to. At first, Holland was a great place for them because they had what they wanted: religious freedom! But later, things began to change. …show more content…

The settlers of the Jamestown were members of the great Anglican Church, which was the official Church of England while the Pilgrims were dissenters from the Church and established the Puritan faith. Due to the Jamestown settlers being a part of the Anglican faith, they were not under any fear of religious persecution. They remained loyal to their superiors. The Puritans were separatists, which was considered an act of treason at the time. They believed that the Church was still too connected to the old ways. “So many therefore of these professors as saw the evil of these things, in these parts, and whose hearts the Lord had touched with heavenly zeal for his truth, they shook off this yoke of anti-Christian bondage..” (123). Also, even though the leaders of the colony of Jamestown and Plymouth were both Englishmen, they had different goals. William Bradford was dedicated to his cause of finding a safe haven where they could find religious freedom, while John Smith was more interested in finding land, natural resources for his

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