The Colonies That Shaped America
The Jamestown Colony, a colony in ruin, turned into the wealthiest colony. The Massachusetts Bay Colony, the “a city upon a hill” turned into “the city that fell down the hill.”
As the 13 colonies took shape, The Jamestown colony and the Massachusetts Bay Colony took shape in many different ways. These two colonies are two of the most famous colonies in U.S. History. The colonies overcame struggles, rose to the top of the hill, and fell down the hill.
The Jamestown colony in Virginia, established by the Virginia Company, was the first established colony in North America. The Virginia Company would have investors invest in the New World for gold, treasure, or a sea passage in return. Members of the company, eager to find treasure, arrived in the New World. There was no gold or treasure. The members had to survive in the wilderness. They had to face diseases, the “starvation” time, and clashes with the Native Americans until they found the key to wealth – tobacco.
“In Virginia and Maryland, tobacco as our staple is our All, and indeed leaves no room for anything else.” – Governor Leonard Calvert of Maryland
The exporting of tobacco was an economic boom for Jamestown. In 1619, the production of tobacco reached to 20,000 pounds and by 1688 it reached up to 18 million pounds. However, to export a large amount of tobacco, farmers needed slaves.
As the need for labor grew in Jamestown, the colonists turned to indentured servants. Indentured servants were English people that lived poorly in England. The person would work for a wealthy merchant or farmer in the New World for about 7 years for a passage to the New World. At the end of the 7 year contract, there were ‘freedom dues.’ The servants wo...
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...ed, and burned. Witch hunts were out of control. Economy declined due to the distractions of the witch trials. The governor finally intervened when his wife was accused of being a witch. He ordered the remaining suspects to be released.
Jamestown and Massachusetts rose to power by their smart ideas of growing tobacco and investing in marine trade. Jamestown enslaved innocent people and Massachusetts Bay accused innocent people of witchcraft. Even though Jamestown enslaved people, they were still powerful. On the other hand, the Massachusetts Bay never fully rose back to power after the Salem Witch Trial. Today, Tobacco and Marine trade are still profitable products. African Americans weren’t equal to Whites until the 1960s. The Salem Witch Trial is now frowned upon by millions. Despite the struggles and hardships, they both impacted America to what it is today.
Jamestown was the first successful settlement established by England. It was first built in 1607 and lasted until about 1614. On the first ship, 100 male settlers set off for a new settlement in the New World. Life there at times was hard for various reasons. They did, however, become 7 7 trading partners with the Indians. 80% of Jamestown’s more than 500 settlers that had arrived had been dead by 1611. The reason for this is because of sickness and disease, lack of resources, and where they chose to build their settlement.
The Jamestown Project discusses the monumental landmark, the colony of Jamestown, was in Atlantic History. The story of Jamestown is told in a much more authentic, elaborate style than our textbooks has presented. As Kupperman points out, Jamestown was not only important to United State’s history but also to British history. From the motivations to the lasting effects, she gives an accurate account of all components involved in Jamestown. Also, there is a chapter devoted to the Native American experience, which shows a non-Western view of events. The book is written in a format that is easily read but also compacted with information. More importantly she puts Jamestown in its right place in United State’s and British history, as the foundation of colonial United States and the British Empire.
...arate societies by the time of the 1700's. Agriculture, motive, people, religion, and terrain are all factors that affected how they grew apart. However, it is also through the actions of the men and woman who settled in the regions and the choices they made that led to the development of two societies. The Chesapeake region became a society of money-driven, wealthy plantation owners, virtually no middle class workers, and those in extreme poverty. The New England colonies, in contrast, developed into a society of middle class family men who placed extreme emphasis on religion. The two societies in what would become one nation may have had effects on America in the future. The dispute over slavery, the imbalance of workers, and the class differences cause rifts between the two regions over time. Two radically different cultures cannot coincide in harmony forever.
The Chesapeake region and New England colonies greatly differed in their development of their two distinct societies. The Chesapeake region was a loosely fitted society with little connection with each plantation while the New England colonies had tightly knitted communities with a sort of town pride. The difference in unity and the reason for this difference best explain the significant disparity between the dissimilar societies.
It was not until the 1700s that the thirteen colonies finally started to flourish on their own. The east coast of North America was soon booming with success. But the Northern and Southern colonies’ did not take exactly the same routes in order to reach success. The Southern and Northern colonies began to show similarities in immigration and social structure and began to show differences in their economy.
The Salem Witch Trials is a devastating event in which 19 people and dogs were killed due to the cry of witchcraft. The outburst of these events could be blamed on several things. Certain things like economics, medicines and culture have to be taken into account when trying to understand the events of the Salem Witch Trials. People like Franklin Jr. Mixon, Linnda R. Caporael, Dr. Allan Woolf, Elaine G. Brewslaw, and Isaac Ariail Reed take into account one of the three: economics, medicines and culture and explain as to why or why not the event happened the way it did disregarding all the other factors.
The role of an indentured servant in the 1700s was not a glamorous one. They came to the New World knowing that, for a time, they would be slaves for someone they did not know and the risk of disease and death was high, but the opportunity that laid ahead of them after their time of servitude was worth everything to these settlers of the New World. They came to America for the same reasons as all of the other settlers. Religious freedom, land, wealth, and a new start were motives for both settlers and indentured servants but the one thing separating most settlers from the indentured servants was that they could afford their voyage across the Atlantic Ocean. Indentured servants couldn’t buy their ticket to the New World, but that didn’t stop
...appenings of everyday life turned into something more. From the belief that women were more susceptible to evil intimidation and for having a weaker constitution since Eve was tempted by the Devil to having a non-existent court system to settle disputes between neighbors or just the fact that there were people who saw an opportunity to gain personal wealth, the Salem witch hunt and trials was more than just a religious cleansing of the community by pious people. They were a microcosm of what could happen when people do not understand the relationships between themselves, their neighbors and the natural cause and effect of the world around them.
Seventeen others died in prison and the lives of many were irrevocably changed. To better understand the events of the Salem witch trials, it is necessary to understand the time period in which the accusations of witchcraft occurred. These were the ordinary stresses of 17th-century life in Massachusetts Bay Colony. A strong belief in the devil, factions among Salem Village fanatics, and rivalry with nearby Salem Town all played a part in the stress. There was also a recent small pox epidemic and the threat of an attack by warring tribes created a fertile ground for fear and suspicion.
... Other people who were convicted had their land confiscated, leaving families broke and homeless. During the witch trials, many people in Salem left their houses unattended and didn’t do their chores. The trials also affected the planting season. All of this led to severe crop failures and epidemics in Salem in the time after the trials ended.
In the year of 1606 King James 1 established 2 companies wanting a big profit out of these. He named them the London Company and the Plymouth Company. King James tricked some Englishmen into going to the Island in Virginia if they wanted land and riches. King James began by sending the London Company in the late December of 1606 his main priority was finding gold. In May of 1607 only a few Englishmen survived on the boat that had taken them to the Island. After they arrived they named this land Jamestown after their King James. Soon after they arrived they began having problems. The Englishmen never would have imagined that tobacco would be the only thing that would save Jamestown.
England at the time was over populated, and jobs were hard to find. So many people that could not afford the boat trip over to America offered themselves as an indentured servant for a period of time. This contractual term can last from four to seven years. Many colonists preferred having indentured servants over slaves, because they also helped ward off Native Americans from attacking settlers. The one big drawback of indentured servants was that they usually did not make it past the first year of their contract.
In the early stages of North American colonization by the English, the colony of Jamestown, Virginia was founded in 1607 (Mailer Handout 1 (6)). Soon after the Massachusetts Bay Colony was founded in 1629 (Mailer Handout 2 (1)). These two colonies, although close in the time they were founded, have many differences in aspects of their lives and the way they were settled. The colonies have a different religious system, economic system, political system, and they have a different way of doing things; whether that be pertaining to making money, practicing religion, or electing governors. Along with the differences, there are also a sameness between these two colonies. Each colony has been derived from England and has been founded by companies
More than two hundred years have gone by since the discovery of the new world. People of with all types of backgrounds and problems came flocking over the ocean to start anew. Jamestown, Virginia and Salem, Massachusetts, were very early settlements, and perhaps two of the most known names of colonies. Jamestown was known for many things, including Bacon’s Rebellion. And Salem was known for one reason, the Salem Witch Trials. These two pieces of history reflect the tensions of the unstable society and of their beliefs.
The Chesapeake region of the colonies included Virginia, Maryland, the New Jerseys (both East and West) and Pennsylvania. In 1607, Jamestown, the first English colony in the New World (that is, the first to thrive and prosper), was founded by a group of 104 settlers to a peninsula along the James River. These settlers hoped to find gold, silver, a northwest passage to Asia, a cure for syphilis, or any other valuables they might take back to Europe and make a profit. Lead by Captain John Smith, who "outmaneuvered other members of the colony's ruling and took ruthlessly took charge" (Liberty Equality Power, p. 57), a few lucky members of the original voyage survived. These survivors turned to the local Powhatan Indians, who taught them the process of corn- and tobacco-growing. These staple-crops flourished throughout all five of these colonies.