Throughout the late 16th century and into the 17th century two colonies appeared from England. In search of glory, gold, and God (religious freedom), England started to discover and surmount North America. The two colonies were called the Chesapeake and the New England colonies. Although the areas were governed by the English, the settlements had similar potential as well as different. The Chesapeake and England colonies cultivated into visibly different establishments. The difference was the colonial motive, religion, political structure, socio-economic, and race relation, these are what were accountable for creating these territories. In the Chesapeake, the motivation for colonization was mainly due to the economic issue that the colony was
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Show MoreDuring colonial times, European nations quickly colonized the New World years after Columbus’ so called discovery. England in particular sent out a number of groups to the east coast of the New World to two regions. These areas were the New England and the Chesapeake regions. Later in the late 1700s, these two regions would go though many conflicts to come together as one nation. Yet, way before that would occur; these two areas developed into two distinct societies. These differences affected the colonies socially, economically, and politically.
In the Chesapeake the motivation for colonization was largely due to economic issue. The colony were owned by royalty, corporate, and proprietary people who were looking to find fame or fortune. Thinking they would find gold or silver to bring back to England, instead they discover a different treasure. Tobacco was the cash crop that brought them wealth. Up north in the New England colony the motivation for colonization was to escaped religious persecution and set up a haven for people of their faith. Pilgrims and the Puritan was the main people that inhabit the land. The New England colonies also wanted to be financially stable but the main reason was to be free from the Church of England
Although New England and the Chesapeake region were both settled largely by the people of English origin, by 1700 the regions had evolved into two distinct societies. The reasons for this distinct development were mostly based on the type on people from England who chose to settle in the two areas, and on the manner in which the areas were settled.
There were various reasons why the American Colonies were established. The three most important themes of English colonization of America were religion, economics, and government. The most important reasons for colonization were to seek refuge, religious freedom, and economic opportunity. To a lesser degree, the colonists sought to establish a stable and progressive government.
Even though Massachusetts was the “most populous, influential, and powerful of the New England colonies” and New England as a whole was considered a healthier environment than the Chesapeake colonies, disease was still a major issue (Taylor, pg. 166). Due to the fact of the new environment, weather, location change, lack of access to food and fresh water, and close proximity, disease and death were inevitable during the colonial era. Massachusetts was no exception. According to Pond, the people were “subject to disease,” and had “died of the scurvy and of the burning fever two hundred and odd” (Pond, pg. 94). Ultimately, if a colonist did not die from the extremely high fever, they were immobilized inside their own bodies and unable to walk.
In the early 1600s, Britain had managed to establish colonies on the coast of the present day United States. After the Spanish had settled North America in the 1500s, Britain became increasingly interested in what lay in the New World. The first successful group of aristocrats to make it to the New World had established a settlement at Chesapeake Bay, present day Virginia. The Chesapeake colonies ruled the East Coast until 1629 when the Puritans arrived. The Puritans were a group of religiously persecuted individuals who had broken away from the Anglican Church. These two groups hoped to find a new sense of peace in the New World that England could not provide them with. Despite the difference in purpose and religious views, both the Chesapeake
After the discovery of the New World by Christopher Columbus, European Nations competed in a race against one another to claim pieces of the new land. Before Columbus found this land, the sea separating the New World from Europe seemed endless, and mundane. The Europeans were only interested in the land to the East. But with the New World as a new hat thrown into the ring, the Europeans tossed aside their old toy to go play with a new one. This time period of conquest over the New World was known as the Age of Exploration, and by the 1700s, they kept their pickings. A New World meant more land to build homes and plant crops, and more money to be earned by buying out new houses and selling new crops grown in foreign soil. Spain claimed Mexico, and the Southwest portions of what would be known as America. France got their hands on most of present-day Canada, as well as Louisiana. The Dutch set foot on land they called New Amsterdam, however, The English, who had settled their first colony in Jamestown, Virginia, drove the Dutch out and claimed New Amsterdam for themselves, later renaming it New York. The English claimed more land as time passed, and eventually they had formed 13 different colonies in the Eastern part of America. The English Colonies were separated into 3 different regions. The New England Colonies (Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Hampshire), the Middle Colonies (New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware), and the Southern Colonies (Maryland, Virginia, North and South Carolina, Georgia). The New England Colonies were the earliest of the 3 regions, founded by English Settlers seeking religious freedom. The Middle Colonies were also founded by settlers seeking religious freedom. The Southern Colonies,...
The New England colonies and Middle Atlantic colonies are two of many colonies that settled in America. The New England colonies came and settled in the northern part of America. While the Middle Atlantic colonies settled in states like Pennsylvania and New Jersey. These two colonies shared one major goal that they both shared. That major goal was to expand their religion. The Middle Atlantic colonies wanted to come to a new piece of land and expand their religion. Furthermore, they would also accept others that didn’t follow the same religion as them. The New England colonies also came to America to expand their religion. However, they wanted to purify themselves in order to become more holy Christians. They would not accept non-Christians.
The Chesapeake and New England regions were settled by people of English descent, but by 1700, they had become two distinctly different societies. They had evolved so differently, mainly because of the way that the settlers followed their religion, their way of conducting politics and demographics in the colonies. Even though the settlers came from the same homeland: England, each group had its own reasons for coming to the New World and different ideas planned for the colonies.
Both the colony of Massachusetts and Virginia were founded by companies looking to make money off the New World, but the founding of Massachusetts was motivated more by religious goals and family dynamics. Erin Bonuso, author of “Colliding Cultures”,
During the late 16th century and into the 17th century, European nations rapidly colonized the newly discovered Americas. England in particular sent out numerous groups to the eastern coast of North America to two regions. These two regions were known as the Chesapeake and the New England areas. Later, in the late 1700's, these two areas would bond to become one nation. Yet from the very beginnings, both had very separate and unique identities. These differences, though very numerous, spurred from one major factor: the very reason the settlers came to the New World. This affected the colonies in literally every way, including economically, socially, and politically.
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. Looking at the terrain, ethic, government, and even the people themselves, reveals clues about how the drastic split in society came to be. It was one America, but two distinct societies had developed in it by the 1700's.
The Crusades of the middle ages introduced much innovative and formerly unheard of merchandise into Western Europe; however the scarcity of these luxury goods instilled Europeans with drive to find easier access to the Far East. Although desired "Northwest Passage" never was found, joint-stock companies, like the Virginia Company of London, settled colonies in the New World for untapped resources such as silver and other tradable goods. Many more corporations followed suit, settling mainly in the Chesapeake Bay area, their small settlements eventually developing into the Chesapeake colonies. The Chesapeake colonies were focused primarily on profitable enterprises. At the same time, the New England colonies were being settled with a whole different set of initiatives, principally religious freedoms and family. Governing bodies were established, with their success dependent on the quality of the settlers the colony attracted. The different motives for settlement affected the routine events in such a way that the New England and Chesapeake colonies differed very greatly from one another even though they were both mainly settled by the English.
There were a myriad of differences between Great Britain and her American colonies in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, but these differences can be divided into three basic categories: economic, social, and political. The original American settlers came to the colonies for varied reasons, but a common trait among these settlers was that they still considered themselves British subjects. However, as time passed, the colonists grew disenfranchised from England. Separated from the king by three thousand miles and living in a primitive environment where obtaining simple necessities was a struggle, pragmatism became the common thread throughout all daily life in the colonies. It was this pragmatism that led the colonists to create their own society with a unique culture and system of economics and politics.
Looking at the early English colonies in the Chesapeake Bay region, it’s clear that the English had not learned any lessons from their experiences at Roanoke. Poor planning, a bad location, unrealistic expectations, flawed leadership, unsuccessful relations with the local Indians, and no hope of finding the mineral wealth the Spanish found in Mexico, all contributed to failure. The first colonists in the Chesapeake region were not only ignorant, lazy and unambitious, but their attempts were hampered before they had begun. However, a solution to these problems was found in a single plant: tobacco. Nevertheless, this cash crop ultimately created numerous problems for the colonists. The ignorance and indolent acts of the Chesapeake colonists to unsuccessfully restore the colony by themselves led to the demise of the colony as a whole especially regarding the planting of agricultural goods for food.