Chesapeake Vs. Chesapeake: Life In The Chesapeake And New England

After reviewing the differences, I believe I would choose life in the middle colonies of New England over living in the Chesapeake Bay. New England colonists were more focused on family and their security. Versus the Chesapeake who preferred to be individuals and work and live on their own. Both areas have their pros and cons but New England’s lifestyle was the better choice because of the low life expectancy rates the Chesapeake had, also from their way of living and fight for survival. Life in New England was centered on the family unit. Without a supportive family, you wouldn’t get far. People settled in New England as nuclear Puritan families. The father was at the center, he was the glue keeping the family together. He would work hard

In New England the father had the final say in which his children married. He could approve or disapprove of the children’s choice or could arrange a marriage for them instead. This is why the Chesapeake’s preferred individualism instead because they didn’t agree with an arranged marriage. What if that didn’t make you happy? It just kept you safe for surviving the New England lifestyle. Dowry was also a part of the New England culture. Whatever the bride took into the marriage was given to her husband to have control over.

Women in New England didn’t mind having few rights. What mattered most to them was their family and safety. That’s why they went along with this lifestyle. They may not have married for love, but for the safety and stability marriage could bring. The women’s main role in life was to be a wife and mother. They cooked, cleaned, sewed or knitted clothing, and taught their children how to read and

Summers were extremely hot and winters were freezing cold. They learned to work with the climate to grow crops and made sure to have enough for their family and sometimes made extra for trading between the colonies. New England was more industrial compared to the Chesapeake. They also had rivers nearby to give them clean drinking water. The Chesapeake hunted in the woods for food; fishing wasn’t much of an option when the waters around them weren’t clean. They could grow crops on their land because they had better soil. Spring time was when they planted their crops, in the summer they tended to the crops, in fall they harvested them, and then in the winter they prepared to do it over again. Rank and status was a close similarity for New England colonists and the Chesapeake. You had to be in a certain rank or class to own your own land outright or to rent land from