Both colonial Virginia and Massachusetts were established by England at around the same period of time. However, these two regions had developed into distinctly different societies. The main reason for this divergence is difference in economy and religion between Virginia and Massachusetts. Economic motives prompted colonization in Virginia. This led to plantation-based economy in Virginia.
Chesapeake Bay and New England DBQ Many say that geography determines the development of a people group, but the colonial American development saw many other factors that determined its outcome in history. By 1700, the Chesapeake Bay and New England region had developed differently because of religious (Strict Puritan beliefs enforced on town communities in New England), economic (Chesapeake Bay based life off of the cultivation of tobacco), and social (Barbados Slave Codes) fundamentals. Religiously, both the Chesapeake and New England region differed greatly. The New England colonies were settled based on Puritan beliefs (Document D). Puritans and Separatists, about 70,000 refugees, came to North America due to the ruling of King James II in the 1630’s who would only tolerate Catholicism; this was called the Great Migration.
[1]In the beginning the Virginia Company of London would pay to have servants transported across the Atlantic Ocean. But with the headright system in 1618 the Virginia Company of London would try to entice farmers, planters, and merchants to pay for the cost with a promise of land once they had finished the end of their time as an indentured servant. Indentured servitude was vital to the successful starting of the Virginia colony. The Virginia Company of London found that they had much more land than labor to work it. [2]At first the company tried to attract investors by giving them shares in the Virginia Company that could be redeemed for land.
Many Puritans immigrated to the New World in the 17th century. Once there, they sought to fabricate a Holy Commonwealth in the New England region. Puritanism remained one of the dominant cultural powers in that region until well into the 19th century. The morals and ideals held by Puritans between 1630 and 1670 influenced the social development of the colonies by putting into practice a series of rules, from which our own Founding Fathers would take their inspiration, the political structure of the New England colonies by establishing a need for a local government (set up by the Cambridge Platform), and last but not least, the Puritans influenced the economic well being of the colonies by helping to set the precedent of self reliance (as far as farming), and a minimal dependence on international trade in the New England area (for goods and labor). The social structure of the New England colonies under the Puritans was one of brotherhood, togetherness, community, and even liberality.
Kevin Hall February 20, 2014 History 109 TTH 9:35am-11:10am Consumerism in Colonial America During the pre-revolutionary war era, our country was going through a drastic period of development that would lay down the spiritual and business foundations of our country. Immigrants were seeking religious freedom from parliament in Britain. Ports all along the eastern seaboard had an abundance of merchants and shopkeepers who sought to stimulate and to satisfy consumer demand for imported goods. In T.H. Breen’s essay “World of Goods in the Northern Colonies,” he states “that colonial Americans were increasingly concerned with becoming part of an empire of goods in the eighteenth century.” Colonial consumerism changed immigrant’s image of the colonies from a spiritual journey to an economically prosperous journey.
In the early 1600’s, many emigrants began to settle on the eastern side of the New World. Even though all of these emigrants came from England, they ended up evolving into two different societies. The Puritans landed in the New England, to escape from the Anglican Church and branch off from it. The other English settlers landed in the Chesapeake region, to achieve great success. Even though they both came from England, they ended up evolving into two different societies because of geographic, religious, social, and economic differences.
New England vs. Chesapeake Region During the late 16th century, England rapidly colonized the newly found Americas. Citizens were sent out to the eastern coast of North America in two regions. In the Chesapeake region, the English came to Jamestown to make money, find gold, and obtain land. However, in New England, Puritans came to America mostly for religious purposes. Although the New England and Chesapeake regions were originally colonized by mainly English settlers, the two regions in time evolved into two distinct societies.
When the New England and the Chesapeake regions started to colonize more, they both had the same goals that they wanted to achieve with transferring over to the New World. They both wanted a growing and working economy that included a stable agriculture system that would lead to most success in their colony, at that time they didn’t know of the future and wanted to bring the best to England and help provide with their country. Different people from places in England settled over in different areas in the New World and the two different regions would change their characteristics and the way their social and economic structure would run. The characteristics of each region’s religion would change and have different effects on the local society. One of the bigger differences socially was the people that came to the colonies and the later effect that it evolved to with the future of their colony.
But in our history it is important to realize that it may not be one of these causes, but a combination of all of them that created the conditions that began our civil war. In examining history, it is important to look at more than any single cause of an event, and in looking at the development of the English colonies in the new world, it is equally important to try to understand all of the reasons why the colonies developed into entirely different societies. When we examine the English colonies in New England and Chesapeake, we see that although they were settled largely by people of English origin, by 1700 the regions had separated into two distinct societies because of their geographies, the reasons why the colonies were settled, and the differences in beliefs and values held by the colonists. The Chesapeake and New England region both developed differently due to their geography. Chesapeake’s geography forced a large social stratification to build, fostered a need for slaves, and a sense of disconnection.
While in the Chesapeake region, they came for economic gain by setting up plantations to grow a cash crop and had a atomistic view on their society. The people who lived in the Chesapeake region only planned to stay there for a few years and then return to England with wealth. The economic development in the New England region was that even with their rocky soil and cold climate they had a multiple crop economy, they planted more vegetables and with the water wheel due to the swift river they were able to grind down products like wheat for more money. While in the Chesapeake region, they mostly grew only cotton for the profit but still other crops to stay alive. With the warm, mild climate even during winter they were able to make money during the winter unlike the New England region which had a cold climate.