Colonial North vs. South

544 Words3 Pages
There were some very significant differences between the Northern and Southern colonies during the seventeenth century. Most of the differences were caused by decisions made during the development of the colonies regarding both internal and external factors. Some of the greatest differences were in regard to their labor systems, relationships with Native Americans, and their use of agriculture. When the Southern colonies were founded, most of the people sent were either gentleman or their servants. This led to a very weak work force and, in turn, led to the colonies being largely unsuccessful. The colonists managed to find a labor source in the use of indentured servants who saw more to gain in a place with plenty of land and very little religious persecution. The Northern colonies, on the other hand, had more common people who had worked most of their lives and were not opposed to getting their hands dirty. This led to a colony that was much more stable than the Southern colonies. A byproduct of this original lack of labor would be each colony’s relationship with the Native Americans. The Southern colonies had a rocky relationship with the Native Americans due to the lack of knowledge of agriculture. This would not have been as big of a problem if they had brought people other than gentlemen and servants. Due to this lack of knowledge, the Southern colonies began to trade with Native Americans in order to gain food in exchange for some of the goods exclusive to the Englishmen. This worked well at first, but as winter came and food became more scarce, the natives were not as willing to part with their food. This led to raids and counter attacks, both against and from, the colonists and the Native Americans. The Northerners managed to better coexist with the Native Americans. The natives helped the colonists in the North by teaching them how to better maintain
Open Document