Difference Between Jamestown and Plymouth Colonies

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Maria Araceli Alvarez Dr. Ramey U.S. History 1 7 December 2012 The Jamestown and Plymouth colonies were the first two successful English colonies in North America. Jamestown was established in 1607 and Plymouth in 1620. Though these colonies had multiple differences, they also had similarities within their economies, the conflicts they faced and how they handled them, and their political structures. Jamestown had a strong economy thanks to John Rolfe who was able to expand the production of tobacco. The colonists tried different outlets to produce income for the colony such as silk, wheat, glass, timber, and cotton, before discovering tobacco’s profitability. Nicotiana rustica, the native tobacco raised in Virginia before the colonists arrived, was not favored by the Europeans. John Rolfe, however, was the first man to successfully raise a strand that the Europeans embraced. By contrast, Plymouth had more success by implementing a variety of cash resources for the colony. Its largest profits came from fur trading with Maine and the Dutch of New Amsterdam. Livestock such as cattle, pigs, sheep, and goats were also raised within the colony for their meat and fur. Plymouth colonists were also successful in learning productive farming techniques from the Native Americans, such as how to properly rotate crops and the use of fish carcasses to fertilize the soil. Thanks to these techniques, Old World crops such as turnips, carrots, peas, wheat, barley, and oats were also grown in Plymouth. As the colonists expanded their farming land for their crops and animals, the tension with surrounding Indian Tribes increased as well. Jamestown, the island off the shore of Virginia, was not inhabited by Native American tribes. However, as soon as the colonists arrived on the island, they were attacked by the Algonquian tribe that lived nearby. Due to this rocky
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