By 1750, the New England and Chesapeake colonies exhibited pronounced economic, social and political diversity due to both the differing motives for colonization and the differing geographies of the regions. Essentially, the New England colonies and the Chesapeake colonies were founded by people with distinctly different motives, the two region’s social, economic, and political developments varied greatly. The New England colonists were interested in escaping religious persecution and seeking spiritual enlightenment. This indicated that many of the colonist left England in families which varied the number of population in these colonies (Doc F). In addition the colonist placed a strong emphasis on education, as evidenced by the 1647 Massachusetts ‘Old Deluder Satan Law’ which mandated that if a town exceeded a certain threshold of families it must start a school.
This led to plantation-based economy in Virginia. On the contrary, freedom from religious harassment motivated people, primarily Puritans, to come to Massachusetts to exercise their religious beliefs. In other words, although both the Virginia and Massachusetts colonies originated in England, colonial Virginia and Suffolk Massachusetts were developed into different societies by the late seventeenth century due to differences in economy and religion. The Virginia and Massachusetts Bay colonies differed in economy. Economic profit was a primary driving force in the colonization of Virginia.
In America, all the states came together to create one unified group, but each colony, although originating from the same place “England”, carried different people with different reasons and goals. Going back to the root country of England, Puritans wanted to purify the Anglican Church because they believed that only a selected few who are truly devoted to the religion should be part of it. After being chased out of England by King James I they moved to Holland were they would be free to practice their religion. But out of fear that their children were becoming “Dutchified”, and forgetting their English roots, they approached the Virginia Company and set fourth to Virginia where they would begin to their own colony based on the Puritan belief. But instead of docking in Virginia they ended up landing in New England, and so it marked the beginning of Puritan settlement New England.
The differences that occurred between the New England and the Chesapeake region that evolved them into two distinct societies were social and economic development based on the geographic factors around the region The social differences between the New England and Chesapeake region were, in the New England region, they came with their families and communities; they had an organic view with their society, and needed each other to survive. They also came for religious freedom and to start a new life in the new world. The population in the New England region was also much larger than the Chesapeake, since they came with their family and not as individuals. Those in the New England region also planned to stay for a long time to build up a society. 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.
Europeans began the colonization of America in the early 1600's. In the beginning they all came to escape from something in Europe, and while there were many various reasons for leaving, most were fleeing from religious persecution. The other main attraction was economic prosperity in a new world rich with resources, to either be sent back to Europe, or to simply use here and make a new life for themselves, better than that which they had back home. The English colonies of the Chesapeake and New England were similar in terms of who founded them ( English settlers), but the similarities pretty much stopped there when it came to reasons for settling, and once they had established themselves how their economies and societies were set up. They differed greatly in economic structure, religious beliefs, societal structure, and also population make-up.
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. In New England, most of the people that came to the colonies were families that wanted to leave England so they could freely practice their religion and focusing on building a well-built society in their colony (A). In the Chesapeake region the colonies were focusing on bringing in money for England, they first were there to find gold like the Spanish did one hundred years earlier (F). Once they found out that there was no gold to bring in a decent enough of a profit, they started to grow tobacco since the price of the product was dropping. Once they started to plant the colonists realized that the plant would just flourish on the new and fertile soil, they then had the production of that plant to feed that economy for their early settlements.
Colonists were confessing their guilt and sin and then wallowing in the thought of being “saved.” The Great Awakening increased religious diversity and the separation of church and state. Colonists started to believe that if they could make their own religious decisions, they could also make their own political decisions thus adding to democracy in the Americas. Immigrants came to the Americas for gold, God and glory without the realization they were adding to democracy in the colonies. Many immigrants settled in the middle colonies because farms were bigger and trade was better. Immigration also added to the development of slavery, Africans being captured and brought to the Americas by Europeans as either slaves or free labor servants would add to the American colonies fight for a more democratic society.
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.
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.