They decided to come to the new world after the Church of England separated from Catholicism in a decision made by King Henry VIII. Although the Church of England and Catholicism were no longer intertwined, they still felt they did not have the entire amount of religious freedom they desired. They decided that the best course of action would be to head to the new world so they could start a society in which they could practice their religious beliefs freely and without persecution. They were also joined by some quakers and catholics who had not joined the church of England, who also wanted freedom to practice their religious beliefs how they saw fit. Although they came to the new world to start a society based on living a religious life,having religious freedom, and being a
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.
Colonies such as Massachusetts were the least tolerant; Rhode Island and Pennsylvania were the most liberal colonies. This debatable belief increased the necessity for the separation of church and state. The separation of church and state was a crucial part of religious freedom in the colonies. The separation of church and state protected the right of religion by not allowing laws to affect or change a person’s belief. In colonies such as Massachusetts, government positions
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.
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.
Exactly, why is freedom achieved only for Englishmen and not women or anyone else not of the European race? How is this considered freedom? Is this how the difference in development occurred? First off, in New England Calvinism (created by John Calvin) was the people’s fate already predetermined, causing control of the people, and some wanting to break away from the church. The biggest difference causing the Pilgrims versus the Puritans, was the Pilgrims wanted a complete separation from the Church of England, and the Puritans on the other hand.
Not just the way they were settled made them different but also how their religious ways shaped them up. Virginia and Massachusetts both knew they had to have a strong economic settlement but their religious view also had a great impact that resulted differently in both systems. The Puritans which lived in Massachusetts; they believed that there was no need for excessive profits. Another problem Virginia had was that from the start they had problems with the Native Americans. Which was the complete opposite in the Massachusetts case because they learned it would be better if they got along with the natives.
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.
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.
The roots of these contrasting societies began in Europe, especially mother England. As the first settlement in the Chesapeake region, Jamestown, Virginia, was developed in 1607, colonists from England ventured over to the area in following years with a mindset of riches and gold. Supported in document C, the ship’s list reads that the names given were set sail to Virginia with “Merchant’s Hope.” In Document F, Captain John Smith also supports this idea by stating that when the ship deported for Virginia, many had gold and riches as a priority. On the contrary, when Plymouth was colonized in 1620, in the New England region, colonists ventured to the area with religious freedom and the importance of unity under God, in mind. Supported in Document A, John Winthrop writes, on board the ship Arbella, the importance the community sharing the same body and staying unified under the Lord.