Differences between the New England and Chesapeake Colonies
Summary:
The English Settlement in the New World was largely the result of the Age of Exploration. The English started emigrated to the New World around the early 1600s; they settles in regions including the New England and the Chesapeake region and by the 18th century these two regions had developed their own society.
The English Settlement in the New World was largely the result of the Age of Exploration. The English started emigrated to the New World around the early 1600s; they settles in regions including the New England and the Chesapeake region and by the 18th century these two regions had developed their own society. These two regions had developed different political, economic and social system in their regions. The political differences were due to who governs the colony. The economic differences were due to the motives of the settlement. The social differences were due to the people who settled there, while the New England emigrated as a family, the Chesapeake emigrated with mostly male.
The political difference between the New England and Chesapeake region was that New England government associate more with religious matter than the Chesapeake government. The New England regions included the Massachusetts Bay Colony, the Plymouth colony, the New Hampshire colony, Maine colony, Connecticut colony, and Rhode Island colony. Massachusetts colony for example was governed as a theocracy government. As the first governor of Massachusetts colony once stated in A Model of Christian Charity (Written on board the Arbella on the Atlantic Ocean, 1630),"we shall be as a city upon a hill" a holy commonwealth that could be served as an example community to the rest of the world. The Massachusetts Bay colony placed great importance on religious matters. Only the church member were allowed to vote or held office position. Those who held office position would enforce the law requiring attendance at services. Jamestown, Maryland and the Carolinas were some colonies in the Chesapeake regions. The governments in these regions were less concerned about religious matter and placed more importance on other matters such as to ensure of the colony survival. In addition, the government of the Chesapeake regions varies due to the fact that some colonies were royal colonies and some were proprietary colonies. Jamestown government established the House of Burgesses .It was the first meeting of an elected legislature representative assembly. Jamestown was governed under harsh rules. Captain John Smith was Jamestown governor who placed the code that those who does not work shall not eat. The reason for the harsh rule was to ensure the survival of the settlers.
There were several economic differences between the New England colonies and the Chesapeake colonies such as New England economic products were diverse while the Chesapeake economic relied heavily on one single product. The products of the two regions were due to the regions climate and soil condition. The Chesapeake regions had a mile climate and fertile soil allowing the people to farm. On the other hand, the climate of the New England was colder than the Chesapeake and the soil was more rocky unsuitable for farming. This condition of the New England regions led to a diversity of their economic products. Jamestown which was located in the Chesapeake regions relied on tobacco as their chief product. They discovered that they could sell tobacco to England for a fair price to the market demands. Other Chesapeake colonies such as South Carolina grew rice as their main product. The economic of Chesapeake colonies were largely plantations. Colonies in New England produced more diverse products than the colonies in the Chesapeake. They engaged in small scale agriculture, fishing, home manufactures, shipbuilding, and trading. Boston in Massachusetts became a center for international commerce. The settlement in Connecticut valley was due to the search for fertile soil therefore the settlers in Connecticut valley engaged in farming. One reason for the prosperity of the New England economic was due to a strong sense of community that the New England colonies possessed. They stick together to ensure their survival as a colony. This statement can be supported in the Articles of agreement, Springfield, Massachusetts, 1636, stated "That everyone shall have a share of the meadow or planting ground." On the opposite of the Chesapeake regions which have a less sense of community due to the populations were largely male. In addition, since the Chesapeake regions economic products were tobacco and rice, these products required a labor force which came mostly from male settlers.
The motives of the Settlement itself result in the social differences between the New England and the Chesapeake regions. There were several reasons for the settlement in the New World. When people immigrated to the New England, they largely emigrated as a family. The evidence can be found in the Ship's List of Emigrants Bound for New England John Porter, Deputy Clerk to Edward Thoroughgood. In Contrast to the New England regions, the Chesapeake emigrants were largely male. The evidence could be found in the Ship's List of Emigrants Bound for Virginia. The emigrants were mostly males with only a few women. New England emigrants immigrated to the New World because they experienced a religious repression and they were looking forward to create a new community to settle in. An example can be found in Pennsylvania colony. Pennsylvania colony was located in southern New England was founded by William Pen, a Quaker. He was looking for a place where he and other Quakers could publicly and freely practice their religion. After his father died he received a land in the New World which the King named Pennsylvania. A short while later William Penn and others Quakers immigrated to the New World. Massachusetts Bay Colony was another colony that was founded due to Religious matter. The Puritans settled in Massachusetts Bay colony because they wanted to purify the Anglican Church from within without abandon it. On the other hand people who immigrated to the Chesapeake regions did not want to create a new community to settle in but rather to enrich themselves. An example of this can be seen in Jamestown. People aboard the ship bound for Jamestown were mostly men and their motive was to find gold and other valuable raw materials rather to create a permanent settlement. The evidence can be seen in Captain John Smith, history of Virginia, 1624, "There was no talk...but dig gold, wash gold, refine gold, load gold..." The motives of the settlement and the settlers played a major role in the settlement in the New World.
Political, economic, and social system played a large role in the New England and the Chesapeake region. Even though the origins of the settlers were English, they developed different political, economic, and social system. New England government was more religious than the Chesapeake. They were more concerned about the commonwealth of the people due to their strong sense of community. Chesapeake government placed a harsh rule to ensure the survival of the settlers like the colony of Jamestown. New England had a diverse product due to poor soil and cold weather. They engaged in small scale agriculture, fishing, trading and shipbuilding. The Chesapeake regions had a warmer climate therefore it was more suitable to farm. The economic products that the Chesapeake region produced were tobacco and rice. The New England colonies were more of a community than the Chesapeake colonies. One of the reasons was that the settlers New England emigrated as a family and the Chesapeake emigrants were mostly males with the ambition to find gold and to own a large plantation; this resulted in mostly male population without female to enforce a sense of a real community.
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