During the 16th and 17th centuries, Europeans rapidly colonized the newly discovered Americas. England particularly sent numerous groups to colonize the eastern coast of North America. These groups separated into two regions - the Chesapeake and New England Colonies. The differences between the two colonies as it relates to their reasons for emigration, their economies, and their religious practices were distinct. Many of these original differences have faded into our collective history but many are still evident today. These differences provide insight into where we’ve come from, who we are as a nation, and where we may be headed. The original Chesapeake Region included the Colonies of Virginia and Maryland. Both Colonies were centered …show more content…
The Catholic Church restricted individuals on their everyday life, and Protestantism appeared to be the best choice for many. King Henry VIII also established the Anglican Church, which was strongly enforced on the Englishmen. Protestants and Catholics in this society were treated poorly. Some were even fined by the government or sent to jail. “The English nation was in a state of religious turmoil with no religion to unify its citizens [10].” [10] The economies of the Chesapeake and New England Colonies were distinctly different. In the eighteenth century, tobacco was the greatest contributor to its successful economy. Tobacco also contributed to the Chesapeake society, including the settlement pattern centered around plantations and the importance of slave labor. “Between 1690 and 1770, planters imported 100,000 people of African descent to the Chesapeake to work in the tobacco fields …show more content…
Because New England’s geography consists mostly thin rocky soil, it was only suitable for small family farming. Although, the production of lumber, fisheries, and harbors of the region made up for the loss of agriculture. New England’s economy looked towards a more seaward growth such as shipbuilding, whaling, and sea trade. When Boston became an important port of Atlantic trade, the colony's economy grew significantly, and created great economic success in New England. [13] The religious practices of the Chesapeake and New England Colonies were very dissimilar. Settlers of the Chesapeake Colonies went to churches whose “style and decoration look more familiar to modern Americans than the plain New England meeting houses [14].” Church goers would attend church for most of the day on Sunday. After 1760, Southern churches grew significantly in size and style. This was the result of the growing construction of churches, clerical bodies, organization, and enforcement. “Toward the end of the colonial era, churchgoing reached at least 60 percent in all the colonies [14].”
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 type of government was a theocratic environment. Each town, which was filled with educated people, had a local authority and held monthly town meetings in the meeting hall. The Chesapeake Colonies was a legislative owned by aristocrats. The county governments were more spread out; therefore the backcountry farmers were underrepresented. Both colonies had their set way of organizing their government.
The differences in the two regions are not only seen in their religion, but can also be found in their economies. The economy of New England was far more inferior to that of the Chesapeake economy. This was because the New England society was family-oriented and primarily owned only small family farms just large enough to feed their families. Their economy was mainly based on small farming and fishing. This shows that New England was not focusing on economic growth and expansion. The Chesapeake Bay, on the other hand, had a vast economy. The population of Chesapeake Bay outnumbered New England's population nearly three to one. Their economy was mainly based on the tobacco and slave trading industries. These businesses contributed greatly to the Chesapeake Bay's economic and colonial expansion. This explains why people who came to the New World looking to make money chose to go to Chesapeake Bay rather than the New England area.
The Chesapeake and New England colonies, although clearly quite different, do boast some similarities. The two colonies were founded in the early 17th century and started off with a demographic that primarily consisted of young white European men. The differences between the colonies are easier to pinpoint. The New England colony, which is located in the North, has long winters and short growing seasons. This is contrary to the Chesapeake colony which is more to the South than the New England colony. The Chesapeake colony was known for its fertile land, long growing season, and large swaths of land that were perfect or farming. These geographical differences directly impacted the economies as these two distinct colonies developed. The New England colonies focused on fishing, shipbuilding, and growing a distinct class of
By the 1700s the two regions, New England and Chesapeake varied greatly in spite of being from the same mother country, England. Physical and cultural differences separated these two regions distinctively. While religion moulded the daily life in New England, Money and tobacco farming dominated the Chesapeake.
Some of the most populous colonies were the ones situated in the Chesapeake and New England areas. Although these colonies were both settled by the English and had other key similarities, there were also many differences between them. The New England and Chesapeake colonies both had an aristocracy that governed over them, and had frequent issues concerning the Native Americans that previously inhabited the lands. However, their political and economic systems were considerably different. Chesapeake had an oligarchy whose main export was tobacco, while New England had a theocracy whose exports included timber, fur, and fish. Therefore, although the colonies had similarities their differences outweighed the resemblances.
Although both the New England Colonies (Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New Hampshire), and the Chesapeake Colonies (Virginia and Maryland) were both settled by people of English origin, by 1700 they were both very distinct for a multitude of reasons; Three of which being, their economics, African Slave population, and their life expectancies.
Although the Chesapeake and New England colonies were the earliest English colonies to flourish in the New World, they were both extremely different in the ways that they developed. Similarities between the colonies can be found, but the colonies were mostly different. The colonies differed most in religion, society, culture, economy, and their relationships with the American Indians of the region. The reasons for such differences can be understood by realizing that the colonies were settled by incredibly different people who possessed different cultures, religious beliefs, and motivations for settling in their respective colonies in the first place. The Chesapeake and New England colonies had similarities and differences in their development, including how each colony affected nearby American Indians. Their differences and similarities can be understood by analyzing each colony’s geography, economy, religions, and cultures.
The Chesapeake Bay and the New England colonies displayed many differences. The major differences became very clear as the settlements continued
Two European nations stumbled upon and colonized the Americas in the 16th-17th century. England sent out many groups to the East coast of North America in order to get their hands on two particular provinces. These two provinces were labeled as the New England and the Chesapeake. Although both nations would unite as one in the 1700’s, they were profoundly different and both provinces possessed qualities unlike the other from dawn. Also, the Chesapeake and New England founding fathers didn’t share the same intentions when they arrived at the New Old, which lead to many distinctions between the political, economic and social aspect of the two colonies.
New England and the Chesapeake region were both settled largely by people of English origin, but by the 1700’s they were two distinct societies. They differed politically, economically, and socially, and these differences stemmed from when people first arrived in the colonies to how the colonies grew over time.
Both New England and Chesapeake suffered from religious tensions, both holding some settlers wishing to flee England in order to practice their religion without persecution and hoping for a better life across seas. In one instance, Chesapeake’s Maryland was founded by Lord Baltimore, a catholic Englishman hoping to create a safe haven for catholic settlers to worship. However Baltimore stayed in England and the majority of the settlers who came to the area were protestant. This caused strife over the only church eventually leading to the pro religion-tolerance governor to be thrown in jail and three catholic leaders to be hung.
Today, the United States of America is a very racially and religiously diverse society. We saw the seeds of diversity being sown in the early days of colonization when the Chesapeake and New England colonies grew into distinctive societies. Even though both regions were primarily English, they had similarities as well as striking differences. The differentiating characteristics among the Chesapeake and New England colonies developed due to geography, religion, and motives for colonial expansion.
When the English settled into the New World, they were split up into two sections, the Chesapeake region and the New England region. Although the English settled both, the two regions were severely different from each other when they were brought about. The New England and Chesapeake colonies differed in three ways: their reason for venturing over, economy, and population. These major differences were what shaped our nation today and what will continue shaping our nation in the future.
In colonial America, two religions dominated its cultural history, the Puritans and the Quakers. Puritanism was born from the creation of a religion that seeks to fuse and at the same time, reform, the Catholic and
The economy of the Chesapeake and New England were both directly affected by their geographical locations and surroundings. The Chesapeake colonies were very rich and fertile in soil, which allowed them to develop an agricultural-based economy; whereas, the New England colonies were