Tommy Yang Mr. Crossland AP US History 17 July 2015 Summer Essay The seventeenth and eighteenth centuries were an exciting period of time for the thirteen British colonies that would eventually become The United States of America. This time period saw the development of the colonies into self-sufficient entities, which would ultimately lead to the American Revolution. Although every colony was unique, there were similarities in the colonies that were close to each other geographically. Today, the colonies are grouped together into the New England colonies, the Middle colonies, and the Southern colonies. The New England, Middle, and Southern colonies had both similarities and differences regarding their political, economic, social, and religious …show more content…
Most colonies had a powerful royal governor appointed by the King of England. These royal governors often held massive power, being able to do things that even the king could not do, such as vetoing legislation and dismissing judges. They also served as the military commander for their province. In most colonies, adult, white, and land-owning males were permitted to vote in elections. The New England colonies’ governments were dominated by religion. They followed a unique form of church government known as congregationalism, where the people, known as the saints, pledged to follow God’s law. In the Middle colonies, a document called Duke’s Laws guaranteed religious toleration and created local governments. The colonies had Councils and Assemblies that gathered to initiate legislation. In the Southern colonies, one of the first representative-style governments was created. The House of Burgesses was created in 1619 in Virginia by Sir Edwin Sandys, and was created mostly to make the colony more attractive to wealthy …show more content…
Although all colonies had religion play some sort of role in their daily lives, the importance of religion differed greatly among the regions. Since Puritans helped establish many of the New England colonies, it is no surprise that the majority of the New England colonists were Puritan. Religion was a major part of daily life, with many attending church and having their children baptized. Religion varied greatly in the Middle colonies. For example, in New Jersey, many different religions from many different European nations were able to coexist, while the Quakers dominated Pennsylvania, both in culture and in government. In the Southern colonies, religion did not seem to be of high importance to the colonists, as farming was of utmost importance to the Southern colonists. However, many were Catholic. In fact, Maryland was founded in order to provide a refuge for persecuted
During the mid 17th century two regions carved roots for England in North America. Coming from the same homeland one would assume their inner workings would closely mirror each other but this was not the case for the New England and Chesapeake colonies. Though faced with similar hardships, the ways they handled the difficulties starkly contrast one another.
After the first few struggling settlements in the New World progressed, more and more colonies sprung from the untested North American soil. Eventually, there were three main categories to the European colonies. They were each unique, although one certain class stood in stark contrast to the other two. This group, the Middle colonies, was a halfway point between the New England and Southern colonies – and not just geographically. The Middle colonies extracted parts of its neighbors, like farming habits and spiritual sects, but the middle group managed to retain its own flavor.
America was a place for dreams and new beginnings, until white people arrived in 1607. Three groups sailed over the treacherous Atlantic from their cruel lives in England to set up peaceful religious colonies. The only problem is that they attempted to settle in their own way and all failed dismally. The New England, Middle and Southern Colonies grew differently over the period 1619-1760.Examining the three sets of colonies will prove that they were all different: socially, economically, politically but not philosophically.
The colonists of Virginia were instructed to worship in the Church of England. They created the House of Burgesses, which was the first legislative assembly of representatives in North America. The colony of Maryland was established as a refuge for Catholics. The people of the New England region were Puritans. Puritans were people who wanted to “purify” the Church of England. The Puritans came over from England to flee from economic problems and religious persecution. They were people who followed strict rules and they learned from reading the Bible. The Puritans developed a form of theocracy for their government. They believed that the church was to follow the beliefs of the Puritans, that the church and the government should operate as
Politically, Virginia and New England differed in the basis of their governing systems. Virginia focused on the desire of its individuals: “(t)hat our governors by reason of the corruption of those times they lived in, laid the foundation of our wealth and industry on the vices of men.” This standard of government was an early precursor to democracy and allowed Virginian’s to feel the rights of being freemen. New England, instead of basing their government on the individual desires of man, governed the colony on the basis of Christianity. The New England settlers strongly believed the spirit of God would deliver them and create greatness in the colony: “the God of Israel is among us, and ten of us shall be able to resist a thousand of our enemies. The Lord will make our name a praise and glory.” The colony wanted to be set above the rest, or in other words,
In 1607 a group of English settlers built village in Jamestown, Virginia. King Jaime I of England founded a colony in the first seven months after its arrival. Within these colonies we find the New England colonies and South Carolina colonies. We will analyze and compare the government systems, religious and economic development of both colonies and how they were related.
When comparing and contrasting the Chesapeake and New England colonies you find that there are many differences and a few similarities. These differences and similarities revolve around the colonies geography, economic characteristics, religious characteristics, and why they were founded. These differences developed in the colonies based off where they are, how they were ran, and how wealthy they were. The development of these colonies also affected the American Indians in a few different ways. Let start by comparing major difference of the geography between Chesapeake and New England colonies. New England colonies had cold weather and poor dry soil which made for a short growing season. This made it harder to grow food so most families just had a small farm for personal gain, there weren’t plantations. The New England colonies also had natural harbors and a lot of the land was covered in forests. In contrast to the New England colonies the Chesapeake colonies has hot humid weather, with long growing seasons, and excellent soil that was great for plantation and along with rivers that flowed throughout the colonies. Now let’s take a look at the differences in the economical characteristics between the colonies. In New England because of their geographical conditions they couldn’t grow crops in large plantation to make profits so they had to rely on other means to make income. Since the land was covered in forests they use the timber to expand the shipbuilding industries. They
Religious beliefs had its role in making the colonies different from one another. The Anglican religion, which included the Baptists and Presbyterians faiths, didn't have an everyday effect on the way the southerners lived there
During the late 16th century and into the 17th century, two colonies emerged from England in the New World. The two colonies were called the Chesapeake and New England colonies. Even though the two areas were formed and governed by the English, the colonies had similarities as well as differences. Differences in geography, religion, politics, economic, and nationalities, were responsible for molding the colonies. These differences came from one major factor: the very reason the English settlers came to the New World. The Chesapeake colonies were primarily created by companies interested in profiting from the natural resources of the New World such as gold or silver to bring back to England. The New England colonies were primarily created to escaped religious persecution and set up a haven for people of their faith. The inhabitants of the New England area were far healthier. Their clean water supply was a sharp contrast to the contaminated waters of Chesapeake Bay. The cool climate had a good impact on colonists because it prevented the spread of life-threatening diseases. Because of New England’s cool climate, many people died during severe winters. Chesapeake’s climate had positive and negative factors as well. The warm, moist climate in the Chesapeake colonies carried diseases that killed many of the colonists. In contrast to the New England colonists, the Chesapeake colonists did not have to worry as much about surviving cold winters. The natural resources of the
In the early days of America under British rule, there were only 13 colonies; all of which across the Atlantic coast of North America. These 13 colonies of British colonial America were divided into 3 geographical regions: New England colonies (Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Hampshire), Middle colonies (New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware), and Southern colonies (Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia). Environmental and Geographical variations led to the division of the colonies; but economic, social, and political issues led to the colonies being represented by 3 separate regions and not a unified whole. I believe that colonial america was represented by 3 separate regions because of economic specialization,
During the colonial era, England founded the 13 colonies. The New England colonial region was established for religious freedom. (Document 1). On the other hand the Southern colonial was settled for money, gold and other riches. There are many unique differences and similarities between New England and the Southern geography, economy and culture. New England and the South had many different philosophies that helped to shape their ways of life.
The New England and Southern colonies shared many similarities, but some stark differences as well. Both colonial regions fought with Native American tribes frequently and would often set one tribe against another. However, land ownership differed greatly in the Southern colonies as opposed to the New England.
The northern colonies of New England colonies were founded by the Puritans. The Puritans were English Protestants, however not all of the New England colonists were Puritans. At the end of the seventeenth century the Quakers started to colonize the in state of Massachusetts. The Quakers thought that ministers and Bibles were not required to worship God. The Quakers religion and the Puritans religion are complete opposites. This led to several of the colonies treated the Quakers badly.
Unlike Middle and Southern colonies, New England came here mostly for religion and to escape the Church of England. Although it is true that some people in Southern and Middle colonies came to practice their own religion, most colonies just wanted a piece of land in America because it was a status symbol back then. One of the colonies that stood out from the rest was Pennsylvania. William Penn founded a very open colony with much religious tolerance. He sent flyers out to advertise in Europe. People from Europe and beyond came to Pennsylvania because any religion was tolerated. Alexander Hamilton said “I dined at a tavern with a very mixed company of different nations and religions. There were Scots, English, Dutch, Germans, and Irish. There were Roman Catholics, Church [of England] men, Presbyterians, Quakers, … Moravians … and one Jew”. Another example of religious tolerance is the Southern colonies. Lord Baltimore did this so he could get more people to come to Maryland. No other colony allowed religious tolerance for this
These colonists were motivated by greed and saw a better opportunity to become rich. Therefore the settlers came over from England. A Virginia ship list in 1625 reports the number of people to be transported to Virginia (Doc C). In comparison to New England, there were very few women or families. Most of the people were men of about 20-30 years of age. The ratios and ages suggest that these people were looking to make money over starting families. The Chesapeake colonies were mostly funded by England. The Governor of Virginia, William Berkeley, asked the King of England to help out (Doc G). These colonies maintained fairly close relations with England. They considered themselves part of and under England, and still owed allegiance to England. The Chesapeake region had a colonial assembly. These were mostly local people of the colony. There was also a governor who was appointed by the King of England. The local people of the colony - the colonial assembly- and the English appointed governor shared political power over the region. The House of Burgesses was established in 1619 and was the first representative government in the New World. Similar to the Chesapeake region, the Southern colonies were founded by the upper class and gentry of England. The reason for this was that there were vast areas of land available that were valuable for farming. The Carolinas were