Issues In Colonial America In The 17th Century

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

Settlement patterns, family life, population growth, economic and social structure, government/polity, education, and homes differed greatly in the New England and Southern colonies in the 17th-century. Although a family could move from Massachusetts to Virginia or from South Carolina to Pennsylvania, without major readjustment, distinctions between social institutions within the individual colonies were marked. Settlement of New England was financed in 1607 and established in November, 1620 (Plymouth) by "The Second Colony of Plymouth" (Marshall, 49; Tindall and Shi 65). "Once the ship came to rest, the passengers crowded on deck, and the religious among them knelt down and prayed to God for their deliverance" (Marshall 49, 52). They arrived

The main dominations of most of the colonies of New England in 1680 to 1760 were Anglicanism and Congregationalism. However, new church movements were created such as Baptists, Methodists, Quakers, and much more. These religions were sometimes called “Dissenters” because they were descendants of Protestantism. There were very many complications within Christianity and an interesting one happened in Salem, Massachusetts.

     Between the settlement of Jamestown in 1607 and the Treaty of Paris in 1763, the most important change that occurred in the colonies was the emergence of a society quite different from that in England. Changes in religion, economics, politics, and social structure illustrate this Americanization of the transplanted Europeans.

The New England colonies were a slew of different sects of Christianity, but shared one central point: they were, for the most part, Protestant. The Puritans and Quakers both came the the Americas in search of freedom of worship. However, the majority of those who inhabited the Chesapeake colonies were Anglican and came over for pecuniary reasons. The New England colonies were both the most and least religiously tolerant based on location. Massachusetts was strictly Puritan, while colonies such as Rhode Island were very tolerant of religious differences.

Throughout the 17th century, many European countries sent explorers and settlers to America. The two most eminent countries that colonized area of America were Spain and Great Britain. Britain began to establish colonies in the northeast; in the area they called New England. The Spanish interest lied in the southwest. Living in two unassociated areas caused the Spanish settlements and the New England colonies to be quite unlike each other. When faced with the task of finding similarities between the two, not much can be found. It is the differences that stand out when studying the English and Spanish, from religion to politics to ideals.

Smaller gatherings of Dutch Mennonites, Jews, and German Baptists joined larger congregations of Quakers, Anglicans, Dutch Reforms, Lutherans, and Presbyterians to create a uniquely diverse religious society. Not as cohesive as the New England colonies, the colonists in this region were not united by a single religion or code of beliefs, demonstrating that one ultimate religion should not stand above the rest. Some of the aspects that aided in the religious revolution that occurred in the Mid-Atlantic colonies was New York’s allowance for the establishment of churches, relying on money from taxes to support themselves financially, and the leadership of Quakers, whose religious tolerance encouraged other parishioners to stand up for their own views. Overtime, these mixing of beliefs blurred the religious differences and paved the way for a greater acceptance of variance, staging the world’s most complex experience with spiritual

In 17th century, North America was an unstable and dangerous environment. Colonies were racked by “religious, political and economic tensions” that had dragged into imperial wars and conflict with Indians. Many million people left England to immigrate to the West Indies, where the introduction of sugar cultivation promised riches for those who could obtain land. Owning land gave men control over their own labor. The arrival of English settlers profoundly affected Indian societies. Like the other colonial empires, the English used native people as guides, trading partners and allies in wars and for other purposes. The English exchanged goods with the native population, and Indians often traveled through colonial settlements. Traders, religious

Whether by land or by sea, eighteenth century colonial travel was arduous, expensive, and many times dangerous. Because of this, few people traveled very far from their homes. Transportation has changed dramatically since the late 1700’s. It was during this time that Colonial America was budding as a new country. This was before airplanes, which appeared in the very early stages of the 1900’s. Cars showed up about the same time, so rewind about 200 plus years and we’re back in colonial America. It wasn’t civilized like it is today. The dirt roads were bumpy, grimy, and when the rains came, they were mud baths. So how did people during this time get around? Often, they didn’t. Not many people could afford the cost of travel back then. Daily American Colonial Life was extremely harsh for the first settlers and colonists. They were faced with a new country, unknown territory and no friends, relatives or neighbors to help them “In those days, it was fairly expensive to travel. Because of this, generally only government officials, merchants, and planters took the risk (Constitution Facts).” Women were supposed to stay home and look after the children while the husband went off to do business. America was still a budding country, so there were not as many cities as there are now and they were more spread out. If the man wanted to travel, it would require several hours, or even several days to ride on horseback. Often the husband wouldn’t return for a couple of days, and when he

During the seventeenth century, colonial America was welcoming many newcomers, several from England. Quantities of these newcomers were seeking land for economic purposes as others were longing for religious toleration. Many of the English colonists settled in the New England region for religious freedoms, to escape the English king, and leave adversaries of other religions behind. Settlers who resided in the Middle Atlantic region were affected differently. Although the Middle Atlantic was more

Colonial America in the seventeenth century become very independent from England, this caused tensions politically, socially, religiously and economically. The tensions did not automatically take place; however, things that weren't considered issues previously became amplified problems as England tried to tighten their control over the colonies. Having the tensions of social and economic growth it lead to the Salem Witch trials that occurred in Massachusetts. There was a great amount of independent growth throughout colonial America, tensions definitely rose as colonial America refused to allow England to have full control.

From 1607 to 1754, people’s views on governing themselves changed greatly. It began in 1607, with the settlement of Jamestown. They were a corporate colony, working for the Virginia Company, they were whole-heartedly British. The Great Awakening, the Enlightenment, and the Tradition of Neglect all introduced new ways for the American colonies to think of themselves as more independent. Although they still considered themselves part of the British Empire, by the end of this era they had discovered that they could make their own laws and constitutions that fit the way that their world worked as opposed to Great Britain.

During the 18th century differences in life, thought, and interests had developed between the Southern and Northern colonies. The origin of these differences grew from the differences in religion, economics, and social structures between the Southern and Northern Colonies. Slavery, manufacturing, education, and agriculture influenced the everyday way of life for the colonists. This has had everlasting effects on America till this day.

Religion has shaped the colonial society in many ways because one of the reasons to leave England was religious persecution. The New England colonies overall are more strict in their religious practices, like the Puritan Massachusetts Bay, but there is some tolerance in places like Rhode Island. The Chesapeake region is less influenced by religion but they do have the Catholic Maryland. Although the Chesapeake colonies were founded for economic reasons, the New England colonies had a society more based off of religion through government, schooling and families. Therefore, the New England region was more heavily influenced by religion in society.

The seventeenth and eighteenth century marked a time in North American history fraught with conflict. As people immigrated away from Europe during the Great Migration, they arrived to form new social and political classes within the colonies. These class shaped the social dynamics within colonies, determining the access certain people had to government participation, and subjecting people to forms of discrimination and a lack of opportunity. Conflicts in the northern, middle, and southern colonies were primarily driven by economic factors, specifically being catalyzed by social class structures that dehumanized and repressed the voice of the lower-classes by removing their right to vote, as well as using special rules such as slave codes to categorize people by race. Economic change in the colonies drove conflict by creating social tension between classes and religious groups, eventually leading to dissent and uprising in all three regions.