Jamestown Case
Essay Preview: Jamestown Case
Report this essay
The broad based variety of how these colonies began, were governed, and instructed was based on a wide distinction of each other. Although there were immense differences among the four, there was also a large spectrum of similarities among them as well.
Jamestown, Virginia seemed to be, (in the beginning), the colony that suffered more within itself than the other colonies. John Smith was the president of what was the first English colony in the new world. Upon reading the letters that he submitted to the Virginia Company you have to stop and wonder about the hardships he faced as being the president in a total new adventure that no one had chartered before him. The struggles he dealt with when dealing with Captain Newports men as far as trying to get all the essentials that Smith, needed to keep his colonist living and being able to supply and support for themselves. Unlike the colonies that were to follow Smith did not start this colony with a strong authority backing based on religious beliefs.
However, Massachusetts, settled by the Puritans, chose a leader strong in his faith and his belief system in God. All of their work ethic and leadership in handling any affairs was done with a solely based upon a religious ground. In doing so if you were to blasphemy God they stated that God would remove himself from you and were to face all your struggles alone and you were to find all of your dealings with day to day life without the leadership of God. Massachusetts, as compared to Jamestown had a strict religious belief; their leadership was formed from the ideas of the bible as well as the firm authority and organization strictly based on religious founding
John Carver, who came over on the Mayflower, was the first leader of the Plymouth Colony. Carver was the leader until his death at which point William Bradford became the leader in 1621. Plymouth was a divided colony. Part wanting to have the religious backing but not wanting to make the sacrifices that would come along with having to delve themselves into such a strict bible believing lifestyle when they felt they wanted so much more as far as what the new world had condemned as sinful. As with Jamestown after Smith left and the new leadership came into play they in-turn made Jamestown a strict bible believing colony. Much of which as implementing what we refer to today as the “3 strikes” with many of their laws being on the third offense you were sentenced to death. Plymouth was not so certain that they wanted to go to those extremes.
Maryland, looked more to their commodities than belief system as to what they stood for. Tobacco is their main staple in this area. With furs and flesh (skin) coming in as the other top two. They looked toward what they had to grow and offer in order to see what they had available to trade so that they could then move forward as far as what there was for them to purchase that they would need as a