English Colinization
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By the 1700s two regions of English colonization , New England and the Chesapeake Bay, varied greatly. Physical and cultural differences separated them. The seeds of diversity were planted in the early days of colonization when they grew into distinctive societies. Colonists came to America with different motives. Some came for religious reasons while others came to get rich. Religion was the basis of the peoples lives in New England, but in the Chesapeake region, money and producing tobacco dominated life. This would affect the colonies economically, socially, and politically.
Puritans left England because they wanted a place where they could have religious tolerance. When the Church of England separated from Catholicism under Henry VIII, Protestantism flourished in England, however the Puritans believed the religion needed to be purified so they left. Their religious ideologies were conveyed through John Winthrops ” City on a Hill” speech, it expressed the basic ideology behind the settlement structure. It claimed that the Puritans in New England lived according to Gods will and would stand together as one. Also they wanted ti prove to the world what a heavenly perfected society they can create. Their towns were well organized, with the church being the basis of everyones daily life. An example of their oneness is “Articles of Agreement in Springfield Massachusetts 1636,” they wanted to establish equality and have everyone working together mutually. They learned useful farming techniques from the Native Americans, and farming was their prime source of the economy. And later they relied on artisan-industries like carpentry, shipbuilding, and printing. The Puritan work ethic kept people from working for extreme material gain. Attempts at economic equality and faithfulness is exhibited by “Wage and Price Regulations1976”. The Puritans were hard workers who had goal for a religiously purified town.
Family was also very important in their society. Since they followed the Bible so closely, they had to have stable and well-structured families. They were family orientated people who stuck closely together. Many families came together when they arrived in New England, as seen in the “Ships List of Emigrants Bound for New England”. A much more stable family life took root in New England.
With more families traveling to the new world, their would be more balance in the ratio of men and women. Also their would be a wider variety of occupations. This enabled the town to be more nourished. On the other hand, the people on the “Ships List of Emigrants Bound for Virginia” came without their families, their ages ranged from old to young people, but mainly young men. The men outnumbered the women six to one. This caused the society to be more chaotic because their were many broken families, and a large scramble for the few women. This is a big difference because it shows how these people were coming over to help themselves and start a new life in the Chesapeake region. These Chesapeake settlers were closely tied to the Church of England, which signifies they would be more loyal to the mother country, while the protestants wanted to break away from the church.
The settlers in the Chesapeake Bay region main goal was to get rich. Most set out to get land and to find gold. According to John Smith, all they could do was live for gold, it was their only purpose. They were greedy and hungry for it. This was the total opposite from the Puritans whose main goal was to create a pure religion.
The Chesapeake Bay people had to endure the harshness of their new environment. The climate was not favorable and the air was unhealthy. Nearly half of the people died because of exposure to diseases. Many had to make a living by planting so they could make money to survive. Large Tobacco plantations were started. These business men were not use to being agricultural farmers. This was why things were so hard before John Smith took over. They were not accustomed to hard work and the