How did New England and the Chesapeake develop differently by 1700 and what caused these differences in development to occur?

The New England colonies were first founded in the last 16th to 17th century as a sanctuary for differing religious groups. New England was made up of the Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, and New Hampshire. New Hampshire, however, was formed for economic reasons instead of religious ones. The Chesapeake region, which is made up of the colonies of Maryland and Virginia, was founded by the British colonies for the purpose of farming. However, by the 1700’s, despite both being settled by Englishmen, New England and the Chesapeake region had developed differently. This difference was contributed to religious tolerance, economics, and population. Religion was distinctly different between the New England and Chesapeake regions. Although both were overall Catholic, the degree of tolerance for…show more content…
In New England, there was no such thing as religious tolerance. Everyone was required to be part of the Church of England whether they believed or not. This led to a disagreement among those who believed that those who were not “visible saints” should not be allowed to worship in the same place as those who were. These colonists were referred to as the Separatists because they eventually separated from the Church of England. Those who chose to stay with the church were called Puritans, although that term could technically be used to describe both. John Winthrop, a non-separating Puritan, was a leading figure in the founding of the Massachusetts Bay Colony that described the goal of this colony in his City Upon a Hill speech in which he says, “We must consider that we shall be as a city

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During the period between the later parts of 16th century and early 17th century, most to the European nations were so eager to continue in their current state of colonizing different states within the newly found Americas. One particular European nation that had a clearly mapped out strategy and so clearly sent out many groups to most of the parts of eastern coast especially two parts known as Chesapeake and New England is England. It is worth noting that there was a scramble and a rush in a bid to conquer as many nations as possible due to the benefits that would result in the process. As a result in the late 1700’s the two nations that were conquered by England later joined up to become one nation. However, it should be noted that from the onset, the two nations were unique and their own unique identities. The differences that existed between these two nations actually illustrate the main reason why England decided to colonize them at that time. This article brings out the major differences that existed between Chesapeake and New England in terms of their English Colonies.

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Land use is the first variation that existed between Chesapeake and New England. It is important to note that the New England had interests in terms of land use that was basically distinct from Chesapeake. In terms of Chesapeake, the major interest was basically in the large land coverage that included Rhode Island, Plymouth, Massachusetts Bay Colony, New Haven and Connecticut. These locations represented a massive amount of land that Chesapeake was basically interested in. The English settlers around this region were mainly interested in mining activities which included the mining of gold as well as silver. They were hoped to find these minerals to help them in their trading activities. In addition they were also in the land to find a northwest link to Asia so that they would expand their trading activities. It is also worth noting that the quest to find a cure the syphilis disease was also part of their mission in the land. This can also be combined with the quest to find any meaningful valuable that they could carry for trade back in Europe. On the other hand, the New England settler had a different motive concerning their settlement on the land. They were majorly concerned about the artisan industries that were comprised of printing, carpentry and shipbuilding. As a result their major mission was to find materials in the land that could help them in terms of expanding their mission in the land which was mainly comprised of expanding the artisan industry.

Labor also characterized the mission of the Chesapeake and New England settlers in North America. Chesapeake region was mainly swampy and not suitable for typical crop growing activities. However 5 years after their arrival in the land saw the discovery of tobacco which actually did well. In this regard, it is important to note that due to the tobacco growing in the land, Chesapeake settler used and employed cheap labor in their fields. As a matter of fact, they developed an indentured servitude system in which individuals who desired free passage to America had offer their services in terms of labor for some years before being allowed to enter into America. On the other hand, New England region was not characterized of large farms and so most of them basically depended on small farms and other home-based type of industries such as carpentry and printing. Due to the home-based industry businesses, the New England settlers did not need to hire labor as their families were enough to provide the needed labor force for their work. As a result, it is worth noting that slavery never developed much in the northern part as compared to the southern.

Religion also formed a major difference between the Chesapeake and New England settlers in America. It is worth noting that most of the New Englanders majorly composed of the Puritan Separatists who were in the quest for freedom in religion. This came at a time the Church of England actually separated from the Catholicism which was the major religion at that time during the reign of Henry VIII. As a result, the major religion of this land was largely composed of Protestantism. It should, however, be noted that a given group with the protestants actually wanted a complete separation from Catholicism. As a result, they went ahead to establish the Anglican Church. However, it should be noted that this only became a reality after 1692. The religious tone of the region was low as many people never really had interest in the England church. On the other hand, the New Englander had claims that they were actually “more godly” in comparison to any other group of colonialists. This region was mainly composed of a section of settlers who were escaping persecution due to their religious faith. As a result, the region became extremely religious-based and actually had claims that they “were far more godly than all other colonists”  .

Social composition between Chesapeake and New England settlers was also different. As a matter of fact, it is worth noting that Chesapeake region was categorically set apart for male settlement which was first composed of businessmen as well as adventure seekers. Later on, there was the introduction of the indentured slaves and servants who were actually willing to seek opportunity for work in the new country. Diseases and difficulty of work due to the conditions in the place at that time actually led to most of them being widely spread in the entire region. As a result, their life expectancy levels went lower as compared to their New England counterparts. In addition, the disease condition as well as the difficult labor condition made the families to stay apart in the quest for better environment free from sickness. This led to so much instability in the region in terms of social organization  . There were people who were constantly being shipped into the region for the purposes of making the region well balanced socially. The social rungs were also characterized by major gaps as only plantation owners were at the top, a very small group of small scale farmers at the middle section, and the indentured slaves combined with the servants at the bottom part of the grid. This created such a major imbalance in the social balance of this region since the shortages were being felt in almost all the spheres of social networks of this particular side. On the other hand, the social composition as well as the demographic mix of New England was highly different. This is because this particular region was mainly composed of colonialists having their towns as well as families which move together. Their level of prosperity, therefore, grew further since they were always together. As a result of the unity, this society was well balanced socially and even economically. Religion and family also prospered due to stability in the social composition. This was highly contributed to by the fact that they were constantly together. It can, therefore, be noted that New England provided a healthy society in which individuals colonialists developed socially and spiritually  .

In conclusion, it is important to note that in as much as both Chesapeake and New England settlers had a common goal of looking for better territories which could provide them with more economic, social and religious freedom, there were various differences that actually existed between them. The differences were majorly in terms of the land use which saw both settlers having different purposes for the land they had acquired; religion whereby the colonialists had different spiritual needs and agenda in the lands in which they settled; social composition whereby both Chesapeake and New England colonial settlers had different social needs, challenges which influenced their prosperity and religious practice in their lands of settlement; economic achievements were also different as the level of economic growth of the settlers differed majorly due to the extent of trading activities as well as availability of market for their commodities. It can therefore be noted that New England and Chesapeake were similar in terms of their mission but different in terms of activities that there involved with in the land in which they settled.

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