Chesapeake Bay Colonies Dbq Essay
In the 1600s, colonists from England decided to leave their homeland to travel to America or “the New World.” The two regions the colonists mostly settled in were the New England area and the Chesapeake area. Although New England and the Chesapeake region were both settled largely by the people of English origin, by 1700 the regions evolved into two distinct societies. This difference occurred because the New England colonies was based off of escaping religious persecution while the Chesapeake colonies was based off of profiting of natural resources. Document A was a speech called A Model of Christian Charity by John Winthrop, a Puritan traveling to New England for religious freedom. It was written on board the Arbela on the Atlantic Ocean
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For instance, the settlers coming to Chesapeake just brought themselves and little supplies to last them through the trip to the New World. After their supply runs out, how would they survive? Hence why colonists of the Chesapeake Bay colonies focused on money and well-being than spiritual enlightenment. In Document F titled History of Virginia from Captain John Smith, it talked about how some of the settlers were more interested in finding gold, trading the gold with other merchants, and making a profit out of that. “There was no talk…but dig gold, wash gold, refine gold, load gold….” That was what was going through their minds the whole time. Another example of greed of a natural resource took place a few years later. John Rolfe commercialized tobacco in Chesapeake, turning it into Chesapeake’s cash crop. However, people of the region became too dependent on the cash crop which resulted into a problem. Indentured servitude was established, but this just caused land to become scarce and expensive. This caused plantations to separate people and slow socialization rather than unite them through God like Winthrop wanted the Puritans to do. There was nothing there about God, religious freedom, or fulfilling spiritual enlightenment. As a result, very different societies developed in both the New England colonies and the Chesapeake
For instance, the settlers coming to Chesapeake just brought themselves and little supplies to last them through the trip to the New World. After their supply runs out, how would they survive? Hence why colonists of the Chesapeake Bay colonies focused on money and well-being than spiritual enlightenment. In Document F titled History of Virginia from Captain John Smith, it talked about how some of the settlers were more interested in finding gold, trading the gold with other merchants, and making a profit out of that. “There was no talk…but dig gold, wash gold, refine gold, load gold….” That was what was going through their minds the whole time. Another example of greed of a natural resource took place a few years later. John Rolfe commercialized tobacco in Chesapeake, turning it into Chesapeake’s cash crop. However, people of the region became too dependent on the cash crop which resulted into a problem. Indentured servitude was established, but this just caused land to become scarce and expensive. This caused plantations to separate people and slow socialization rather than unite them through God like Winthrop wanted the Puritans to do. There was nothing there about God, religious freedom, or fulfilling spiritual enlightenment. As a result, very different societies developed in both the New England colonies and the Chesapeake