Compare And Contrast Jamestown And Virginia

Although the founding and development of Massachusetts Bay and Virginia were similar there were many differences as well. Virginia and Massachusetts Bay were founded around the same time period which allows us to analyze and compare them. Although both of these, Virginia and Massachusetts Bay, were colonies of England they each settled in North America for two different reasons: Gold and God. Virginia was founded in 1607 by John Smith who came from England and built the colony Jamestown. This was the first settlement in North America for England. Jamestown was mainly founded for economics and financial profits. The British sent people who they were sure to find riches. Virginia was colonized by mainly Individuals. Few families came to Jamestown.
Due to the scarcity of women in Jamestown the colony didn’t have a large population. Without a large population Jamestown was hard to sustain. After Virginia started to thrive farming became a huge factor of their daily lives. Most of the money made in Virginia was due to the sales of tobacco. As the sales of tobacco began to grow so did the plantations they lived and grew their crops on. Once plantations began to flourish the need for labor increased tremendously. The plantation owners began to buy trips over to North America for indentured servants. Indentured servants would work on farms for seven years to pay off their debts. Soon working conditions in England began to improve and that caused insufficient labor for the colonist. The shortage of labor on the plantation caused a slight decrease in tobacco production so the colonist began to invest in the purchasing of slaves. Slaves helped bring the production of tobacco up which helped the colonist gain more money. They also helped the colonist money wise due to the fact that unlike an indentured servant you paid for a slave once and they worked their whole life, they were considered property rather than individuals. Virginia was based more on economy and money rather than anything else. Massachusetts Bay was first colonized by a group of Puritans.
Puritans began to come to North America for religious freedom when they were forced to leave England for their faith and some because they believed the church was dishonorable. Unlike Virginia, when people first began settling in Massachusetts Bay they migrated in families rather than alone. This cause Massachusetts Bay to have a large population which helped the colony to strive. The families normally lived in small a village unlike the plantation farms the colonist from Virginia lived on. Massachusetts Bay did not have as much of a need for slaves due to the fact that they had small farms rather than using a farm to make a living. Unlike Virginia whose church was the Church of England, their official church was Congregational/Puritan. Massachusetts Bay was more organized and successful due to the fact that they planned to make that their permanent new home. Eventually Massachusetts Bay became self-governed as to being controlled by England. This was different from every other colony including Virginia. Massachusetts Bay was founded due to the absence of religious freedom in England.
Both colonies had different reason for settling in North America. Massachusetts Bay was colonized for religious freedom while Virginia was founded to improve England's economy and find riches. Although some small aspects of their everyday life might have been similar their beliefs and ideas tended to
vary.