Massachusetts vs Virginia: A Tale of Two Colonies
Emily G
September 6, 2013
The Chesapeake and New England: A Tale of Two Colonies England was late to the colonizing game, lagging behind both France and Spain. But when England did set foot in the New World it left its mark. The early English colonization of what is now America can be broken down into two main settlements, the Chesapeake colony and the New England colony. The Chesapeake colony, which originated as the Jamestown colony in Virginia, was settled in 1607. The Chesapeake colony wound up relying on tobacco as its main source of revenue and using African slaves to get the work done. To the north, the New England colony was founded in 1628 by the Massachusetts Bay Company. It ended up religiously oriented with a strong focus on work ethic and family. The colonies had the potential to be almost identical settlements, as they were settled by the same country, only score and one years apart. Yet the colonies diverged into two separate settlements which seemingly had more contrast than similarity. While this divergence may seem like a mystery, the reasons can be found in the history of the people and the difficulties they had to deal with in the New World. Although both the Chesapeake Bay and New England colonies were settled within 25 years of each other, they evolved into very different societies, which can be attributed to the differences in how the geography of their respective locations, the cultural practices they brought over from England, and their respective motives intertwined. The differences in the evolutions of the Chesapeake and New England colonies are apparent in their economic, and cultural stances during the late 1600s. The Chesapeake, or Virginia colony, became agriculturally charged. It was a boomtown with the Tobacco rush that swept the colony. The settlers there focused on agriculture on a larger scale, creating large land holdings, which could only be managed by using slavery. Though they originally used indentured servants, the
September 6, 2013
The Chesapeake and New England: A Tale of Two Colonies England was late to the colonizing game, lagging behind both France and Spain. But when England did set foot in the New World it left its mark. The early English colonization of what is now America can be broken down into two main settlements, the Chesapeake colony and the New England colony. The Chesapeake colony, which originated as the Jamestown colony in Virginia, was settled in 1607. The Chesapeake colony wound up relying on tobacco as its main source of revenue and using African slaves to get the work done. To the north, the New England colony was founded in 1628 by the Massachusetts Bay Company. It ended up religiously oriented with a strong focus on work ethic and family. The colonies had the potential to be almost identical settlements, as they were settled by the same country, only score and one years apart. Yet the colonies diverged into two separate settlements which seemingly had more contrast than similarity. While this divergence may seem like a mystery, the reasons can be found in the history of the people and the difficulties they had to deal with in the New World. Although both the Chesapeake Bay and New England colonies were settled within 25 years of each other, they evolved into very different societies, which can be attributed to the differences in how the geography of their respective locations, the cultural practices they brought over from England, and their respective motives intertwined. The differences in the evolutions of the Chesapeake and New England colonies are apparent in their economic, and cultural stances during the late 1600s. The Chesapeake, or Virginia colony, became agriculturally charged. It was a boomtown with the Tobacco rush that swept the colony. The settlers there focused on agriculture on a larger scale, creating large land holdings, which could only be managed by using slavery. Though they originally used indentured servants, the