New England Colonies Dbq Analysis

Jorge Zankiz
New England vs. Chesapeake Colonies Throughout the 16th century and into the 17th century the Americas started to become very popular settlement areas, especially North America's east coast. This area was colonized by migrating English that either fled from England because of religious persecution, the wish of starting a new life with their families or were in the pursuit of gold and wealth. The decision people made between those two choices(religion and family go together)was what shaped each region, the New England colonies region and the Chesapeake region. Although these colonies were founded by mostly people of English origin each region had a different view on everything; economic view and intention, different social thoughts
and "laws" and even different political regards. The New England colonies included Plymouth, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New Haven (which later on became part of Connecticut).
These were the places in which the Separatists, Puritans and basically all Christians who were in pursuit for religious freedom or seeking the start a new life settled in. The list of emigrants in Doc B shows the amount of people that came over with their families, most of them with young kids, Joseph Hull and his family, Timothy Tabor and his family, Robert Lovell and his family, and the list just goes on. Due to the fact that these people just came with the plan of establishing themselves into a new place where they could live according to their rules they didn't have quite a big vision on making money. Economically speaking the people from the New England Colonies didn't grow as much as the ones at Chesapeake. " We must uphold a familiar commerce together in all meekness, gentleness, patience, and liberality. We must delight in each other, make others' conditions our own, rejoice together, mourn together, labor and suffer together, always having before our eyes our commission and community in the work..."(Doc A). The reader can notice that the commerce in the New England colonies didn't grow was much because just inner commerce was encouraged, the work for sustainability, there wasn't much large scale production. Large scale farming was not encouraged, instead people worked in artisan- industries like shipbuilding, printing and
cloth making. Asides from that due to their religious belief people also thought their hard working in their jobs was like "praise to God". The Chesapeake region included New Jersey, Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania. The idea of people that came over to this part of the New World was like the complete opposite of the New England colonies. The Chesapeake region was the place people who were in the seek out of wealth and gold came to settle in."The worst [among us were the gold seekers who] with their golden promises...There was no talk...but dig gold, wash gold, refine gold, load gold..."(Doc F) The list of people transported in Merchant's Hope with destiny to Virginia shows all small amount of people that came over. There's Edward Towers, Henry Woodman, Francis Hutton, Ann Rice, Ann Mason, and many others.(Doc C) Yet, none of the passengers came with a family, and the reason is clear. Money. The economy in this region really went up hill. People relied on large scale farming of tobacco, corn and other crops to get rich, and they did. Tobacco was the "gold" people were looking for in the Chesapeake region and the tobacco industry then lead to the making of other industries in the colonies. Due to this idea people in these colonies got very wealthy, they were like the "aristocratic" colonies from the original thirteen. In New England social rules and expectations were based on the religious belief of the people. "We intend by God's grace, as soon as we can, with all convenient speed, to procure some Godly and faithful minister with whom we purpose to join in church covenant to walk in all the ways of Christ."(Doc D)Private life was not much of an option in this region and in some places there was a dress and behavior code. Another social aspect of these colonies was that Bible teachings were applied on your daily life as "laws". For example, in most of these colonies you couldn't swear, drink, gamble and other things around those lines. But there was also a great emphasis on education in these places, yet it has two sides to it. Education was encouraged so much because it was needed to convert and become a church member. "We intend that our town shall be composed of forty families...rich and poor." "That every inhabitant shall have a convenient proportion for a house lot, as we shall see [fit] for everyone's equality."(Doc D) As shown, family life, equality, and concern for well being of others was also considered really important in the New England colonies; towns were very unite. In the Chesapeake region, on the other hand, social life was not so influenced by religion. There were laws that applied to behavior and the implication of moral right in your daily life but nothing so exaggerated like the expectations of the New England colonies. The society in these colonies was really mixed between black and white due to the slave trade needed for the tobacco industry growth. Another aspect of the society was that there were many people who just came here for wealth and family union was not as important, instead people came to look for a new life and sometimes work. The idea of indentured servants was introduced into these colonies and it allowed for people to come over to America for free in exchange of 5-7 years of working in some of the rich's tobacco, corn, or other crop farm. The social life in the Chesapeake region was not as tranquil or cozy as the life in the northern part, there were also many conflicts between Indians and sometimes other foreign forces. "For by our nearest computation we leave at our backs as many servants (besides Negroes) as there are freeman to defend the shores and all our frontiers [against] the Indians..."(Doc G) The last main difference these 2 regions had was their political ideas and appliance.
In the New England colonies the government was based on a town system and the laws and choosing of leaders influenced by religion."This court... in the interim recommends [that] all tradesmen and laborers consider the religious end of their callings, which is that receiving such moderate profit as may enable them to serve God and their neighbors with their arts and trade comfortably..."(Doc E) The town system in this region was based on the appointing of a local authority and monthly held meetings in the town hall(most people in these towns were educated people). People knew what was going on in their towns and the decisions that were being made as well as their vote on problems and their ability to call for oppression. The officials and selected authorities were mostly church related people due to the strong faith people had in these
places. In the Chesapeake region the government body was formed by aristocrats who had a legislative political idea. This aristocratic formation for the governing in this region sometimes caused conflicts. People sometimes doubted from where all the money this people had came from. "Now let us compare these things together and see what sponges have sucked up the public treasures and whether it has not been privately contrived away by unworthy favorites and juggling parasites whose tottering fortunes have been repaired and supported at the public charge."(Doc H) Plus, the system in which the colonies were run on was the county system due to the tendency of people to be more spread out. Due to this factor some voices were never heard, that of farmers for example. Although the colonization of each regions started in the same century and the people settling in the area were of the same origin the formation and development of the New England region and the Chesapeake region differed in many ways. This differentiation was caused by two simple ideas, the idea of making money and the idea of living a free life. These ideas made the two regions to have different economic views, social expectations from people, and political ideas.