Comparing and Contrasting the New England and Southern Settlements

547 Words2 Pages

The New England and the Southern colonial settlements were united in several areas that created the opportunity for each group of colonies to grow. However, these groups of colonies took divergent paths when it came to the founders’ motives to settle the New World, the importance of religious and social orientation, economic approaches and political developments. These different approaches were ultimately successful beyond the early founders’ expectations. Both the New England and Southern colonies enjoyed some common conditions that enabled them to grow. First, the colonies were loyal to the English crown and considered themselves English citizens, subject to their mother country’s laws. They also shared a common language. Finally, England inadvertently helped the colonies develop a sense of autonomy by essentially ignoring them while dealing local issues such as the English Civil War in the 1650’s. A fundamental difference between the New England and Southern colonies was the motives of the founders. In 1606, the Virginia Company was formed, motivated primarily by the promise ...

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