Causes Of Facing The New World Essay

Facing the New World

Entering a new territory filled with countless opportunities and possibilities came with prices to pay and times of hardships for the new settlers. These pioneers from England came to realize that the grass was not always greener on the other side. The colonists in different areas along the east coast had different and similar ways of establishing life in this new and unfamiliar territory. Whether it were the ones that settled in New England or the ones that settled in Jamestown, Virginia, they all experienced obstacles that they were forced to overcome to create what is known today as the United States of America.

Undoubtedly there was a motive behind the migration of thousands of people to a vast and unchartered land. For the settlers that found their way to Jamestown, Virginia, it was for economic gain. In a place where the only competition was with Native Americans

for land, it was easier to start up industries and make profit rather than competing with others in England. Essentially they were starting from scratch. There was very nutrient rich soil in their area, however, Jamestown settlers got off to a slow start due to some major setbacks. Eventually they were able to plant staple crops such as Tobacco thrived and were extremely profitable.
On the other hand, New England settlers came for strictly religious purposes. They believed that God himself was telling them to go to the new world to better themselves and to spread the word of Christ. "...to improve our lives to doe more service to the Lord; the comforte and encrease the body of Christe, whereof we are members,"(2-2).
Unfortunately early Jamestown, Virginia was not a place one wanted to be during the early establishment of the colonies.

The hot summers with allowed diseases not only to exist, but it allowed the diseases to thrive and become a huge setback for the settlers, because it resulted in numerous deaths. "For we came but with twenty for the merchants, and they are half dead just; and we look every hour when two more should go"(2-1). All of the deaths resulted in a domino effect. With everyone either sick and weak or dead, there was no one to plant crops on the plantation. The weak were becoming weaker due to the famine. In addition to this, the healthy survivors had to worry about the attack by the Native Americans. Tobacco was the colony's staple crop. However, tobacco requires a lot of land and which at the time was claimed by the Native Americans. The English settlers were clearly outmanned and in no condition to fight. They lived in terror, not knowing if or when the Native Americans were going to attack again. With all the death, Jamestown was in desperate need to

repopulate.
On the other hand, New England was a much more suitable place to live. The mortality rate was significantly lower than Jamestown and also much more sanitary. Overall, it was just better than the unbearable living conditions in Jamestown during the same time period. New England was able to increase their population due to the 1:1 man to woman ratio. This differs greatly than the difference between the number of man and woman in Jamestown. This allowed faster growth and development than their English settlers south of them.
While the settlers in Jamestown relied on staple crops and the settlers in New England focused more on carpentry, shipbuilding, printing, and other related activities, it is clear that both groups of settlers lived off the land. Since both came and practically had to start out with nothing, they were forced to live off of the resources that surrounded them.