Comparing Chesapeake and New England Bay Colonies

Comparing Chesapeake and New England Bay Colonies

Curiosity and bravery led the English to discover the nations of America.

These strong willed Europeans, determined to find to a new world, set out with

high hopes and ambitions. Settling a variety of colonies along the coast of North

America, the English were among the first true pioneers. After several

expeditions and ships loads of emigrants, the English had a divergence of

reasons for departing Europe for America. The settlers of the Chesapeake and

New England colonies, were foreigners to the land, established two exceptional

but contrary societies due to the diversity of English citizens. Chesapeake and

New England colonies, although from the same English background, developed

distinctions from the very start of the sixteenth century; their reasons for fleeing

Europe, political standards, family life, religions and use of land.

With King James I offering a charter for the Virginia Company of London,

a joint stock company, to prompt a settlement in the New World, profit filled

English men couldn’t refuse this gracious proposal. A promise of golden lands

and a new passage route through America to the West Indies, the hearty men

embarked on a journey which to their eyes seemed to be through the vast

unknown. Arriving on the shores of Chesapeake Bay in 1606, soon they were

attacked by Indians. Finally having to settle on the James River (named in honor

of their King) the Virginia Company was forced to make their home within a

mosquito infested and unhealthily region. Beginning their arduous search from

the onset, the stubborn men searched for gold day and night through starvation,

malnutrition, and disease. According to Captain John Smith these gold seekers

were all men in hope of repayment for commencing on the journey. He described

the scene as diligent men digging, washing, refining, and loading gold all in

silence. Living from “hand to mouth” induced the gold miners to only be able to

provided selves with supplies for the following year. The profit filled English men

of the Virginia Company voyaged to America with their hearts in hope for gold

and their minds set on discovering this precious metal and nothing else.

Meanwhile back in England, around the 1530’s King Henry VIII had broken ties

with the Roman Catholic Church and was anointing himself the Head of the

...

... middle of paper ...

...ively different lifestyles. While New

England civilians were fabricating laws of agreement to live by based around

there faith, the people of Chesapeake are finding ways to go against there faith

by attack their governor, indicates that the two colonies main focuses are not

nearly related. Using slaves and indentured servants for farming and cultivating

the land of Chesapeake, the Virginians thrived on high profits, large estates,

utilizing slavery, fighting Indians and attacking slaves. On the other hand, the

New England colonies were centered around a Christian background, grounded

on family ties, community unity, and flourishing from a diverse population.

The New England and the Chesapeake colonies, both settled by the

English become two entirely different societies by the beginning of the

eighteenth century. As a outcome of individualism in the two societies, a vast

difference in the development occurred. Ranging from family life to religion, to

initial incentive for escaping the old practices of England, to styles of governing,

these two communities advanced in opposite directions, but also emerged as

becoming unique successful societies of the English origin.