English Colonies Dbq

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In the time period leading up to 1700, American history was a time of tremendous settlement and establishment of colonies across the nation. In determining how the colonies were to be created, the settlers had to question how long they were going to live at these locations; as well as, which places were flowing with the resources and materials they were searching for. In this case, English settlers founded the New England and Chesapeake regions in the early 17th century; however, the two regions became different from each other as time passed, for each became distinct colonies by 1700. Although the English settled both New England and the Chesapeake region, these two regions differed in development because though both were ruled by an English …show more content…

In Massachusetts, the council proposed how the colony would be ruled: puritan-based where everyone would be monitored for their actions. In the provided example, the purpose is to emphasize how everyone was in a mutual agreement with the council’s decisions to make the Massachusetts Bay colony based on religion and people who wouldn’t comply would be expulsed from the colony. This led to the houses being settled close together around the town center where they were monitored by the head council. Consequently, the New England’s use of the council didn’t survive long and people began to oppose regulations and rules passed onto them by the head of the colony, such as wage regulations. Some colonies such as Connecticut were tired of the oppression presented to them from the other puritan colonies, which led them to disperse to other colonies such as Rhode Island. Nevertheless, they were still under the imposition of rule by the English and they decided to voice their opinions to the council and other leaders of the New England region. The reason they voiced their opinion was because they were tired of the use of religion and other condemning practices to emphasize their rule on everyone. Leading to the final difference between New England and the Chesapeake region, Bacon’s rebellion emphasizes the lasting effect of rebellion in the Chesapeake; whereas, the New England civilians were more servile and were less willing to overthrow the government when they didn’t agree with the governors’ decisions. Nathaniel Bacon led the rebellion against the Indians and eventually led to him and other Virginian planters rebelling against the rule of the governor, William Berkeley. This rebellion proved how people with a common goal banded together to fight for their beliefs.

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