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New England Colonies
Motivation
• By and large, the people who settled in the New England Colonies wanted to keep their family unit together and practice their own religion.
• They were used to doing many things themselves and not depending on other people for much.
• Some of these people came to New England to make money, but they were not the majority.
Economy
• The New England Colonies were largely farming and fishing communities.
• The people made their own clothes and shoes.
• They grew much of their own food. Crops like corn and wheat grew in large numbers, and much was shipped to England.
• Foods that didn't grow in America were shipped from England.
• Boston was the major New England port.
• The farms were almost always self-sufficient farms.
• Fishing off of the Great Banks of Canada was an important part of the economy.
• Lumbering and ship building made use of the forests of New England.
• Commerce and shipping were very important
The Mayflower
• Plymouth, England
• 102 Passengers on the Mayflower
• The Puritans were seeking new life of religious freedom in America
• All the passengers were called Pilgrims
• Among their advisors was Captain John Smith
• It took 66 days to reach New England, and the journey was very hard for the people who weren’t used to sailing
Massachusetts
• Before they even set foot on shore, they wrote an agreement called the ‘Mayflower Compact’ that would set the rules to guide them through the early, hard times of establishing a new community
• This was signed on November 21, 1620, which served as the official constitution of the colony for many years
• Massachusetts was founded by a group of English colonists
• The Puritans came to Massachusetts in 1628
• The relationship between the native On September 16, 1620 the ship ‘Mayflower’ set off for tribes and the colonists in New England was always strained, but generally didn’t result in much bloodshed
On his way to the New World, aboard the Arabella in 1630, John Winthrop, Puritan leader of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, spoke of the plan that he had in store for the colony. He preached that there would be equality in the new colony and that they " must be knit together in this work as one man." He spoke about the importance of community in the colony that was vital for the survival of the colony. His statements made on the Arabella are to the ideas in the Articles of Agreement, which compiled in Springfield, Massachusetts in 1636. In the Articles of Agreement, the community was to contain forty familiesrich and poor. In the Articles of Agreement, the concern for comfort and quality of life (for families) is outlined. They again put emphasis on the importance of unity in the colony and they also express that social classes do not determine what a person is. In Connecticut, the colonists set up regulations for wages and price; these rules were made to include poor settlers in trading and the economy by keeping the prices in the colony "fair." Since the colonists in the New England region was untied "as one" in each colony, this was one way that caused them to become a different society from the Che...
As the regions began to expand and develop, their motivations for settlement helped to mold their societies. New England was a place where men sought refuge from religious persecution and was established as a haven for religious refugees. Despite this reason for settling, the New Englanders still attempted to spread their own beliefs of religion. As illustrated by John Winthrop in his Model of a Christian Charity, he preached to his fellow colonists that “we shall be a city upon a hill” (Doc A) exemplifying the Puritans’ aspirations of a Holy Utopia. He and countless other New Englanders practiced the belief that they must all work together. They were determined to “mourn together, labor and suffer together, always having before our eyes our commission and community in the work.” The Articles of Agreement plainly laid out the basis for the New England region. These articles made New England a cosmopolitan mix of rich and poor families, all being in possession of land and resolute in doing God’s work (Doc D). However, while the New Englanders settled to create a Holy Utopia, the people of the Chesapeake were concerned not only with their religious freedom, but also ...
In the 17th century, the British colonies still identified themselves as European, but as the colonies expanded and grew more populous, they developed differing geographic, social, and economic systems. This difference between New England, and Chesapeake, is caused by the motivations for settlement between the two regions. While the New England colonies were mainly settled for religious motivations, most notably by the Puritans, the Chesapeake colonies were settled for economic prosperity. Also, while the Chesapeake colonies were mainly settled by individual young men seeking a profit, the New England colonies were settled by families hoping to settle and expand.
During the 1600's, many people in the American colonies led very many different lives, some better than others. While life was hard for some groups, other colonists were healthy and happy. Two groups that display such a difference are the colonists of New England and Chesapeake Bay. New Englanders enjoyed a much higher standard of living. This high standard of New England's was due to many factors, including a healthier environment, better family situation, and a high rate of reproduction.
New England was north of the Chesapeake, and included Massachusetts Bay Colony, Plymouth, Rhode Island, Connecticut, and New Haven (which soon became part of Connecticut). The New Englanders were largely Puritan Separatists, who sought religious freedom. When the Church of England separated from Catholicism under Henry VIII, Protestantism flourished in England. Some Protestants, however, wanted complete separation from Catholicism and embraced Calvinism. These "Separatists" as they were called, along with persecuted Catholics who had not joined the Church of England, came to New England in hopes of finding this religious freedom where they would be free to practice as they wished. Their motives were, thus, religious in nature, not economic. In fact, New England settlers reproduced much of England's economy, with only minor variations. They did not invest largely in staple crops, instead, relied on artisan-industries like carpentry, shipbuilding, and printing.
The Mayflower Compact, signed by some of the earliest settlers of Virginia including John Carter in 1620 was an example of early self-governance in that they established a “frame such just and equall laws, ordinances, acts, constitutions and offices..for the generall good of the Colonie.” They had left Great Britain with the intention to care for themselves and govern themselves. The Mayflower Compact is one of the earliest examples of people coming together to govern themselves and take control of their future and well-being as a colony without Great Britain. Many others followed suit after them in a manner very similar.4
A community is a group of people who work together towards a common goal and share a common interest. Lack of such a quality can and most likely will cause a struggling town or city to fall into the extremes of poverty and wealth. The New England community was so strong and so supportive in comparison to that of the Chesapeake Bay, that it is no wonder they developed into two distinctly different cultures before the year 1700. The Chesapeake region developed into a land of plantations and money-driven owners, with the elite wealthy, almost no middle class, and those in poverty creating the population. New England, on the other hand, had developed into a religion and family based society comprised of mostly middle class families by 1700. Looking at the terrain, ethic, government, and even the people themselves, reveals clues about how the drastic split in society came to be. It was one America, but two distinct societies had developed in it by the 1700's.
The colonists immigrated to the New World in search of religious freedom. Their entire early experience was a constant struggle for survival. To the colonists the New World was their way out of poverty and into the
The Cather’s novel O Pioneers! gives us a realistic picture of people’s life at the end of the nineteenth century. The new incomers, who settled the unfriendly countries of American continent, had very hard times. It was necessary for them to do whatever they were able to, to earn some money or to gain something to eat. As we can see in Cather’s novel, many people were farming. But some of them were not farmers in their country of origin, they just started farming in the new home. Even though they knew nothing about it. Willa Cather describes a history of such people, a Norwegian immigrant family, the Bergsons.
While on the Mayflower, the settlers came to the realization that there would be no civil authority on the new land for them to follow. Resulting from that realization was the Mayflower Compact, it was designed to be their rule and guide to life on the new land. This was the first American State Paper; it provides the original statement of the principles of American democracy as we now know it. In addition it was the first self-government within the colonies and it regarded people as the source of power. The Mayflower Compact expresses four major ideas, a deep faith in God and his guidance, a deep loyalty to England and the king, a mutual regard for one another as equals, and the intent to establish equal laws to all men. It was the birth of constitutional liberty and became the official constitution of Plymouth Colony until Plymouth merged i...
Required colonists to buy stamped paper for all of their legal documents, license, newspaper, pamphlet, and almanac and had special “Stamp duties” on packages of playing cards and dice.
What major problems did the young republic face after its victory over Great Britain? How did these problems motivate members of the elite to call for a federal constitution?
The Mayflower Compact was signed on November 11, 1620 on board the vessel Mayflower. The Mayflower Compact was signed by forty-one men on board the ship. The main person responsible for this was William Bradford. He said the reason for writing this is he was afraid of mutiny, and another reason was he thought they needed a form of self-government. This document was the first colonial agreement that formed a government by consent of the governed. The compact gave the settlers a plan to frame and enact laws for the general good of the organized settlement.
DiVito, A., McGovern, A. (1991). If you Sailed on the Mayflower in 1620. New York: Scholastic Inc.
The Mayflower Compact was the first government document of Plymouth Colony written by the passengers of the Mayflower. This document was agreed upon individuals who were either separatist congregationalists, adventurers or tradesmen, most of whom were referred to as the Separatists. Later, these groups would end up to be referred to as Pilgrims or Pilgrim Fathers. The main reason for this document to exist though was because at that time, Separatists were fleeing from religious persecution by King James of England so the compact was drafted to prevent dissent amongst puritans and non-separatist Pilgrims who had landed at Plymouth a few days earlier. the Mayflower was