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Economic development chesapeake and new england colonies
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In the 1600’s, two colonies were establishing themselves on the east coast of North
America. In 1607, a group of merchants, known as the Virginia Company, settled at Jamestown, Virginia on the Chesapeake Bay (Divine, 72); while Puritan leader John Winthrop, stationed himself and his followers at Massachusetts Bay in 1630. (Divine, 90) Although both settlements started off relatively the same, the greater success of one over the other has caused continuous debates between many, including the descendants of these early Americans. Some might argue that the Virginia Colony was more successful than the Massachusetts Bay Colony because of the Virginia colonists’ motivation and interest in profit (Divine, 76). However, when efforts for income proved futile, this and survival became the colony's only interests. Therefore, Massachusetts proved itself to be the stronger colony and the most successful, as a result of its community development and social advancement, its economic growth, and the positive influence the government had on the Massachusetts Colony.
Instead of having scattered villages like the Virginia colony, the people of the Massachusetts Bay Colony organized communities that were small and built close together. These centers were built so that villagers were able to complete a wide range of duties such as cultivating land or fetching lumber from forests (Divine, 94). This system was especially efficient for finishing these important tasks and allowing time for other agendas that were important to the colonists. The setup of the town was not just efficient. Families were able to live close together which helped create a sense of community among the people. Taverns and meetinghouses were commonly built in town, giving the ...
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...ve in Virginia did not mean immigrants were free from its rule. Upon departing England, those leaving would take an “oath of allegiance and supremacy” (Virginia Ship’s List). This meant that the people owed their loyalty to the monarch of England, not to Virginia itself. The colonists of Virginia could have been frustrated that their head official was chosen by a single person, a person who had no place within their community. In fact, Berkeley, the governor the monarch of England elected, “brought high taxes on the people, increased his power at the expense of local officials and created a monopoly on Indian trade” (Divine, 85). This abuse of power is possibly one of the causes of rebellions, specifically Bacon’s rebellion. This republic government leading the Virginia Colony was an increasingly stark contrast to the Massachusetts’ Colony’s democratic government.
In the concluding fourth section entitled “Independence” Holton brings the crux of his argument to fruition, arguing convincingly that Virginia's elites were pushed ever further down the road to open rebellion by the actions of several different groups, whose contributions to the founding of the United States have been overlooked by historians. Holton's conclusion offers a vision of pluralistic causation behind the final decision of the gentry class to finally make the break with Britain and highlights the need for further research and study of points raised in this monograph concerning the contributions these marginal groups in the founding of the United States.
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 ...
Hmmm…this was a very interesting letter written by John Winthrop to Sir Nathaniel Rich and is definitely very different from Sebastian Brandt’s letter describing Jamestown. Winthrop is the first governor (and very proud!) of the Massachusetts Bay Colony and clearly wrote this letter with authority and confidence. As the governor, he also had the “burden” to prove to the audience, in this case, Sir Nathaniel Rich, a wealthy Puritan sympathizer in England, that the Colony was thriving and in good condition. In contrast, Winthrop’s 1631 letter to his wife had a much different tone. In it, he wrote that the Massachusetts colony was not faring well until a ship bearing supplies finally arrived. It is clear that Boston wasn’t faring as well as it
Missionary- A person who teaches their religion to other people who believe in something else
silence. Living from “hand to mouth” induced the gold miners to only be able to
Just like their religions, Massachusetts gave more power to the people and Virginia gave power to England. In the New England Handout, Mailer describes the difference further, “Unlike in Virginia where a governor is elected from a faraway company in London, and after 1624, by the Crown itself, the ‘freemen’ of Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Hampshire elect their own governors.” (1) This information describes the contrast in the way a governor gets elected. In Massachusetts, the “freemen”, men who own land, get to vote for their governor, while Virginia’s governor gets appointed by the crown. Virginia’s government also consisted of the Governing Council, rich elites controlling everything, and the House of Burgesses, upper middle-class landowners. The main reason the governments of these colonies differ is the fact that the charter of Virginia created by the Virginia Company resides in England, or in other words it is controlled by the crown. On the other hand, Massachusetts’s charter, created by the Massachusetts Bay Company, resides in the colony, so the colony self-governs itself. This brings forth another comparison of the two colonies; the reason why they were founded.
Breen, T. H., and Stephen Innes. Myne Owne Ground: Race and Freedom on Virginia 's Eastern Shore, 1640-1676. 25th anniversary ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 2005. 142 pages (kindle edition).
While the Protestant Revolution raged in Europe, Catholics and other radicals were fleeing to the New World to find religious freedom and to escape prosecution. Because of this, the northern colonies became more family and religiously orientated as the families of the pilgrims settled there. From the Ship’s List of Emigrants Bound for New England we see that six families on board made up sixty nine of the ships passengers (B). Not only did families tend to move to New England, but whole congregations made the journey to find a place where they could set up “a city upon a hill”, and become an example to all who follow to live by as John Winthrop put it to his Puritan followers (A). Contrastingly, the Chesapeake colonies only had profit in their mind, which pushed them to become agriculturally advanced. Since Virginia, one of the Chesapeake colonies, was first settled with the intention of becoming an economic power house, it was mainly inhabited by working-class, single men. The average age of a man leaving for the Americas was only twenty two and a half years old according to the Ship’s List of Emigrants bound for Virginia (C). The harsh conditions of the colony did not appeal to those who wished to settle with a family. Added on to that was the fact that the average lifespan in the Chesapeake colonies was a full ten years or more shorter than that in other more desirable living quarters to the north.
Looking at the early English colonies in the Chesapeake Bay region, it’s clear that the English had not learned any lessons from their experiences at Roanoke. Poor planning, a bad location, unrealistic expectations, flawed leadership, unsuccessful relations with the local Indians, and no hope of finding the mineral wealth the Spanish found in Mexico, all contributed to failure. The first colonists in the Chesapeake region were not only ignorant, lazy and unambitious, but their attempts were hampered before they had begun. However, a solution to these problems was found in a single plant: tobacco. Nevertheless, this cash crop ultimately created numerous problems for the colonists. The ignorance and indolent acts of the Chesapeake colonists to unsuccessfully restore the colony by themselves led to the demise of the colony as a whole especially regarding the planting of agricultural goods for food.
Beginning with the idea of independence, Breen explains that the people within society sought no form of constraint by a higher political leader, but at times worked together to make sure their colony was stable Moreover, by understanding their preferences, it is safe to say that they were more comfortable with having the freedom they had from not having a higher ruler. Due to the many immigrants that came in from the European rule, higher classes within the colonies of Virginia sought the opportunity to gain independence. This way, as Breen points out, the gentry were able to control as much land and property as they willed. Consequently, the amount of personal possessions among the people lead into a society built by competitiveness and they obsession of always having
The Chesapeake region of the colonies included Virginia, Maryland, the New Jerseys (both East and West) and Pennsylvania. In 1607, Jamestown, the first English colony in the New World (that is, the first to thrive and prosper), was founded by a group of 104 settlers to a peninsula along the James River. These settlers hoped to find gold, silver, a northwest passage to Asia, a cure for syphilis, or any other valuables they might take back to Europe and make a profit. Lead by Captain John Smith, who "outmaneuvered other members of the colony's ruling and took ruthlessly took charge" (Liberty Equality Power, p. 57), a few lucky members of the original voyage survived. These survivors turned to the local Powhatan Indians, who taught them the process of corn- and tobacco-growing. These staple-crops flourished throughout all five of these colonies.
During the 1700's, people in the American colonies lived in very distinctive societies. While some colonists led hard lives, others were healthy and prosperous. The two groups who showed these differences were the colonists of the New England and Chesapeake Bay areas. The differentiating characteristics among the Chesapeake and New England colonies developed due to economy, religion, and motives for colonial expansion. The colonists of the New England area possessed a very happy and healthy life. This high way of living was due in part to better farming, a healthier environment, and a high rate of production because of more factories. The colonists of the Chesapeake Bay region, on the other hand, led harder lives compared to that of the colonists of New England. The Chesapeake Bay had an unhealthy environment, bad eating diets, and intolerable labor.
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.
Often when looking at American history, people tend to lump all the characters and actors involved as similar. This is especially the case in regards to Early American Colonial history. Because the Puritan communities that grew rapidly after John Winthrop’s arrival in 1630 often overshadow the earlier colony at Plymouth, many are lead to assume that all settlers acted in similar ways with regard to land use, religion, and law. By analyzing the writings of William Bradford and John Winthrop, one begins to see differing pictures of colonization in New England.
In 1607, King James I. granted a charter to the Virginia Company which allowed them to start a colony in the New World. This colony was named Virginia after the virgin queen, Queen Elizabeth I, and was located along the Chesapeake Bay. The Virginia Company sought to build a permanent settlement, and was successful in establishing Jamestown. Virginia was also home to nearly 14,000 Algonquin speaking Native Americans who were united under the Powhatan Confederacy lead by Chief Powhattan. Other Chesapeake Bay colonies include North Carolina, whose population became dominant in African Americans with a large amount of settlers from Barbados, and Maryland. Maryland was established by the Calvert Family after King Charles I. granted 10 million acres of land to the family. Maryland became the only British colony to ever have a Catholic minority, and the population of Maryland also consisted of indentured servants, slaves, and many farmers. The Chesapeake Bay was a very hot area a...