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Chesapeake Colonies Vs New England Colonies Essay

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The thirteen colonies were all largely settled by an English population, sharing much of their English identity amongst each other. As time progressed into the 18th century, though, the New England and Chesapeake colonies have branched into two distinct societies. Due to several factors (geography, climate), the two regions changed much in social, political, and economic aspects. Social life in the Chesapeake and New England colonies differed greatly. In the New England colonies, much of the immigrants were families fleeing the Church of England. Towns in the region were also much more organized and contained schools-something the Chesapeake colonies did not focus on. The Chesapeake immigrants tended to be young single men seeking fortune. Women in the Chesapeake were given much more freedom in comparison to those in New England, for southern women were given the right to own land since many of …show more content…

New England’s economy ran on shipbuilding and fishing since there were plenty of trees and surrounding bodies of water perfect for fish. New England’s specialization in several industries led to its further advancement than that of the south’s. The Chesapeake flourished off of tobacco plantations specifically-the Chesapeake’s geography was perfect for the tobacco plant to grow, though it’s value did drop eventually do to overproduction of the plant. The Chesapeake’s serious involvement in the agriculture/plantation business lead to its slower advancement towards big cities than that of New England’s/the north.
Thus it should now be evident how and why New England and the Chesapeake colonies branched off into different societies, despite their common English roots. These differences are still seen today in everyday actions-from stereotypes to factual events occurring. These new societies were created by the adaptiveness and the exploitation of what the region had to

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