Chesapeake Ship Trip

In the early America colonies, each colony was largely settled by people of English origin. Although the majority of the colony founders were generally from similar areas, the colonies were all different. Two regions like this were the New England region and the Chesapeake region. New England consisted of the states Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Connecticut, and Rhode Island. Chesapeake consisted of Virginia and Maryland. Although the regions were very close to each other on a map, by the 1700’s both regions had evolved into two very distinct societies. This was due to the colonists reasons fro coming to the New World, their belief systems, the colonists themselves, and the geography.

Today, the United States of America is a very racially and religiously diverse society. We saw the seeds of diversity being sown in the early days of colonization when the Chesapeake and New England colonies grew into distinctive societies. Even though both regions were primarily English, they had similarities as well as striking differences. The differentiating characteristics among the Chesapeake and New England colonies developed due to geography, religion, and motives for colonial expansion.

The immigrants that settled the colonies of Chesapeake Bay and New England came to the New World for two different reasons. These differences were noticeable in social structure, economic outlook, and religious background. As the colonies were organized the differences were becoming more and more obvious and affected the way the communities prospered. These differences are evident from both written documents from the colonists and the historical knowledge of this particular period in time.

Every so often in life we encounter an opportunity to take a shortcut, to circumvent the traditional path, and attempt to reach our goals without the customary planning, patience, and hard work that invariably goes into any worthwhile endeavor. One such opportunity presented itself in the late summer of 2007, when I was hired to deliver the 38-foot Island Packet cutter Guinevere from Tortola, in the British Virgin Islands, to Bradenton, Florida. By then I had over thirty years’ experience as a licensed captain, ocean yacht master, and certified sailing instructor, and so when I was persuaded to take a shortcut through Passage Key Inlet and ran aground, I immediately realized I should, all along, have trusted my training and instincts.

As the Europeans came to the New World in the 1600s, relationships with Native Americans were unstable in some places and secure in others. In the Chesapeake region, every colony had a different relationship with the Native Americans but overtime both groups became distanced from each other as wars erupted. Furthermore, in the New England colonies there were a few places that had close relationships with them and others that opposed the Native Americans. During the colonization periods, although the Europeans may have been disruptive to a few Native American tribes, they continued to trade and have alliances with a few tribes, which contributed to their survival in the New World. Throughout the time of colonization, as more people

In the 1700s, the New England and Chesapeake regions were settled mostly by people from similar English origin; however, by the 18th century, both developed into two distinct societies. This was due to the different reasons for founding, different societal ideas and expectations, and the vastly different economies that were set up because of the climate.

The different people who started settling in New England and the Chesapeake region could have come from the same country. But what they were looking for made a lot of sense which was; economic, religious and also their social differences. Their different societies started to lead on to different economics. Religion for New England was the most important, it was their goal in life, they wanted to be a religious example. There were a lot of social differences, and of course differences in people as well.

The regions in North America called New England, and Chesapeake, sound very similar on paper, because of their English origins. However, in reality, these two regions have more differences than similarities. The three main differences between these two regions were, their attitude/ goals for settling, their economic activities, and the type of settlers who lived there. The goals of the New England and Chesapeake were very different.

In the 1700’s England was suffering financially which then was effecting people socially. During this time people were also getting persecuted for what they believed in. These are some of the reasons of why people in England wanted to immigrate to the New World in the 1700’s. After people immigrated two main areas came about the Chesapeake area followed by New England. Although these areas were close they were very distinct societies. The reasons for these different societies were the religions practiced in them, the reasons for immigrating there, and the groups of people who immigrated there.

Life in New England was far more robust than in the Chesapeake. While in the Chesapeake, population growth greatly depended on new English immigrants, life in New England essentially revolved around large families. As a result, population growth was far more organic in New England, and moderate natural conditions permitted much longer lifespans for New Englanders. New England’s clean water and colder temperatures stopped the spread of disease and made building settlements easier than in the Chesapeake. Additionally, New England boasted small towns and smaller farms, with their economy largely made up of shipbuilding and fishing in the abundant rivers of the north.

During a time where the world was changing, colonies were settled in both New England and the region around the Chesapeake. Both colonies were settled by English men and women for various reasons; however, these colonies developed differently. These colonies had their similarities, but, for the most part, they were extremely different in how they expanded. Despite these similarities of the New England and Chesapeake colonies, they developed into two distinct societies due to their different motives, their political and economic differences, and the geographic locations in which they settled.

When migrating there are many factors that attract different groups of people to move into different parts of land. The surplus of land made moving to Georgia or the Carolinas as well as Chesapeake and the middle colonies a desire for most people. No one lived in these really and it was under the radar. Moving there would help people get land and use it before someone else took it.

The European migrants of the Chesapeake and the middle colonies viewed the colonies as a source of gold, other minerals as well as land. Many saw colonization as an opportunity to trade with the Indians and for the jobless to seek work. The migrants of the Carolinas and Georgia were mostly farmers and focused on producing commercial crops. The southern colonies were filled with very successful farmers. Three differences that the European migrants who were attracted to the different colonies were geography, religion and trade.

The New England and Chesapeake region being settled mainly of people of English descent by the 1700’s evolved into two different colonies due to many contributing factors such as purpose, religion freedom, political voice, and economic benefits. Although all coming from England & heading to the New World, how they established and founded their colonies distinctive from one another yields many reasons.

In the UVA Chesapeake Bay Game, I was assigned the role of a Crop Farmer number for the the Potomac River watershed. In the Bay game, the crop farmer controls several things, including the type of farming used, the number of acres used for each purpose, and the option of buying new farm equipment ("UVA Bay Game", 2016). The types of farming used in the bay game are conventional high yield, best management practices (BMP), advanced BMP, and sustainable ("UVA Bay Game", 2016). These farming practices range from very poor for the Bay’s health to the most beneficial. Conventional high yield farming produces the largest volume of crops, however uses pesticides and fertilizer that are detrimental to the Bay’s health ("UVA Bay Game", 2016). Sustainable farming is the most beneficial for the Bay as it puts a diverse population of plants together in order to reduce runoff, however it is more costly and has a lesser crop yield than the other farming practices ("UVA Bay Game", 2016). The crop farmer also has an option to choose how many acres will be used for planting, fallow land (land reserved for the next year to maintain nutrients), and cover crops that will be used as a more natural and environmentally sound option compared to other fertilizers ("UVA Bay Game", 2016).