The lives of women in the Chesapeake drastically differed from the lives of those in New England. The women of the Chesapeake were severely outnumbered by the men which resulted in women marrying at a young age, around twenty. Once married, the women would spend the majority of their lives birthing children, which usually didn't survive infancy. Although many women did not survive giving birth, those that were fortunate enough to survive would then be deserted by their husbands. However, the women of New England had much better lives. The women of New England still married young and spent most of their lives giving birth. However, the death rate of infants was dramatically decreased and women were not abandoned by their husbands after they
While both the people of the New England region and of the Chesapeake region descended from the same English origin, by 1700 both regions had traveled in two diverse directions. Since both of these groups were beset with issues that were unique to their regions and due to their exposure to different circumstances, each was forced to rethink and reconstruct their societies. As a result, the differences in the motivation, geography, and government in the New England and Chesapeake regions caused great divergence in the development of each.
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.
Although the settlements of Chesapeake Bay and New England came from the same mother country their social structure was very different and as a result, affected the prosperity of the new born colonies. The New England colony’s population was very
The Chesapeake region was the first region to be colonized. The first settlers had a very hard time adapting to the moist swampy climate and lack of commerce and civility that they were used to in England. Most of the early settlers were gentlemen sent by companies such as the Virginia and London Companies. They were determined to find wealth in the North American wilderness, and suffered greatly due to famine and diseases like malaria. Most of these unlucky settlers were men, which was a drawback for the new colony of Virginia because there was very little reproduction. Document C, a ships list of emigrants bound for Virginia shows the lack of families travelling to Virginia, as well as the very few women, most of them single. The men fought over these
The difference in the economies of the two regions was the driving force that led to the strong role women played in Massachusetts Bay. The Chesapeake colony was colonized by settlers who wanted to make money quickly, and eventually, as the permanent tobacco producing settlements started to form, the need for indentured servants rose. Since men had more value as indentured servants, not many women immigrated, and as a result, a disproportionate men to women ratio was created. Consequently, many did not marry in Chesapeake, and the mostly male colonists led an isolated existence, unlike the communal town life and government established in Massachusetts Bay, where settlers came primarily for religious freedom. Thus, instead of isolated migration, there was family and group migration, leading to a more proportionate ratio of men to women. In Chesapeake, family life held little importance. However, in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, households played a
New England and the Chesapeake region were both settled largely by people of English origin, but by the 1700’s they were two distinct societies. They differed politically, economically, and socially, and these differences stemmed from when people first arrived in the colonies to how the colonies grew over time.
The difference in life expectancy in the Chesapeake region vs. the New England region was quite large. The reasons were quite legitimate. For example, the Chesapeake had a high death rate because of things such a disease, the hot / humid climate, Indian attacks, and their infant mortality rate. In the Chesapeake colonies, the life expectancy for white males was only 43 years old and 25% of children died in infancy as well as another 25% did not reach their 20’s. Although the male life expectancy was 43 years old there was still a large male population with 74% males in 1625. This also caused fewer babies to be born in this era (the sex ratio was off). A ship of 74 immigrants was to be sent to Virginia of which 62 were men and 11 women; prime example of an unbalanced sex ratio (Doc C). This caused a lack of social stability, as to where in the New England region a much healthier standard of living was provided as well as the fact that there was a more even sex ratio. A majority of the immigrants were families. Weymouth, on the 20th of March 1635, out of 104, the majority was families and men (Doc B). The average life expectancy was 70 years old, so that by the 1700’s there were more elderly people in the New England colonies vs. the Chesapeake.
Thesis Statement: When talking about New England and the Chesapeake region, you have to consider the differences in motives and geography. Consider economic situations (reasons for settling where they did, reasons why they came to New England in the first place). One has to think about the family development and demographics, as well as the government structure.
The Chesapeake region and New England colonies greatly differed in their development of their two distinct societies. The Chesapeake region was a loosely fitted society with little connection with each plantation while the New England colonies had tightly knitted communities with a sort of town pride. The difference in unity and the reason for this difference best explain the significant disparity between the dissimilar societies.
The travelers from England that headed for the Chesapeake Bay were predominantly men, which led to an unbalanced society and lack of wives to promote a family-based culture. The passenger list for one boat had a sex ratio of sixty-four men to eleven women. Not only was there a radical imbalance, only four of the men were above forty, while only eight total were above thirty (Doc. C). That left fifty-six young males headed to a new land with only their self-government of a House
Sample Essays 1993 DBQ: Chesapeake/New England During the 17 th century, differing social, economic, and geographi c factors shaped the Chesapeake region and New England. in different Throughout the century, New England maintained a strong, communal identity while the Chesapeake remained widely scatt ered. Through the hot river valleys of the Chesape ake had a climate that facilitated staple crop plantations and disease, New England’s extreme climate made mas s production of staple crops and the spread of diseas e difficult.
Life for women in Colonial America was tougher to endure than life back in England. With daily home chores, that generally lasted all day, to keeping the children under control, women were often burdened by the amount of work they had. Luckily, settling down and finding a husband was inevitable. Although, many women who first came to America as indentured servants would have to wait for marriage until the end of their service.
5. Compared to women in colonial Chesapeake, New England women were more likely to have their family remain intact.
Exports rose from 1.5 million pounds of tobacco annually in the 1630s to 40 million pounds in 1700.
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).