Compare And Contrast Massachusetts And Virginia

During the mid 17th century two regions carved roots for England in North America. Coming from the same homeland one would assume their inner workings would closely mirror each other but this was not the case for the New England and Chesapeake colonies. Though faced with similar hardships, the ways they handled the difficulties starkly contrast one another.

To start it off they were located on opposite sides so they had different climates, the New England Colony was located in the North so there was stronger and longer winters while in the Southern Colonies, which was located in the south, so it was hotter and it was practically warm all year round. That led to different agricultural needs, the southern colony was huge on agriculture because they had fertile soil so they produced a lot of cash crops and were know for the tobacco, produced and exported by John Rolfe. Since the New England Colonies didn’t have much use for agriculture because they lacked good soil so there wasn’t many crops, they mostly fished, build ships, and traded mostly with fur. That leads to slavery, since the southern plantations required a lot of work there was a lot more slaves in the south then the north. Southern Colonies had the largest slave population who worked on the Slave Plantations, which grew cotton, tobacco, indigo (a purple dye), and other crops. Also religion was very different, the New England Colonies were strictly Puritans and didn’t tolerate other religions; while the Southern colonies were not dominated by a single religion they were mostly predominantly Anglicans and

The Massachusetts Bay colony and Virginia had a sundry amount of differences as well as similarities. Each of these colonies was founded upon different ways of living. Digging deeper, there are many more differences about these colonies than there are similarities. Although both colonies eventually experienced the help of the natives, each colony set separate rules and laws for themselves. Virginia is more geographically spread out and more focused on obtaining gold for personal profit, whereas Massachusetts is more of a united, small farmed colony that focused more on the efforts for religious freedom.

The seventeenth and eighteenth centuries were an exciting period of time for the thirteen British colonies that would eventually become The United States of America. This time period saw the development of the colonies into self-sufficient entities, which would ultimately lead to the American Revolution. Although every colony was unique, there were similarities in the colonies that were close to each other geographically. Today, the colonies are grouped together into the New England colonies, the Middle colonies, and the Southern colonies. The New England, Middle, and Southern colonies had both similarities and differences regarding their political, economic, social, and religious

Although both the New England Colonies (Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New Hampshire), and the Chesapeake Colonies (Virginia and Maryland) were both settled by people of English origin, by 1700 they were both very distinct for a multitude of reasons; Three of which being, their economics, African Slave population, and their life expectancies.

One being their religions, in Jamestown they were Anglican, whereas in Mass. they were Puritan (Stokely). There is also the difference of geographic location. Massachusetts is located in the north where there are harsher weather conditions. Their location provided an excellent harbor and since the terrain did not allow much farming they started lumbering, shipbuilding, fishing, and trade. Virginia, in the south, where there is a much warmer climate, they had a great defensive position and were able to create prosperous plantations (Levy). The settlement in Massachusetts was made up of communities of family units because the colonists of Mass. came with their families (Sonia). Furthermore, the colonists of Jamestown were made up of individuals who understood the value of the crop tobacco, and were only there for the money. Virginia had an economy based on plantations and labor; Massachusetts was comprised of small farmers and merchants (“Instructions for the Virginia

Some of the most populous colonies were the ones situated in the Chesapeake and New England areas. Although these colonies were both settled by the English and had other key similarities, there were also many differences between them. The New England and Chesapeake colonies both had an aristocracy that governed over them, and had frequent issues concerning the Native Americans that previously inhabited the lands. However, their political and economic systems were considerably different. Chesapeake had an oligarchy whose main export was tobacco, while New England had a theocracy whose exports included timber, fur, and fish. Therefore, although the colonies had similarities their differences outweighed the resemblances.

In the New World, various resources, climates, and considerable amounts of land allowed numerous opportunities for settlers. Those who once yearned to climb the social ladder or gain the freedoms bestowed from land ownership flocked toward the newfound settlements. Colonization proved to be a grueling task; however, success was found after adapting to the new environment and facing many hardships. Two colonies established early in the seventeenth century included Virginia and New England. Both Virginia and New England were forerunning settlements that differed in the following senses: political, social, and economical.

During the 1600s when England began colonizing in the New World, different colonies had their own concept of freedom backed by their beliefs and/ or motives for settling in America. Massachusetts and Virginia were settled for very different reasons therefore life in their settlements differed greatly. The political, economic, social and of course physical aspects of the colonies were not at all the same, yet they both resulted in their colonies prospering and successfully settling the land. The settlers of each colony had searched for a place to express two contrasting beliefs of what freedom meant to them. Massachusetts and Virginia are two prime examples of how freedom can mean something

When comparing and contrasting the Chesapeake and New England colonies you find that there are many differences and a few similarities. These differences and similarities revolve around the colonies geography, economic characteristics, religious characteristics, and why they were founded. These differences developed in the colonies based off where they are, how they were ran, and how wealthy they were. The development of these colonies also affected the American Indians in a few different ways. Let start by comparing major difference of the geography between Chesapeake and New England colonies. New England colonies had cold weather and poor dry soil which made for a short growing season. This made it harder to grow food so most families just had a small farm for personal gain, there weren’t plantations. The New England colonies also had natural harbors and a lot of the land was covered in forests. In contrast to the New England colonies the Chesapeake colonies has hot humid weather, with long growing seasons, and excellent soil that was great for plantation and along with rivers that flowed throughout the colonies. Now let’s take a look at the differences in the economical characteristics between the colonies. In New England because of their geographical conditions they couldn’t grow crops in large plantation to make profits so they had to rely on other means to make income. Since the land was covered in forests they use the timber to expand the shipbuilding industries. They

Jamestown presented more prospects to colonists than Massachusetts Bay Colony by allowing more than one religion, workers rights, and freedom of speech. Jamestown settlers had a bond from England guarantees the rights of settlers, as they would have had it in England. The Puritans formed the Massachusetts Bay Colony and they established a charter also. Both colonies had their have and have not in them. Massachusetts Bay Colony encourage the church greatly and Jamestown boost working over religion. The starting of a democracy, equality was from Jamestown.

During the late 16th century and into the 17th century, two colonies emerged from England in the New World. The two colonies were called the Chesapeake and New England colonies. Even though the two areas were formed and governed by the English, the colonies had similarities as well as differences. Differences in geography, religion, politics, economic, and nationalities, were responsible for molding the colonies. These differences came from one major factor: the very reason the English settlers came to the New World. 
The Chesapeake colonies were primarily created by companies interested in profiting from the natural resources of the New World such as gold or silver to bring back to England. The New England colonies were primarily created to escaped religious persecution and set up a haven for people of their faith. The inhabitants of the New England area were far healthier. Their clean water supply was a sharp contrast to the contaminated waters of Chesapeake Bay. The cool climate had a good impact on colonists because it prevented the spread of life-threatening diseases. Because of New England’s cool climate, many people died during severe winters. Chesapeake’s climate had positive and negative factors as well. The warm, moist climate in the Chesapeake colonies carried diseases that killed many of the colonists. In contrast to the New England colonists, the Chesapeake colonists did not have to worry as much about surviving cold winters. The natural resources of the

made New England and The Chesapeake region. In this century New England had a very strong Identity while The Chesapeake region was mainly scattered all over the place. Slaves, Indentured Servants and poor free men made a very large wealth gap in the chesapeake. New England’s ultra harsh climate made large production of staple crops and disease spreading very difficult. In contrast the hot river valleys of the chesapeake made large production of staple crop possible and encouraged the spread of disease.

The colonies of Jamestown, Plymouth, and Massachusetts Bay each were different by nature, goals, successes, and failures. There were numerous similarities as well as differences. However, each colony was looking for something better that was missing in their main land. Members of each colony had a vision of what they expected the New World to look like. When they arrived, they were given a sense of reality. Each colony had challenges that it would have to overcome to thrive as a new establishment in the New World. The three colonies succeeded at different levels in the New World.

While the Chesapeake and New England colonies were similarly the earliest successful English colonies in North America, the colonies developed quite independently of each other. When looking at the differences and similarities in the development of these colonies, it seems as though the differences far outweigh the similarities. These colonies varied in regards to their religious beliefs, their societal organization, culture, economy, and relationships with local American Indians. The differences and similarities between the colonies can be further understood by analyzing the individual colonies’ geography, economy, religious beliefs, and cultural practices.