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Compare And Contrast New England And The Chesapeake Colonies

Decent Essays

With the exploration of the New World the English flock to the Americas seeking new opportunities during the 1600s forming colonies. Two of these colonial regions are New England and the Chesapeake. Although New England and the Chesapeake region both came from the same location, they developed differently because settlers arrived in the New World with a different purpose. The New England colony was created mainly for religious purposes, whereas the Chesapeake region was created with economical intentions.

One of the very first colonies in the New World was named Jamestown. Located in Virginia near the coast, it was infested with diseases like malaria, dysentery and typhoid. Life was short for these colonist dying from harsh conditions. Famine eventually arose, the colonist were so obsessed with finding gold that maintaining a stable source of food did not cross their mind. A man named John Smith was aware of this issue "There was no talk... but dig gold, wash gold, refine gold, load gold."(Doc 5). He maintained leadership with the philosophy of "He who does not work, neither shall he eat", keeping the colony alive until help from England arrived. Eventually the discovery of tobacco saved the colony, John Rolfe who experimented with tobacco found that Virginian land was suitable for the seed. Although colonist did not find gold, tobacco became their cash crop, profiting the colony.

Healthy condition in New England helped the colony boom in population. Colonist began having

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