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Compare And Contrast The Chesapeake And Massachusetts Bay Colonies

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Colonies Compared When I envision the colonization of the United States, my mind reverts back to my elementary school knowledge of history. We learned Christopher Columbus “discovered” America, and the Pilgrims established the first colony after having a peaceful feast with the Native Americans of the area. These ill-taught lessons altered my perception of United States history as a child, but I now understand the true foundations of our nation. The Chesapeake and Massachusetts Bay Colonies, established in the early seventeenth century, served as the solid, societal footings that helped secure our wobbly nation. Despite what I believed as a child, the Pilgrims were certainly not the first colony in the United States, and they weren’t considered the first well-established colony either. The English settlement of the Chesapeake Bay and the start of successful colonization in the United States actually began in 1607 with the establishment of Jamestown. Jamestown itself, however, was not deemed a prosperous endeavour. The town was comprised of a large amount of craftsmen with few farmers and servants to compensate. Most of this population migrated back to England or died off within ten years, but the English did not give up the Chesapeake Bay area (Foner 57). The Virginia Company, the company behind Jamestown, realized their mistakes and reformed their goals to profit off of American colonization near the Chesapeake Bay. Their offers of large estates to those who would

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