Essay Compare And Contrast Jamestown And Plymouth

The General History of Virginia and Plymouth Plantation have many things alike. Such as, John Smith and William Bradford both starting a colony. Even though, these two stories share a couple things in common they also have their differences. A difference between these two stories is the type of Native Americans they both stumbled across while building their colonies. Both stories can be compared if you spot there similarities and both stories will have their differences between them along the way.

The Virginia and New England colonists struggled to adapt to the radically different conditions of their new environments. However, that is where the similarities between the two seem to end. Both colonies boasted different economies, political systems, societies and cultures, which place them at opposite ends of the colonial spectrum.

The Jamestown and Plymouth settlements were both settled in the early 1600's. Plymouth and Jamestown were located along the shoreline in Massachusetts and Virginia, respectively. Although both had different forms of government, they both had strong leadership. Jamestown was controlled by the London Company, who wanted to profit from the venture, while the Puritans who settled at Plymouth were self-governed with an early form of democracy and settled in the New World to gain religious freedom. John Smith took charge in efforts to organize Jamestown, and at Plymouth William Bradford helped things run smoothly.

Jamestown and the Massachusetts Bay Colony had many similarities and differences. Many of these differences were due to their physical location and climatic conditions. The success of both colonies can be contributed to strong leadership and the characteristics of the personalities of the settlers that inhabited each settlement. Many of the early problems in both settlements can be contributed to a lack of knowledge on the parts of the settlers along with attacks from neighboring Native American tribes.

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

Leaders of Plymouth and Jamestown are both compare because they both came from England, Native Americans aided the newly incorporated groups by supplying them for food, and both empires resulted in the starvation and death. However, in Jamestown, John Smith set a goal to make money and get rich, developed the idea of everyone for themselves, men were the dominant gender, and Smith abandoned the colony and never decided to return. As for Plymouth, William Bradford 's’ goal was to have religious freedom, the group helped one another, families were unity of the empire, and Bradford was more caring and considerate of his people and remained this way for the rest of his life.

The Jamestown Colony was founded for economic wealth, in comparison to the Plymouth colony, which was settled for religious freedom. Jamestown seemed to work as a single entity, expanding their tobacco trade and growing the economy. The self-interested colonists of Jamestown wanted land and money, which they were promised if they worked hard in the tobacco industry. Many people who came from England were indentured servants, promised food and sheltered during their seven years of work and a plot of 50 acres after their service. By working for the better of themselves it strengthened the work ethic of the Jamestown colonists. On the flip side, the Puritans were greedy, but did not wish to work, which we can see in the story “The Crucible” written by Arthur Miller. The Puritans killed off their neighbors by accusing them of witchcraft, and once executed their

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.

Virginia had many failures and close calls, while Massachusetts had successful first settlements, smart decisions regarding food and planning made this possible. In 1607 colonist landed on the banks of Jamestown Virginia only to be greeted by disease causing mosquitoes. Did not had good leadership until John Smith and John Rolfe, while Massachusetts had John Winthrop who developed the settlement with success. The settlers of Virginia had The Jamestown Nightmare. Many people died looking for gold and not learning how to use the land for survival. The Gentlemen would not work themselves resulting in Settlers dyeing by the dozens. Because the laws of primogeniture, many young gentlemen in the English colonies had to make their own fortune. John Rolfe implemented, “If You Don’t Work…You Don’t Eat.” Massachusetts was started by John Winthrop. The differences in the settlements upbringings were not the only difference, their views on religion helped shape the economy of both settlements. Virginia and Massachusetts both realized that they needed to have a strong economy, but their views on religion versus profit differed and resulted in different systems. Massachusetts was a safe haven for Catholics; Massachusetts learned the best way to survive in the area was by watching and interacting with the natives. John Winthrop stated, “We shall be a city upon a hill.” This was going to be a holy city.

They resembled each other most in their governmental systems, and differed a lot in work and in family and communal structures. Each colony had a different life to offer, so one settlement was not necessarily superior to the other. *Chesapeake’s economy could not have been possible without the Columbian Exchange, when this crop was first introduced the Europeans and popularized. *Like Jamestown, Plymouth colonist needed the help of the Natives for foodstuffs. There were components of each that made them succeed, and others that took away from the quality of

The English had two main colonies in the new world, Jamestown and Plymouth. The first colony was Jamestown, established in Virginia in 1607.Jamestown was settled by Captain John Smith, and was named by after King James I. And Plymouth is in Massachusetts it was the second English settlement in North America. The Englishmen were attempting to settle in the new area they encountered many struggles along with sickness and hunger.

The pilgrims on the other hand were seeking religious freedom, and were willing to work for it. They started their own life based solely off selflessness. In my opinion I would rather have ended up in Plymouth rather than in Jamestown because of the more genuine reasons for leaving England. The settlers of Jamestown were looking for gold to make money and killed others when they couldn't find any. LaFortune said in class that one man was burned at the stake for trying to eat his pregnant wife.

Jamestown, the first colony, was the one that faced the most hardships. Being an early endeavor, the inhabitants of the colony faced several problems that they were unexperienced with and unprepared for. Jamestown was located in a swampy environment, which made farming difficult. There were also diseases that

* Many were gentlemen who felt it below their stations to clear fields or build stockades (barriers)

The two english colonies of Plymouth and Jamestown, though settled at similar times, emerged as different places that were created for two different reasons. The Pilgrims at Plymouth had very different intentions than the settlers of Jamestown. The Pilgrims saw the New World as a chance for religious freedom while The Virginia Company saw it as way for them to prosper through non-existant gold mines.