Social, Economic, and Political Differences between the Southern Chesapeake Colonies and the New England Colonies

The differences in the two regions are not only seen in their religion, but can also be found in their economies. The economy of New England was far more inferior to that of the Chesapeake economy. This was because the New England society was family-oriented and primarily owned only small family farms just large enough to feed their families. Their economy was mainly based on small farming and fishing. This shows that New England was not focusing on economic growth and expansion. The Chesapeake Bay, on the other hand, had a vast economy. The population of Chesapeake Bay outnumbered New England's population nearly three to one. Their economy was mainly based on the tobacco and slave trading industries. These businesses contributed greatly to the Chesapeake Bay's economic and colonial expansion. This explains why people who came to the New World looking to make money chose to go to Chesapeake Bay rather than the New England area.

Around the 1600’s, New England started to develop a drastic population growth. This growth caused several problems for the occupants including, high prices on food, land, and a shortage of work for many because of the aggressive competition. Immigrants from New England began to prepare for a voyage that would be beneficial for some travelling to Massachusetts and not so much those who were travelling to Virginia. Although the settlers from the Chesapeake Bay and New England came from the same country, these colonies established different societies because of varying elements such as religious freedoms, economy, government’s role in society and unity.

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.

Although New England and the Chesapeake region were both settled largely by people of English origin, by 1700 the regions had evolved into two distinct societies. Why did this difference in development occur?

By the 1700s the two regions, New England and Chesapeake varied greatly in spite of being from the same mother country, England. Physical and cultural differences separated these two regions distinctively. While religion moulded the daily life in New England, Money and tobacco farming dominated the Chesapeake.

Both the Chesapeake colonies and the New England colonies had different social structure and development. Because the colony was founded for gold the Chesapeake colony was primarily men that could work. (Doc C.)The colonists of the Chesapeake even had to sign oaths of allegiances to the Church of England. (Doc C.) The colony was under the rule of England and was to help support England finically. When they arrived they even sign their own contracts such as the Articles of Agreement, Springfield, Massachusetts, 1636. (Doc D.) This caused England to have a foothold in their colonies, and then under them were Clergy, free white men, the few women, servants, and slaves. The Chesapeake colonies had servants and slaves, servants could work their way of servant hood, for example they might work seven years and then become free. The Chesapeake colony also had slaves because its economy was based on cash crop plantations, most of these slaves came from Africa and was the beginning of the Slave Trade. These types of people were primarily dominant in this colony because it was founded as a working colony and had no need for families, just men that could work. This was very

The first difference between the New England colonies and the Chesapeake colonies was political. The New England colonies had a more democratic government system; while it was not completely democratic or representative it had a basis of democratic principals. Alternatively, the Chesapeake colonies were largely run by aristocratic leaders rather than the people working together for the common good. Document A explains how the New England colonies had more of a democracy by stating “we must be willing to abridge ourselves… for the supply of others necessities,” it also states “we are to be looked at as a city upon a hill.” This is relevant to why New England colonies were more democratic because this comes from John Winthrop who was on his way to America to the New England colonies. This more democratic mindset politically from the New England colonies stems back to the Mayflower Compact that was written when the pilgrims were on their way to America, explaining the first difference in these two colonial regions because there were no democratic government documents created for when people were going to the Chesapeake colonies. The Mayflower Compact stated,

The Chesapeake and New England colonies had many differences when it came to development; however, similarities can still be found. Some of the main similarities between the colonies were the time period in which they developed and their early demographics. Both colonies were founded in the early 1600s and started off with a demographic of mostly young white European males. In contrast, many differences between the New England and Chesapeake colonies can be found in their distinct geographies, economies, religions, and governments. In terms of

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.

Although New England and the Chesapeake region were both settled largely by the people of English origin, by 1700 the regions had evolved into two distinct societies. The reasons for this distinct development were mostly based on the type on people from England who chose to settle in the two areas, and on the manner in which the areas were settled.

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 three colonies all wanted to make money but they had to go about it in different ways. This was mainly due to what they had available. The New England Colonies were mainly agricultural farmers. With all the water reservoirs like Cape Cod there were plenty of fish so lots of people became fishermen. There were a lot of lumberjacks to cut down trees and export them to England. The Middle Colonies were extremely different because they set up extensive cosmopolitan cities reminiscent of New York. They had many specialists like doctors, lawyers, accountants, and teachers. They traded a lot with in North America and occasionally overseas. The Southern Colonies primarily depended on cotton and tobacco plantations. As the plantations grew they had to employ black slaves. The plantations were fully self contained with their own blacksmith, teachers and professionals. So there were no big cities or towns. The main plantations traded directly with Europe via the Mississippi. The three colonies all made money differently with their diverse professions and traders.

The political difference between the New England and Chesapeake region was that New England government associate more with religious matter than the Chesapeake government. The type of government was a theocratic environment. Each town, which was filled with educated people, had a local authority and held monthly town meetings in the meeting hall. The Chesapeake Colonies was a legislative owned by aristocrats. The county governments were more spread out; therefore the backcountry farmers were underrepresented. Both colonies had their set way of organizing their government.

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

In the past historians have written that the regions of Chesapeake and New England are extremely different, but still have something in common. Accordingly, they are found in their times of origination, they were both founded around the same time and also by the same people. Ultimately, they have both accepted Protestantism and the colonies both speak English. One major similarity is that they haven't forgotten who and where they came from, England, they still pledge allegiance to one crown. Like any other colony, they have created a society where both have been slow to establish social status. Unlike New England in Chesapeake a governing power tried to create a feudal system but the colonies shit it down quite fast. Notably they both have put themselves into a social group and no outside force trying to sway the people's social ranking placement.