The Legacy Of Rhode Island

Between 1492-1776, although many people moved to the “New World”, North America lost population due to the amount of Indians dying from war and diseases and the inability of colonists to replace them. John Murrin states, “losers far outnumbered winners” in “ a tragedy of such huge proportions that no one’s imagination can easily encompass it all.” This thought of a decreasing population broadens one’s perspective of history from that of an excluded American tale full of positivity to that of a more unbiased, all-encompassing analysis. The Indians and slaves have recently been noted as a more crucial part of history than previously accredited with.

During the 1700's, people in the American colonies lived in very distinctive societies. While some colonists led hard lives, others were healthy and prosperous. The two groups who showed these differences were the colonists of the New England and Chesapeake Bay areas. The differentiating characteristics among the Chesapeake and New England colonies developed due to economy, religion, and motives for colonial expansion. The colonists of the New England area possessed a very happy and healthy life. This high way of living was due in part to better farming, a healthier environment, and a high rate of production because of more

Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, Delaware, New York, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Maryland were the thirteen colonies all had a different reason to be a colony.

The colonies of New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut made up the New England colonies. Most of the Europeans in the New England colonies were there to escape the religious persecution they faced in England. They practiced a lot of different things in these colonies compared to the middle and southern and colonies of colonial america.

The New England colonies developed rapidly, largely due to the influence of the Puritans. The Puritans came to the new world seeking religious freedom and helped found most of the colonies in the New England region. The Puritans wanted a United government that will later become the basis for the Unites States, they believed that the overall well being of the people was more important than the well being of the few, and the Puritans believed that religion, church, and community were important aspects of the people’s lives. The Puritans’ religion allowed them to prosper in the political, economical, and social development of the New England Colonies in the 1630-1660’s.

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.

One early settler in Rhode Island was Roger Williams (a founder of Rhode Island) who was banished from the Massachusetts Bay Colony. He was banished because he spoke out against the Court of Massachusetts. Williams had spoken out against the rule of the Court, he questioned the right of authorities to punish religious bickering, and the right to take away Indians land. Another founder was Anne Hutchinson, who was also banished from the Massachusetts Bay Colony, for religious reasons. Rhode Island officially became a state in 1790 on May 29.

Behind its neighbors, England finally decided to invest in settling in the New World during the 17th century. Many of the expeditions to North America were made by private organizations; stock companies and the rich alike shared a common ideal of having a fresh start from outside their homeland. Two colonies with one common nationality, however, became two diverse establishments in North America. The colonies in New England and the Chesapeake region developed into two substantially contrasting ways of life. The main colony in the New England region was Massachusetts, which included the Puritans, a group of religious settlers who wanted to purify the Protestant Church of England.

European nations vigorously began to take over the newly discovered Americas throughout most of the 16th century leading into the 17th century. England was very forceful in pushing out multiple groups of people to the eastern coast of what is now known as North America. At that time there were only two prominent regions in North America, they were known then as the New England and the Chesapeake colonies. These two colonies would eventually band together to stand as one nation, but that was toward the end of the 17th century. The beginning tells a completely different story, both colonies had very different beliefs on what the exact reason may have been for the settlers to come to the New World. They lived very different lives because of this. A lot of these differences affected them politically in who they followed, socially in who they spoke with, and economically in who they would do business with.

On July 22, 1587, long before the Pilgrims arrived at Plymouth Rock, 117 hopeful colonists from England landed ashore onto a tiny island along the coast of what is today North Carolina. The group unpacked and founded a settlement, Roanoke Island. Then they vanished without a trace.

The people of the New England and Chesapeake colonies, although came from the same people, turned into very different cultures. For example, in New England, Puritanism was favored while in the Chesapeake region Christianity was practiced. Often times, religion would dictate a certain peoples way of life. Although both religions were strict, both had different ideas. Also, there were disagreements that occurred between the people within a colony. Many other ways of life were established in each of these areas independent of each other.

The seventeenth century brought plenty of changes to North America. One of the most significant ones was the formation of the thirteen colonies along the North American east coast. These colonies are generally divided into New England, Middle and South or the Chesapeake regions. Most of these colonies were settled by the British, yet they developed differently as the years went by. Some developed into more egalitarian colonies and some not. The greatest differences could be seen in the New England and Chesapeake regions. Even though the New England and Chesapeake regions were settled originally by The British, they had their own differences which were influenced by many of factors, including the reasons they were founded, their social

upper class consisted of wealthy and well educated minor aristocrats they could vote and they held high public office

In the 1630s to 1660s, the Puritans strong belief in god and its upholding shaped the Massachusetts Bay Colony’s development. The colony was fully based on the Puritan’s view which painted their religion and it effected the lifestyle. The Puritans were a highly religious group that believed god’s will was the absolute. As shown in document 3, it states how the church is always right and nothing should be done to offend it. This shows the grasp of the Puritans hold toward god because this was a statement of the church’s membership and so it should display their beliefs.

Imagine living in a world where crime ruled. A world where gangsters were more powerful than politicians, owned the police, and ran the city in whatever way they felt. They robbed whom they wanted and killed when they didn't get their way. Now stop imagining and realize that this happened here in the United States of America in the 1920's. It was run by an organization made up mainly of Italians called the Mafia.