Virginia Colony Compare And Contrast Essay

During the 17th century, many different economic, geographic, and social factors shaped the Chesapeake region and New England. After 1700, 7 Years War, and the Great Awakening, the colonies became more similar. However, during the 17th century, the colonies had many differences in their purposes, economy, governments, and ways of life. The difference in development between New England and the Chesapeake region occurred because they were founded for different purposes, they had very different political organizations, and their state of unification was very different.

Virginia and Massachusetts were both similar and different when it came to economic stability. The leaders of both colonies had similar goals for their settlement to be successful and economically stable. However the ways that they achieved it was different. Massachusetts and Virginia had plantations and estates set up. Since Virginia was better known for its tobacco growth— there were many plantations set up to grow the crop. On the other hand, Massachusetts (being a northern colony) was into seaport and selling fish. Even though both colonies had different estates and plantations, both started to suffer when the population increased due to many immigrants, which caused competition. Many colonists weren't able to find jobs due to an increase

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.

During the 17th and 18th century, English residents felt that England was over-crowded and intolerable. They wanted to lessen these problems that rose up because of the large population increase and to establish more religious freedom (Horn). The English believed that the best way to go about this was to colonize the New World. Subsequently, many colonies began to develop, and of these colonies, Massachusetts Bay and Virginia were the most well-known. The early settlements of Massachusetts and Virginia were both established by similar groups of people at the same time; furthermore, their contrasting beginnings as a colony, views on religion, and method of economic stability all contributed to our American heritage today.

The Chesapeake colonies were made up of Maryland and Virginia. Virginia had humble, near disastrous beginnings whereas Maryland’s start was a fair deal easier. In Virginia, between 1640 and 1770, the population of whites grew from 10,292 to 259,411. The population of blacks around the same period grew from 150 to a whopping

Jamestown, Virginia was America’s first founded permanent English colony. It was founded on May 14, 1607 when the first English colonists arrived and discovered the land. The Virginia Company settlers landed on Jamestown looking to create a colony about 60 miles from the Chesapeake Bay. The settlement of Jamestown was one of the first cultural encounters that planted the seeds of what would eventually become the nation America is today .

New England was started for the search of religious freedom from persecution. England’s government required a strict attendance to the Anglican church. If a

The Chesapeake and New England colonies, although clearly quite different, do boast some similarities. The two colonies were founded in the early 17th century and started off with a demographic that primarily consisted of young white European men. The differences between the colonies are easier to pinpoint. The New England colony, which is located in the North, has long winters and short growing seasons. This is contrary to the Chesapeake colony which is more to the South than the New England colony. The Chesapeake colony was known for its fertile land, long growing season, and large swaths of land that were perfect or farming. These geographical differences directly impacted the economies as these two distinct colonies developed. The New England colonies focused on fishing, shipbuilding, and growing a distinct class of

The New England, and the Chesapeake region were settled by englishmen of the same ethnicity, by the 1700 the regions had evolved into two distinct societies. The different characteristic among the colonies developed due to religion, economy, and motives for colonial expansion. The Chesapeake colonies was Pennsylvania, Virginia, New Jerseys, and Maryland. Jamestown, was the first colonie in the Chesapeake, When they first settled their first thought was to find gold as stated in Document 6 until Captain John Smith came he was famous for his quote “ He that will not work shall not eat”.

Everyone was coming from England so settlers in both locations spoke the same language and had the same nationality. However the religious beliefs of the settlers in the 2 areas differed. When the protestant reformation was occurring in Europe, a group of people supported Calvinism. These people later became known as the puritan. As time passed the puritans began to dislike the changed made to the Church of England so a group of them decided to break away from the church all together. These people became known as separatist puritans. They are the people that migrated to the New England colonies in search of religious freedom. Those who settled in the Chesapeake colonies were also in search of a better life, but not based religious freedom. Chesapeake colonies were intended to be catholic dominated, but it became Anglican with many protestants migrating there as well. Maryland created the act of religious toleration, which stated, “That whatsoever person or persons within this Province and the Islands thereunto helonging shall from henceforth blaspheme G-d, that is Curse him, or deny our Saviour Jesus Christ.” This is describing that Christians must have religious freedom and no one can talk bad about G-d or Jesus. This act never brought full religious tolerance because there were so many Protestants at the time and

d) The early colonies in Virginia and Massachusetts experienced some similarities in the conditions, challenges, and ways of life. Both colonies were in constant fear of Native Americans, who perhaps had a hostile attitude towards the colonists because of how tribes were treated by explorers in the past. Captain John Smith suggests that he was the one keeping the Native Americans from seriously harming the colonists of Virginia. However, Smith returned to England after a couple of years in America and wrote of events that were told to him secondhand, “For the savages [Indians] no sooner understood Smith was gone but they all revolted, and did spoil and murder all they encountered ....

In North America, two different kinds of colonies existed: those who were driven by economic profit, and those who came as a result of a desire for religious freedom. These two types of settlements were most epitomized by the colonies of Virginia and Massachusetts. Whereas Virginia and its flagship colony, Jamestown, came to the New World in search of profit, those at Massachusetts and their well known colony of Plymouth, traveled across the Atlantic in order to escape their persecutors and establish a place where anyone could worship as he or she pleased. These differing ideals also influenced the overall makeup of the colonists. The settlers in Jamestown tended to be businessmen and gentlemen with no previous background of hard labor, and generally no useful

I think that the development of both the Jamestown Colony and the Massachusetts Bay Colony, and their influence on the growth of the Thirteen Colonies is very prominent. Jamestown had a major part in the development of Plymouth, news of the New World in Virginia motivated the Puritans to leave their home towns. Plymouth and Jamestown encouraged many people to leave there home lands which lead to the 13 colonies.

However, as both colonies continued to flourish, so did the number of their inhabitants. Virginia was centered around the tobacco industry and because Massachusetts, as well as many other New England colonies, was on the coast, it was a bustling sea port. There was competition for work, however, and Boston was the worst because it was such a big port city, where the merchant system dominated. Virginia, as mentioned before, had a demand for labor, hence a huge boom in the slavery system. Both colonies also had rocky beginnings with the Natives in the surrounding areas. Initially, in both settlements, they were met with hostility because of the foreign peoples on their lands. The Jamestown settlers had virtually no relationship with them, but with the help of John Smith, and the realization that the English weren't going to leave, they began to help. When the Puritans landed in Massachusetts, they believed that the English had the right to all lands in the New World, and that the Natives were going to have to vacate. However, trade helped to soften the edges of impending conflict between the two groups, and the colonists were able to trade for valuable furs to send back to England. Despite being on relatively good terms, there were still wars between the settlers and the Native Americans. This happened throughout all the colonies, not just Virginia and

”The former colonies, have a better chance than ever before to overcome centuries of subjugation, violence and foreign intervention, which they have so far survived as dependencies with islands of luxury in a sea of misery” (Chomsky).Colonies are established depending on who and how one shapes their colony. Colonies can either be worthy or unworthy. There were two different men who established colonies. One colony was Jamestown and the other was Plymouth. These two colonies were established two different ways by different viewpoints and personalities that distinguished these two colonies in an enormous way.