New England Colonies example essay topic

When the colonists settled in America in the 17th century, many of them had different reasons for coming, believed in various religions and set goals and accomplishments both for themselves and their families. Some came to America because of religious persecution, and some came to America to obtain wealth. The colonists settled into what was to become the northern and the southern colonies. Over time, the northern and southern colonies eventually evolved into two distinct societies. Primarily, this was because of various social, geographic, and economic reasons. It was this discrete separation led to more conflicts that would devastate America.

In 1606, envisioning the possibility of earning great profits by finding precious metals and opening new trade routes, a group of English merchants and gentry established the Virginia Stock Company. Their plan was to have many colonies planted in this part of America. This seemed to be the theme of all Chesapeake colonies; making money as soon and as fast as possible. In the early 17th century many joint stock companies similar to the Virginia Company were formed to establish colonies in America.

However, there were various clues as to the motivations of the early English colonists. It became very evident that the English who settled in the Chesapeake colonies were only interested in making money through "document C."Document C" was a list of emigrants bound for Virginia in 1635. It could be easily observed from this document that almost of all the people bound for Virginia were single and without family. One could infer that these emigrants were not as interested in starting a family in the greater new world as they were in making money for themselves. A second document which further supported this notion was "document F".

The document conveyed the idea that all of the settlers who wanted to go to Virginia were primarily interested in one thing and that was the acquisition of wealth. In the document, John Smith discussed how men who could go to America had the wealth and the means to do so. They could easily buy supplies to help support their travels. In contrast, those who didn't have the money had to work to support their voyage to America; many paying as much as fifteen times the amount for supplies. In the document, Smith referred to the settlers as "Gold Miners" looking for wealth.

As more permanent colonies were beginning to be established, such as Jamestown, Chesapeake colonists soon discovered the plant called tobacco. The land in the Chesapeake colonies was very arable and the climate was very warm which made it easy to plant crops like tobacco and sugar cane. The tobacco crop was first planted in 1611 and nine years later Virginians exported 40,000 pounds of the cured leaves. By the late 1620's, shipments had jumped dramatically to 1.5 million pounds. Through tobacco, both settlers and the Virginia Company found the salable commodity for which they had been searching for. Tobacco attracted many settlers, and since tobacco cultivation required abundant land because the crop drained soil of nutrients, the once small English settlements began to expand rapidly.

However, colonists in the south began to expand away from each other, establishing isolated farms as opposed to towns. Because of the vast distance between each of the farms in the Chesapeake colonies, the colonies were unable to protect themselves. As stated in "document G", the southern colonies were unable to protect themselves because of the limited amounts of men that had settled in those lands. Moreover, the document stated how men were very apprehensive about leaving their families to go protect the borders of the colonies, because they were leaving their families very vulnerable. This caused the colonists in the south to have constantly lived vigilantly as they were fearful of being attacked continuously. These events led to a society which produced unusual patterns of family life.

This included the predominance of males and many orphans. This was worsened by the high infant mortality rate. At one point, the lifestyle which was established was contested and questioned. The unsatisfied people found themselves vulnerable to the Indian cruelties. This was reflected in the rhetoric of the leaders and governor of the time. Ultimately, the Chesapeake colonies were resolved to plant tobacco rather than pay the tax for maintenance of forts.

In fact, establishment of the forts was over many of the colonists' great objection. It is very evident that the economic desires of those colonists coupled with the arable and fertile land conducive to tobacco growth led the Chesapeake colonies into the society that it did. The people who settled in the New England Colonies were the Separatist Puritans called Pilgrims. They arrived in 1620 and landed at Plymouth.

The Puritans wanted to gain religious freedom for themselves. In fact, when they settled in New England the religious freedom they sought was more easily obtained than in England. In "document A", John Winthrop proposed the idea of how people should conduct themselves in the New England colonies; he called it A Model of Christian Charity. Winthrop foresaw in Puritan America a commonwealth, where each person put the good of the group before the good of themselves.

Winthrop wanted all members of the Puritan faith to live according to the precepts of Christian love. In addition, he also believed that God had made a covenant with the Puritan people, who were chosen to conduct a mission in America. Furthermore, under the "Articles of Agreement" demonstrated in "document D", the underlying precept of tolerance that Winthrop preached was reemphasized. In the "Articles of Agreement" it stated that in the town of Springfield, Massachusetts, there would be forty families, both poor and rich and that all Christian religions could be practiced and tolerated.

Unlike the Chesapeake colonists who were motivated by the desire to make money, the Puritans who came to the New England colonies were motivated by the desire to make a fresh start in a more communal and tolerant society than what they had experienced in England. This is evident in "document B", which was a ship's list of emigrants bound for New England. The document exemplified how the people who came to the New England colonies made sure they came with lots of family, because they wanted to start a new life which revolved around family. People in New England grew most of their own food. But their soil was too thin and rocky for them to grow cash crops.

They made some of their clothing and produced many of their own supplies. But New Englanders had to buy cloth and tools and almost all of their luxury items from England. New England shipped lumber and furs in return. Later New England found another way to earn money.

They started to catch fish. Ultimately, fish and lumber were their main industries and sources of revenue. Economic prosperity didn't occur as fast or to the degree that it did in the Chesapeake colonies. Nevertheless, the New England colonies seemed to survive longer.

In part, this was because one of the greatest cures to the long hard New England winter was a good morale and family support mechanism. In addition, because the New England colonies were so close together, it was easier to protect themselves from foreign invaders. In addition, New Englanders tried to preach peace with nearby Native Americans. Although the economic prosperity didn't occur as rapidly as in the south, the New England colonies were better suited to make due with what they had. They prospered because of something that can't be put on paper or deposited into a bank and earn interest.

Their prosperity and optimism was in large part secondary to their spirit and desire to serve God. In conclusion, it is very apparent that although both colonies were started by emigrants from the same country, the southern and northern colonies developed into two very distinct and different societies. There were various reasons for this phenomenon including geographical, economic and social differences. Clearly, these differences led to separation from each other. It should be stated that both groups formed successful societies; each flourishing in their own way. It was these differences that needed to be overcome to help unite the colonists for the Revolutionary War, but later would force the two societies to separate again and lead to the most devastating war this nation has ever known.