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Life in the New England Colonies

Life in the New England Colonies.
The American way of life has changed throughout the centuries. Our views of life have changed dramatically in many ways. History has changed the way we look at American values in general. Such things as our drive for hard work and value of education have evolved from specific types of people during the growth of this great nation. But who were these mysterious people that so drastically changed the way we think today? These “wonderful” people were called puritans and settled in the New England colonies. They ran their society with a strong hand, and valued their land.
When it came to work and education they put forth 110% effort. The puritan values have been carried through the centuries and are still alive and kicking today. In today”s society hard work holds as much of an importance as it did during the puritan times. We hold this American value in high regard when it comes to most things. The puritans viewed hard work as a necessity to survive. We know this partly by the fact that some where around 80% of the puritans were farmers and in order to keep up a good farm you must put your nose to the grindstone.
As time has evolved the American views it has been reluctant to change this one. After all if you let any slack out in today”s society you are likely to be replaced. And therefore we always strive to be the best, this in return forces us to work harder day by day. The puritans viewed materialist things much the way we do today. What this means is that in America today you are judged by what you have and the way you look. If you are dressed like a homeless person going in for a job interview, your never gonna get the job no matter what qualifications you have.

See in today”s society you are judged by what is on the outside instead of what is in the inside. The puritan”s were much this way about land. As we see in the Crucible Mr. Proctor is accused of making false accusations so that he may buy the land of the people that are on their way to jail. It might be argued that the land was the main source of profit during these times, however it also was a sign of how important you were to God. If you had 300 acres of land you were considered one of Gods chosen few.
In the Crucible we also see that Reverend Parris asks for golden candlesticks to place in the church. Now one may not forget that the church was nothing more than a beat up old shack, far from any of the Cathedrals of today. They would do anything to be viewed as being closer to God much way we would do anything to make people like us and accepts us. From the time of the puritan”s to generation-X education has always been a important value. Although some today view school as another place for teens to kick back and just talk to each other.
Most however are in school to do more than just learn, they are there to succeed. 97% of all high school students have plans for a higher learning in college. And where are the best colleges located? Most are located on the East Coast. Such schools as Harvard and Yale were founded by our strict ancestors, the puritan”s. They viewed education as a tool. With it you will succeed. Who knows, back then with a good education you might end up in office. In fact many great men attended school on the East Coast. Thomas Jefferson for instance attended Harvard.
The tradition of a great education has survived through the passing years and will most likely live on. Values of such people as the puritan”s have continued on in the world today and have changed the course of history, as we know it. Education, hard work, and materialism are just three of the many influences that have been handed down from our great ancestors. However, the question still at hand is “Have these values, that have been handed down to us so generously, been for the better or the worse? This is one question I feel must be answered by ones heart. It is after all, a matter of opinion.

Life in the New England Colonies

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The Colonies by 1763: a New Society

The Colonies by 1763: a New Society.
Between the settlement at Jamestown in 1607 and the Treaty of Paris in 1763, the most important change that occurred in the colonies was the emergence of a society quite different from that in England. Changes in religion, economics, politics and social structure illustrate this Americanization of the transplanted Europeans. By 1763, although some colonies still maintained established churches, other colonies had accomplished a virtual revolution for religious toleration and separation of church and state.In England, the King, the head of state, is also the head of the Anglican Church, the Church of England.
In the early colonial years, the Puritans had control of church and state in the northeast, mainly Massachusetts. The leaders were strict and church and state were inseparable. But during the 1730’s to the 1740’s, the Great Awakening arose and led to a decline in Puritan tradition. The Great Awakening was lead by Johnathan Edwards and George Whitefield and brought about an increase in religious freedom and many new churches.The Great Awakening also led to an increase of separation of church and state. The Great Awakening was only possible because the youth didn’t view religion as seriously as their predecessors. Also, the church’s power in government was weakened so they couldn’t enforce religious duties upon anyone.
The Colonies had differed themselves from England religiously by being more tolerant. In a similar economic revolution, the colonies outgrew their mercantile relationship with the mother country and developed an expanding capitalist system.The colonies originally were a tool for England to collect resources and to expand its resources. This was because England believed in mercantilism. Mercantilism is the belief that there is a set amount of wealth in the world. The colonies began to trade with other nations and colonies without England’s permission because the distance between the colonies and the mother country was enormous and made communication difficult. During salutary neglect, England did not concern itself with this, but after the French-Indian War, it needed to raise funds, so it began imposing its will upon the colonies.

Several unfavorable acts in the colonies were the Stamp Act, the Sugar Act, and the Tea Act. By this time, the colonies already had a self sufficient economy and England’s intrusion was hurting that economy. They were able to become self sufficient because during the salutary neglect they were forced to take care of themselves. They had developed a free market and England imposing the Stamp, Sugar, and Tea Acts was creating monopolies. The colonies were the opposites of England economically by 1763.Building on English foundations of political liberty, the colonists extended the concepts of liberty and self-government far beyond those envisioned in the mother country. During the period of salutary neglect, the colonists could not depend on England for government help because they were not represented in Parliament and because communication was difficult due to the Atlantic Ocean.
The colonists had to learn to make decisions on their own, which prepared them to be independent. The colonists could govern themselves because the English weren’t paying attention to them.They also were forced to make decisions and laws for themselves. By the time the period of salutary neglect was finished, the colonists already were able to govern themselves. This is how the colonies had separated itself politically from England. In contrast to the well-defined and hereditary classes of England, the colonies developed a fluid class structure. Women had managed to change their status socially.
Marriage was more of a means of transferring wealth than a romantic ceremony in those days. Women began getting more power in their family, although they still had little say in their government.They got this say in the family life because it was their job to care for the house and to raise the children. In Europe, they were still seen as more of a possession than a partner. Also, it was much easier for people to change classes. In England, you were born into the class you would remain in your whole life. In the colonies, one could change their social status through hard work and persistence because there was no autocracy in the colonies.
No one person had absolute power. England was also different than the colonies socially.By the year 1763, the colonies already had a different society than that in England. Religiously, the colonies were much more tolerant. In terms of the economy, the two societies formed different views. The colonists were capitalist and the English were mercantilists. The colonists were also opposed to the idea of monarchy.
They supported forms of democracy. Lastly, the colonies were more liberal than the mother country socially. It allowed for more flexibility in the social structure. By 1763, the colonies were already a different society from England.

The Colonies by 1763: a New Society

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Why Did European Powers Seek Colonies Overseas?

Why Did European Powers Seek Colonies Overseas?.
In 1871, a new form of colonisation emerged in Europe and was later differentiated from the Empires of Spain and Portugal in the 15th and 16th centuries as New Imperialism. Intelligibly, it is also referred to as ‘the Scramble for Africa’, as a result of the swift rate at which nations clamoured to gain control of weaker regions in deviated areas from the 1600’s. There is much speculation surrounding the reasoning of such accelerated expansion, however, there is a clear correlation of events that have been linked to New Imperialism.
I do not attest the popular belief that this colonisation increased tension in Europe and, in this essay, I will endeavour to present a synthesis of this premise. Similar to the explorers of old imperialism, European powers were drawn to Africa for economic benefits. The British economist, J. A Hobson, argued the drive for new colonies was influenced by the desire of capitalists to profit from these regions. The credibility of this assertion is heightened by the knowledge of the ongoing industrialisation of Europe, prompting a demand for larger markets and cheaper raw materials and labour.
It was equally the case of nations, such as Britain, that were at the end of the industrial boom, as they sought new markets for manufactured goods. The abandonment of free trade in Europe in the 1870s signified the introduction of a wave of tariffs on imported goods and resulted in a sweeping effect across Europe to search for alternative markets elsewhere. The validation of this is reflected in the leap of Britain’s overseas investments from 187 million pounds in 1871 to 4,000 million pounds in 1914.

Economic advantage was certainly a motivating factor, however, some European nations, such as France, underwent little industrial growth and had gained little from colonising. It appears imperialism was a source of national pride and acted as a distraction to unfavourable events at home. This was certainly the case in France, which was still recovering from a humiliating defeat in the Franco-Prussian war and was understandably envious of its European counterparts that were replete with wealth and power.
It is then unsurprising that the French became one of the leading imperialists of the time, with an empire of Indo-China, north and west Africa and over 60 million people by 1914, although their colonies contributed sparsely to the economy. Imperialism was an accepted route to regard, as was expressed by both the French statesman, Leon Gambetta in the remark, “to remain a great nation/you must colonise” and the British writer A. C Benson, in his song, “Land of Hope and Glory” which applauded colonisation.
The most intriguing and often bewildering explanation for imperialism was concerned with philanthropy. Although it seems an unnatural concept in this day and age, 19th century Europeans believed they were a superior race and it was their duty to cultivate European ideas and ways of living in Africa. This perspective was a manipulated adaptation of Darwin’s theory of natural selection and was widely regarded, particularly in Britain and Germany, as the truth.
The view of the British writer, Rudyard Kipling, in ‘The White Man’s Burden’ is an appropriate reflection of this and depicts the so-called “burden” upon Europeans to help less fortunate races. Evidently, it was conceited; nevertheless, missionaries such as The White Fathers and Robert Moffat made progress in Africa to soothe troubles and, polemically, converted many from Paganism to Christianity. European Governments often used Darwin’s theory as an excuse to subjugate Africans and, thus, imperialism grew in popularity.
Technological advances like the railway, steamship and telegraph and improved weaponry like the breech-loading rifle, capable of firing several rounds before the need to reload also gave Europeans a distinct advantage over natives and made Africa much more vulnerable to attack. Many saw medical advances, such as, the use of quinine as protection from malaria and advances in transport as an opportunity to explore what was known as the ‘Dark Continent’, as many of the inner regions of Africa remained untouched until this time.
The most famous of which, Dr. David Livingstone, whom travelled from his native Scotland to the vast regions of Central Africa to carry out medical and missionary work, enlightened the imagination of the European public. In 1869, Henry Stanley of the New York Herald sent for Livingstone after a loss of contact for over four years, and eventually succeeded when Livingstone was found at Lake Tanganyika in east Africa, greeting him with the famous line, “Dr. Livingstone, I presume? ”. Following the disclosure of the story, Europeans became increasingly nterested in what Africa had to offer and pressure was put on governments to colonise; in Germany, many lobby groups, such as The German Navy League were created in support of colonisation and achieved their desires when Bismark, apparently “no man for colonies” acquired colonies in the Cameroons, Togal and east Africa, south west Africa and the Pacific Islands, like Marshall Isle. In fact, it was with adept explorers that ‘The Scramble of Africa’ began, when, in 1870, Henry Stanley took his experience from travelling Africa and, under the advice of King Leopold of Belgium, formed the International African Association.
He then reached agreements with tribal leaders in the Congo region, in which they placed themselves and their subjects under the protection of King Leopold. The French followed suit with their explorer, Savorgnan de Brazza, being sent to the north of the River Congo where he reached similar agreements with indigenous tribal chiefs. The Germans joined in with their protectorate over the Cameroons in 1884 and so the scramble commenced. Wilhelm II was in power in Germany from 1890 to 1914, at the height of imperialism. He is largely responsible for the damaged relations in Europe as opposed to colonisation.
Under the management of Bismark, 1871-1890, Europe was reasonably calm and relations remained unchanged, regardless of the imperialism taking place at the time. Bismarck realised the potential tension that could arise as a result of the race for colonies and called The Second Conference of Berlin, 1884-1885, to resolve the issue. It was agreed that the Congo Free State would be controlled by an international organisation and was to operate on a free trade basis, meaning the importation of goods would go without taxation.
Natives were not to be exploited by European powers and the slave trade was to be abolished. Most importantly, Africa was to be divided into spheres of influence, whereby European powers were to be given economic and political rights in particular areas of the continent. This move cleared any uncertainty regarding where one could colonise, with the exception of The Fashoda Crisis, 1898, which actually resulted in improved Anglo-French relations, following a brief clash over interests in a small village on the Nile in southern Sudan.
In 1896, General Kitchener led the British in an attempt to secure Sudan from the north, while French forces, under General Marchand, arrived in Fashoda, 650km from the British-occupied Khartoum, seeking the very same result. Both leaders confronted one another at Fashoda and remained there for six months, until the French Foreign Minister, Theophile Delcasse, stood down, as the French were unprepared for war without their Russian ally and their difficult time after the Dreyfus Affair. The incident ended peacefully. Following the resignation of Bismarck in 1890, European relations were severed and the balance of power shifted uneasily.
However, this was not the result of colonial rivalry; Wilhelm II made numerous mistakes in his administration of German foreign policy to disrupt European relations and cause tension. This began with his poor response to Britain’s humiliating defeat in what is known as, the Jameson Raid. In 1895, the British Colonial Secretary, Joseph Chamberlain, along with Cecil Rhodes, Prime Minister of the Cape Colony and Dr. Starr Jameson, official to the British South African Company led a badly organised attack on the Boers in the Transvaal area of South Africa. They were easily defeated and Jameson himself was captured.
This incident humiliated the British but did not affect European relations; it was the unnecessary telegram sent by Wilhelm II to Paul Kruger, President of the Transvaal, congratulating him of his defeat of the British, “without appealing to a friendly power” that caused uproar and hostility throughout Europe. The incident to follow – the First Moroccan Crisis, 1905-1906 – was a means of sabre rattling or troublemaking for Wilhelm II. In 1905, having been suspicious of French intentions, he landed his yacht at Tangiers and announced his support of Moroccan independence to the Sultan and pledged German protection of that independence.
He then demanded a conference to be held in Algeciras to discuss the matter which France reluctantly agreed to. The main intention of Wilhelm II at this point was to test the strength of the Entente Cordiale between France and Britain and he hoped to weaken it through this intervention. However, Germany managed only to get the support of Morocco and Austria-Hungary, while France was supported by Britain, the US, Russia, Spain and even Italy. The crisis strengthened rather than weakened the Entente and was a direct result of the sabre rattling of Wilhelm II, not colonial rivalry.
He interceded once again in the Second Moroccan Crisis, 1911, when he accused France of annexing Morocco. The grounds of his argument, after the occupation of French troops of Morocco when a war had broken out in the capital, Fez and foreigners were in danger, was a supposed breech of the terms agreed in the Algeciras Conference, 1906. Wilhelm II sent a gunboat, the Panther to Agadir, however the British then intervened by commanding his retreat and threatening to send naval forces to stop him. He surrendered and Anglo-French ties were further strengthened.
Wilhelm II was viewed as a warmonger – a seeker of war – and tension within Europe was strong, as a result of his conduct. New Imperialism did not occur as a result of one factor, but of an accumulation of vacillating events, for example, industrialisation that prompted technological advances, which encouraged explorers and eventually a saturation of industry or a failure to industrialise and a need to gain prestige elsewhere – all of which contributed heavily to imperialism. Regardless of the reasoning, by the 19th century, all of Africa with the exception of Abyssinia and Liberia had been conquered by European powers.
However, the important question remains on how colonisation affected European relations; was it truly a contributing factor to World War I or was it indeed a derivative of existing tension at home that was actually accelerated by distrust between nations? Is it possible that imperialism was simply a distraction for Europeans from their quickly diminishing relations and may have delayed the inevitable outburst of war? It remains unanswered but I simply hope I have justified a slightly different interpretation of the affairs outlined above.

Why Did European Powers Seek Colonies Overseas?

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The colonies pt1 the encounters

The colonies pt1 the encounters.
Part One: The Encounters
Chapter One: Natives:
Old world explorers encountered in the new world complex and diverse peoples—who, where, etc? Old world explorers encountered Native Americans in North America.

Pre-Columbian America is “fraught with controversy.” What conflicts were they? Native Americans had conflict with the Europeans over social and environmental problems; this led to violence and war. Also, Europeans and Native Americans were both violent and Europeans enslaved and killed Natives to conquer land and people.
Without making Europeans out to be vile, cruel and violent, we should recognize that they had superior power but they gave new additions to Native Americans. Europeans brought new weapons and tools that the Natives found helpful and useful. The Europeans also brought horticulture to the land.
Some natives had a culture that demanded less of the environment than that of other natives—such as: The natives north of central Mexico lived in smaller more dispersed bands that had less of a burden on the nature unlike the Anasazi, Hohokam, and northern Mississippians that all put excessive pressure on their local environments.
What are Taylor’s three ideas which he argues about migration? The people had to remain on foot to follow the herds of animals, The period between fifteen thousand and twelve thousand years ago was the ideal time of crossing into North America. Dental, genetic, and linguistic analysis reveals that most Native Americans descend from ancestors that came here fifteen thousand years ago.
Chapter Two: Colonizers:
Taylor makes a big issue over environmentalism—why?
During that time period the state of the environment affected how you lived in every way. The people depended on the environment greatly to give them daily needs and its effects were high. What caused the expansion of Europe—and why?
The improvement of ship making techniques and navigational techniques caused the expansion of Europe. When the Iberian Peninsula was discovered the Europeans looked west for expansion searching to find a route to the east to find completely different land.
What were the two major religions of the age of expansion? How do they come to impact the new world? Islam and Christianity were the two major religions of the age of expansion. The Christians began converting the natives as they sought out help from the Europeans. They were accepting of new beliefs and easy to accept the Christian ideals.
Why is the Atlantic Ocean such a central vital environmental concern for the colonizers? The Europeans believed it to be much larger than it actually is. Also, it was their pathway to the New World.
Once across the Ocean, what were contributions of the colonizers to the New York area? The colonizers contributions to the New York area were disease, animal depopulation, and they had a negative impact on the environment.
What does Taylor say about slavery in the new world?
Slavery was specific to natives but to the death of most natives, Europeans imported Africans as they were more immune to the diseases.
How significant was Renaissance science and technology for the colonizers? The colonizers benefited from Renaissance science and technologies as they brought new techniques for farming and improving daily life.
Chapter Three: New Spain. [Using bullets or short paragraphs, summarize Taylor’s assessment of]
Conquests: Spanish conquests were brutal and gruesome. All for acquiring riches conquistadors murdered hundreds of thousands of people. They murdered natives with the justification of natives having religious idols and human sacrifices.
Conquistadores: The Spanish explorers were independent men that longed for power over others. Greed was necessary to live the life of a conquistador. With no morals and complete disregard for their own beliefs they got what they came for.
Consolidation: Spain was never able to consolidate an empire in the New World as they longed to. The conquistadors practiced such brutal violence and ignored everything from the government that they did not agree with; soon the conquistadors died fighting with each other or were forced to retire their position.
Colonists: About 250,000 Spanish emigrants populated the newly established cities; they saw the New World as an opportunity for success. As the natives died off Africans and their children replaced them. As mixing production rose due to Spanish women scarcely traveling to the new world, the government created a hierarchy known as castas to keep social order.
Empire: Spain’s empire relocated to Mexico and Peru from the Caribbean and Hipiola regions due to more abundant minerals. The Spanish crowns also divided the American empire into regions known as viceroyalities which were governed by viceroy.
Gold & Silver: Gold and silver was the main reason of oversees exploitation and conquests for the money it provided for the Spanish empire. Brutal and violent acts were done to possess the metals. France, England, and Dutch also got the goods by stealing from Spain.
Chapter Four: “The Spanish Frontier”:
Make a list of the achievements of Cabeza de Vaca
Cabeza de Vaca went through many things that gave him a new outlook. He was a slave and then considered to be a scared healer. On his return to Spain Cabeza de Vaca reported of the inhumane treatment of the natives. New laws about the treatment of natives were taken.
Where did Hernando de Soto explore? What was his legacy?
Hernando de Soto found and crossed the Mississippi and led the first expedition to Florida. He left a legacy of death, disease and torment among the natives.
What did Coronado do and how does the seven cities myth develop? What happened to his money? Francisco Vasquez de Coronado commanded an expedition to explore the claims of Fray Marcos de Niza. He and his men were the first Europeans to see the Grand Canyons. They myth developed by the misinformation provided by Fray Marcos. Coronado’s money went to his expedition to find gold and silver, he never recovered his fortune after the fruitless expeditions.
Florida became the focus of Spain—why? How?
The Spanish were dealt serious blows by the French and English raiders in the Gulf between Florida and Cuba. The Spanish crown began to build fortresses along the Atlantic coast of Florida, for protection of the shipping and redeem the castaways.
Spain reaches west to New Mexico—use of the Adelanto system. Who was Onate? Don Juan Onate was the Adelanto that pushed north along the Rio Grande Valley and found New Mexico. Onate continued a fruitless conquest and when the Franciscans caught on they ended Onate’s service to Spain. What significance can be attached to New Mexico Missions? Franciscans, Benedictines, Dominicans. The New Mexico missions were somewhat effective in converting natives to Christianity. The Franciscans asked a lot of the natives by destroying the culture and introducing their own. Many natives were baptized and converted but they retained much of their beliefs and
simply added the new ideas. What was the Pueblo Revolt, how did it begin and what happen to cause the fanaticism? The Pueblo Revolt began because large sums of tribute and harsh labor were demanded from the Pueblos during a drought that killed thousands of Pueblo workers. The pueblos pushed back and rejected Christian teaching reinstituting their own culture.
Chapter Five: Canada & Iroquoia [a shift in geography, a new culture, and very different group of Native Americans] Northern parts of North America became the base of the French—discuss the map area. The map shows the domination of the French colonies during the exploration of St. Lawrence Valley. The first French settlement was Quebec along the St. Lawrence River. It shows the first Dutch settlement in the new world. It shows the five nations; Mohawk, Oneida, Cayuga, Onondaga, and Seneca. Quebec, Montreal, and Trois-Rivieres were three districts to protect the fur trade. What were the two major Native American cultural groups? How were they distinct? The two major Native American cultural groups were the Algonquian people and Iroquoian people. They were different in many ways, including location and language. Also, the Iroquoian used both hunting and horticulture while the Algonquians did not use horticulture at all.
The key for economic development was the fur trade of New France. Why was that so? They fur trade was a great source of profit for the French colonist. It was easily transportable and it was agreeable business. They avoided violent conflicts with the natives because there wasn’t any forced labor.
How and why did trade develop? Discuss.
Trade developed because they have different products, the fur and the weapons and tools, and both sides were interested. Both the French and the Natives gained something out of these trades and developed a huge trading market between them.
How did the fur trade operate in its widest applications
The fur trade interacted as businesses and consumers currently do minus the violence and confrontations between traders in that time
What was the role of Canada in development of New France?
Canada, known as St. Lawrence Valley then, was safely distant from the Spanish power. It meant valuable fur and there was a river that provided both good harbor ships and high ground ideal for a fortified post. Analyze and characterize The Five Nations. Who were they?
The Five Nations were a band of violent Iroquois tribes that banded together in the 16th century. They could sustain long distance and large scale raids against multiple enemies. They conducted mourning wars to restore power and build their status.
What impact did old world disease have upon new world natives? The old world disease impact on new world natives was massive. Many natives spread the disease as they sought out the European traders for weapons and tools after they had become dependent on them.
How important was the formation and development of Dutch trade system & involvement? Dutch arrival to the new world spurred more violence as they became the French colonist’s enemy. The Dutch had superior tools and equipment and the Iroquois feared they would lose Dutch suppliers to the northern tribes who had nice fur pelts. This created much conflict as both the French colonists and the Iroquois refused to make peace hoping to keep them separated.
In the new world the French brought the militant Jesuits to catholicize the new world. Did it work? No, it did not work. The Jesuits became enemies to the Huron due to their complex and irrational demands. The French Jesuits did not convert many natives.
Finally, how did destruction befall the organized settling of the new world Trade and war pushed the natives and colonists together in a way they could have never predicted. Colonial empires never lived up to the Europeans dreams and commands but unleashed violence, disease, and war that basically wiped out the native people. This all led to the destruction of the new
world.

The colonies pt1 the encounters

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Societies of Chesapeake Bay and New England Colonies

Societies of Chesapeake Bay and New England Colonies.
Societies of Chesapeake Bay and New England Colonies Many settlers who came to the New World from Britain in the early seventeenth century sought to establish a settlement for motives including economic and religious freedom in areas such as Chesapeake Bay colonies that comprised of Virginia and Maryland colonies and the New England colonies that consisted of Connecticut, Maine, and Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island. Settlers who often came to these regions came with varying motivations, settled into different regions that had varying geographies, and encountered different circumstances.
Through the passing of time, these particular distinctions would contribute into casting the two regions into two distinct societies. While those who settled in the early sixteenth centuries in the New England and Chesapeake Bay colonies were mostly settled by the English, on the contrary to what most believe, these two regions developed into two distinct societies by the eighteenth century. These societies were able to be characterized through their differences in many aspects of society including politically, economically, socially, and educationally.
One aspect that illustrates difference between the Chesapeake Bay and New England colonies was the social differences that the two regions developed. For example, in the Chesapeake region, disease such as dysentery, typhoid fever, and malaria ravaged through the area. Unclean air and the hot climate further spread disease amongst the settlers. These factors had larger implications for Chesapeake colony society. With the combination of these factors, an individual living in the Chesapeake often had their life cut short by an average of ten years than an individual in the New England colony.

As a result of shorter life ps, many families were disunited as widows were left with young children to support. Thus, women had a greater status than women in the New England colonies. Women of the Chesapeake region were able to inherit their husband’s estates and were issued a different property title. Disease also affected the population growth of the Chesapeake region. Since disease was widespread and many women did not migrate to the region, fertility rates were low. However, in the New England colonies, where a combination of clean air and colder climate helped decrease the risk of diseases, an individual tended to outlive their ounterpart in the Chesapeake region. Furthermore, settlers tended to migrate as families to the New England colonies, so the population was able to grow quicker. With a longer life, an individual could see the upbringing of their grandchildren. They had a pivotal role in ensuring the children grew up in a nurturing environment and that these children followed the morale and guidelines of society. Early marriage and high fertility rates contributed in a booming birthrate. These facets contributed to the creation a strong, tranquil social structure of the New England colonies.
Also unlike their Chesapeake counterparts, women in the New England colonies gave up there property rights when they married because Puritan lawmakers worried that recognizing women’s separate rights would cause conflicts between the husband and wife. As illustrated through these examples, New England and Chesapeake colonies were varied through social aspects of their societies. Another aspect in which the two regions differentiated in were economically. For example, in New England colonies, where there was not much arable land, the settlers were forced to depend on more livestock such as pigs, cattle, and sheep.
Nonetheless, the settlers were able to create a small varied assortment of crops from the little land that they had. Furthermore, settlers of the New England region developed other industries such as developing their coastlines and built them for use as harbors for industries such as fishing and shipbuilding. In contrast to the New England region, the Chesapeake Bay colonies were quite different economically. The colonies of this region were much more dependent on agriculture economically.
The settlers widely grew the addictive tobacco plant after John Rolfe (settler of the Virginia colony and the husband of Pocahantas) improved the bitterness of the plant. Thus, the demand for the plant grew steadily in England. This dependency on agriculture would eventually advance where individuals would create plantation system in order to meet the demands. Once again, as illustrated, Chesapeake and the New England region were different through their economic standards is one of the way that these two regions developed into distinct societies.
These different economic characteristics eventually leads to another differentiation in these two colonial societies. In addition to these two societies differing economically and socially, these colonial regions also differed in the political aspects. For instance, in the New England colonies, especially in the colony of Connecticut, the government was based on a town system. The congregational Puritan churches of the region were where the adult men would gather and vote.
The New England villagers voted on aspects such as electing their officials, appointing schoolmasters, as well as discussing daily matters. The colonists of this region saw sovereignty as being in the towns. The colonists also adopted this idea as a result of their conviction of unity for purpose. Conversely, the governments of the Chesapeake region operated more on a county system such as that of the House of Burgesses, where the colonists met on a yearly basis. This was a result of the people being spread out from their use of the plantation that tended to distribute the population throughout the region.
As demonstrated, the New England colonies form of government varied widely from the Chesapeake form of government. New England’s use of the town meeting system and the Chesapeake colonies use of the county system show the differing political viewpoints, just one of the aspects that defined the two regions as two different distinct societies. Although the Chesapeake and New England colonies were considered monolithic when they were first settled in the early sixteenth century, the passing of time would eventually these regions into two distinctive societies.
Those differences that define the characteristics of these two societies are essential because they play an essential role in the creation in several facets United States history such as the development of the government (as later shown in history through Roger Sherman‘s Connecticut Compromise) and social and political issues such as slavery. The Chesapeake Bay and New England colonies were indeed significant regions; even though they varied in many aspects, played a significant role in shaping the attitudes of American society later in the nation’s history.

Societies of Chesapeake Bay and New England Colonies

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The Early English Colonies In America

The Early English Colonies In America.
Early English colonies in America hardly resembled the union of men and women that would later fight against England and build a new country. In fact, until the mid-eighteenth century, most English colonists had very little, if anything to do with the settlers in neighboring colonies. They heard news of Indian wars and other noteworthy events, not from the colony itself, but from England. The colonies in the New World appeared completely different and the prospect of any unity between them seemed impossible.
The colonies in New England and the Chesapeake exemplify the many differences in the culture and lifestyles of the settlers, created mainly because of the fact that their founding fathers had held separate intentions when they came to the New World. The New England and Chesapeake colonies were both settled by immigrants from England, the New England colonies being founded by the English from East Anglia, an area in eastern England. Though this was an area thriving with small towns that they had generally liked, they decided to flee England due to religious persecution.
Hundreds of families, men, women and their children, came in search of a New World where they could practice their beliefs freely. They founded colonies such as Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island as model Christian societies. Their cities upon the hills were guides, the lanterns, for those lost in the darkness of humanity, as John Winthrop meant by his famous statement. They formed a society of strict religious participation, actually very much resembling their homeland. In the beginning, many called themselves Puritans, and kept things very simple and plain, concentrating on what was important to them.

They used the community to achieve their goals, building new towns and enjoying the social aspect of their religion. At the same time, they were committed to remain working hard to keep their community productive. They believed the “idle hands” were the devil”s workshops. An issue that really defined a split between the societies was the slavery conflict. The northerners in New England held true to their belief that every man shall be equal and no one should be enslaved, while the southerners in the Chesapeake area strongly believed in the use of slavery.
At the same time the New Englanders worked to help end slavery by preaching to others about the injustices, they worked diligently to make education in their society strong. Most people in the towns were literate so that they could read their Bibles and study them in detail with their friends and family. Some colonists were artisans or merchants. Others were small-town farmers, making sure that every member of the community had a reasonable share of God”s land. The northern colonies were renowned for being rich in furs, timber and fish.
They were especially noted for developing into a very successful trading region. The New England colonies made up the middle class society whose focal points were family, education and religion. The society remained non-capitalistic, yet still buzzed with much activity. On the other hand, the Chesapeake region had a “cash crop” get rich quickly mentality. This aristocratic region consisted of Virginia and Maryland, two colonies that seemed to be exceedingly materialistic. Evidently, their lives were based more on their liquid assets than on God or family.
The Englanders who saw the opportunity to take advantage of the popularity of a brand new crop they had discovered settled the Chesapeake area. These “gold diggers” were mainly upper-class men of wealthy families aspiring towards coming to the New World to create a large profit for themselves. These colonists were not fleeing England seeking religious or social freedom, but clearly only to add more wealth to their names. Tobacco soon became the primary crop seen growing on almost every one of these wealthy men”s plantations, which created tremendous amounts of money to add to their fortunes.
Of course almost every plantation had African slaves working on the land. These colossal estates cam! e to depend on their slaves to run their farms and slavery became a common, yet feared, way of life for many Africans. Unfortunately for these Chesapeake colonies, due to swampy land in much of the area, towns were not part of the landscape or lifestyle as they were in the north. This area was a place of fierce competition with a very minute sense of community, as opposed to the thriving northern colonies surrounded with warm and inviting community towns.
The strong focus on family, education or religion was not a main highlight in the lives of Chesapeake colonists, except in Maryland, where the Calvert family did indeed form a haven for Catholics. These two regions of the New England colonies and the Chesapeake colonies did in truth share the common fact that their settlers were all of English origin. Of course when they first set sail, even before they reached the New World, they began to separate into two distinctly different societies already.
The clearly evident reason is because these “pilgrims” came to the New World each pursuing something different. The New England settlers were longing to find a more suitable land of opportunity where they could better their lives and gain religious freedom. They wanted very much to create a society where they could focus on their family, religion and education. Where as the Chesapeake settlers, they were clearly hoping to “strike gold” in the New World. Many hoped they could improve their social status even more by gaining large profits from growing and selling such items as tobacco.
The New England colonists came and made a quite simple society and the Chesapeake colonists created a more aristocratic society. Their society seemed to care more about their wealth and power more than anything, where as the New England society grew to be one with important focus”. These two regions may have shared that same origin and spoken the same English language, but they rarely “spoke of similar things. ” Because of this culture barrier, a separated north and south was created, causing two distinctly different societies to evolve.

The Early English Colonies In America

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