Isabel Peso Macías
AP USA History 2sd Hour
30/08/2018
As we already know, the English colonies were located on the east coast of the current United States. The first two colonies were New England and Chesapeake. Both places were populated by English people, but despite this both places ended up being very different.
The people who settled in New England were mostly families who wanted to escape the religious persecution in England. The settlers dictated that God was the supreme being of the colony and that people should be equal and work for God. New England was dominated by religion. The Mayflower Compact is basically an example of this case.
Chesapeake was formed for different reasons to those of New England. It was created by people who simply searched for land, free of debt and adventure. We have John Smith as an example, which was with his settlers for individual reasons.
As we see in the list of emigrants from the ship that went to New England in the Weymouth in 1675 (Document B), most of them were families. This made the colony a family colony, while in the Ultimate ship list that he went to Virginia in the same year (Document C) that the emigrants were many people who went for their own reasons.
The policy of both colonies was also different. The government of New England was implanted around the community. The Articles of Agreement written in 1636 (Document D) show that the community was constituted by families led by a governor and by the church. On the other hand Chesapeake was governed by a royal governor who dictated laws and taxed people. The King and the Parliament had almost all power.
We also bear in mind the international differences that affected the two companies. The inhabitants of New England had a more rocky soil, so their agriculture limited, so they had to resort to wood, and fishing, ect ... However Chesapeake had a lot of soil so agriculture was the main activity.
The slaves also separated the Chesapeake from New England. This caused an economic difference.
The two societies also separated the relationship with the Indians and other countries. The people who lived in New England got along well with the Indians and other countries. On the other hand, Chesapeack does not. They had enough conflicts with the Indians and the Dutch. Governor Berkeley in 1673 and his council (Document G) were obliged to ask the king for help. They used slaves and servants to defend them.
Virginia also had internal problems, since there was an important discrimination in the classes that gave rise to a revolution. This revolt was led by Roger Bacon and was known as Bacon's Rebellion, against Governor Berkeley in 1674 (Document). People just wanted to be treated just like the people of New England.
In conclusion we can say that although both places have the same English origin, both New England and the Chesapeake ended up developing as two different societies.
