New England V. Chesapeake Colonies

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fewer amount. Similar to the opinions of slavery in the civil war, the north had far less of a slave-based society. The attitudes of the two regions also varied greatly. The south often fought amongst itself, demonstrated by the Bacon rebellion in 1676 (H). The North, however, had a tightly-knit society that revolved around family. “…we must be knit together in this work as one man. We must entertain each other in brotherly affection, we must be willing to abridge ourselves of our superfluities, for the supply of others’ necessities” This is written in A Model of Christian Charity, (A) which demonstrates the harmonious energy in colonial New England. The knowledge of these two colonies differences is common, but the question still lies- why? The answer is simple. The very beginning of these two regions sparked the differences in their societies. The reason why they were settled explains why they became so different. As previously mentioned, the Jamestown settlers emigrated because of greed. They wanted the wealth that was said to be in that area, and so they sought to find it. This original attitude never changed, thus creating a society revolved around the sale of tobacco and other cash crops. The emigration to New England was sparked by the fear of racial discrimination. The entire purpose of New England was to create a safe community, and it stayed that way. This difference in societies was evident by just the people on the boats coming to the New world. Unlike the list of mostly men coming to Jamestown, the list of emigrants bound to New England documents four families, which would obviously create a more domestic-based society.

Although the New England and Chesapeake colonies were both settled by people of English origin, the society of the regions could not differ more. The nature of the two societies was based on something simple- the cause of settlement. The reason for the Chesapeake’s economically driven attitude had to do with the search for wealth that sparked the settlement of Jamestown, while New England’s harmonious society was sparked by the common goal of religious freedom. The development of the areas continued to be influenced by the original attitudes of the people that settled them, which could be seen throughout the history of the two regions.