The Differences between the Chesapeake and New England Area in Colonial Times Essay Example

The Differences between the Chesapeake and New England Area in Colonial Times Essay The Differences Between The Chesapeake and New England Area In Colonial Times Europeans began the colonization of America in the early 1600s. In the beginning they all came to escape from something in Europe, and while there were many various reasons for leaving, most were fleeing from religious persecution. The other main attraction was economic prosperity in a new world rich with resources, to either be sent back to Europe, or to simply use here and make a new life for themselves, better than that which they had back home. The English colonies of the Chesapeake nd New England were similar in terms of who founded them ( English settlers), but the similarities pretty much stopped there when it came to reasons for settling, and once they had established themselves how their economies and societies were set up. They differed greatly in economic structure, religious beliefs, societal structure, and also population make-up. The two regions were very close, but in the end became two completely different regions with unique identities. The New England area was originally settled by people seeking religious freedom in the new world. They were primarily Puritan Separatists. They decided to come to the new world after the Church of England separated from Catholicism in a decision made by King Henry VIII. Although the Church of England and Catholicism were no longer intertwined, they still felt they did not have the entire amount of religious freedom they desired. They decided that the best course of action would be to head to the new world so they could start a society in which they could practice their religious beliefs freely and without persecution. We will write a custom essay sample on The Differences between the Chesapeake and New England Area in Colonial Times specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on The Differences between the Chesapeake and New England Area in Colonial Times specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on The Differences between the Chesapeake and New England Area in Colonial Times specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer They were also Joined by some quakers and catholics who had not Joined the church of England, who also wanted reedom to practice their religious beliefs how they saw fit. Although they came to the new world to start a society based on living a religious life,having religious freedom, and being a tolerant society, in reality they ended up being very pompous in their beliefs as being holier than thou towards the other colonies. This is because their entire societal structure was based on religion, and living as virtuous a life as possible. The Chesapeake region could not possibly be any more opposite of the New England region when it comes to their religious beliefs and practices. The Chesapeake region was founded primarily for economic gain, and therefore religion was not the cornerstone on which it was founded, as was the case with the New England region. The primary church in the Chesapeake region was the Anglican church. Religious participation and emphasis was very low in the Chesapeake region. Due to this their society was not structured around religion as was the New England region, instead it was structured around economic prosperity. The New England regions societal structure was completely based on religion due their being founded on the basis of religious freedom. This meant that everyone in the region was very faith oriented, and conducted themselves as so. The population in the New England region was almost completely white Europeans. There was very little to no commercial agricultural operations in this region as they came with the intent of religious freedom and not economic enterprise. Due to this they relied primarily on subsistence farming to provide for their wants and needs. The only real commercial ventures in the area at the time were ship building and woodworking. This led to their being a large amount of urban development in the area at the time ue to the need to house all of the people who lived in the region. They could afford the land to house as many people as they wanted since they did not need the land to use for farming and other agricultural endeavors as they were not concerned with making a profit off of them. In a very stark contrast to the societal and economic makeup to the New England area, the Chesapeake area was once again a polar opposite in almost every aspect mentioned above. The Chesapeake area was not founded on pursuit of religious freedom, but instead in the pursuit of economic prosperity. As such there society was completely structured around economic ventures and financial gain, primarily through the agricultural industry. The main cash crop for the area during this time period was Tobacco. Since they were focused entirely on agricultural enterprises and making as much profit as possible, their population makeup was very different as well from the New England areas population. They Chesapeake region was absolutely chock full of slaves. All of these slaves were needed in the area to work the agricultural fields at a low cost, or simply the nitial cost of the slave. Implementing slaves into the equation meant that all of the owners of these agricultural enterprises were able to maximize their profit, and therefore become very wealthy, which was the original idea behind founding their region from the onset. Due to this practice the regions population was primarily made up of slaves. It required a lot of slaves to work the immense amount of agricultural areas that were found throughout the region, and so they brought as many slaves over from Africa as they could. As a result of the area being founded olely for the purpose of agricultural enterprising and economic profit, there was very little actual urban development. Although the regions eventually Joined in the formal formation of the American colonies, they were completely different regions from the onset, and during their time. The Chesapeake region being founded completely for economic gains, while the New England region was founded entirely for the pursuit of religious freedoms. The societal structure of the Chesapeake area was completely founded and based upon economics, while the societal structure of the New England Area was almost ompletely faith based. The population structure in the Chesapeake area was almost entirely land owners and their slaves, while the New England area was simply comprised of white Europeans. There was no real heavy economy in the New England area at the time aside from ship building and wood-working since they were entirely focused on their faith, and in contrast the Chesapeake was completely focused on and centered around their agricultural economy. In the end although they were different, they came together and formed the beginnings of what is now our nation as we know it today.