Comparison of Chesapeake and New England Colonies Research (Essay Sample)

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Comparison of Chesapeake and New England Colonies
The late 16th and 17th century experienced a rapid urge to colonize the newly discovered Americas. England, in particular, was very prompt in responding to the need of acquiring foreign colonies. Therefore, England sent out two groups to colonize two regions of the eastern coast America namely Chesapeake and New England. The Chesapeake colonies were Maryland, Virginia, New Jersey and Pennsylvania while the New England colonies included Plymouth, Connecticut, and Massachusetts Bay (Krieger). However, these two distinct regions had unique identities. The purpose of this study clearly compares the similarities and differences between the Chesapeake and New England colonies.
The reasons behind the founding of the two colonies were very different. Religious freedom was one of the distinct characteristic that distinguished New England from Chesapeake. In England during the reign of Henry VIII, the Church of England separated from Catholicism and Protestantism became popular. The flourish of Protestantism did not deter some of the Protestants to seek complete separation from Catholicism, and so they embraced Calvinism. These Protestants together with persecuted Catholics were called “Separatists” needed a sense of religious freedom (Reich). They left England to the new land of the Americas and settled in New England. Therefore, their migration motive was not economic in nature. They slightly made variations to most of the products from England. Furthermore, the economy of New England was highly dominated by small-scale farmers and city artisans. The artisans became skilled merchants that ran commercial businesses in the cities within the colony (Reich).
On the contrary, the motive behind England settlers in Chesapeake was economic in nature as most people who left England were in pursuit of financial freedom. Jamestown along the peninsula of James River was the first town to thrive in the newly found land. The settlers in Chesapeake hoped to mine minerals like gold and silver as well as find a northwest access route to Asia. Similarly, these settlers hoped to find a cure for Syphilis, take it back to England and make it a thriving and profitable business. Nevertheless, the Chesapeake colony turned to the Powhatan Indians to help them learn the process of tobacco and corn-growing. Therefore, large plantations became a unique trademark of the Chesapeake colonies because they received labor from enslaved workers (Krieger).
Socially, the New England and Chesapeake colonies had unique distinguishing characteristics. The family size in New England was large because it was made up of couples (both males and females) while the Chesapeake family was made up of men only who were working in plantations. Moreover, the ages of settlers in New England varied widely because they migrated to the new land as family groups whereas settlers in Chesapeake were of the same average age. On the other hand, health was also a distinguishing factor. People in New England were healthier, and their life expectancy was high because they were free of tropical diseases of the south. Research claims that New England settlers gained five years while Chesapeake settlers lost ten years in life expectancy (...