Analyze the Similarities and Differences Between the New England Colonies and the Chesapeake Colonies to 1750

DBQ: Analyze the similarities and differences between the New England colonies and the Chesapeake colonies to 1750.

In spite of both colonies being settled by men, women, and children of English ancestry by the 1700s both regions evolved into two very distinct societies. The Chesapeake colonies were a far cry from the New England colonies. The Chesapeake colonies were founded on the idea of making a profit while New England colonies were established on the idea of religious refuge. Additionally, the Chesapeake colonies were settled by individual men while the New England colony were settled by families which aided in the growth of this colony. Thus the development of two separate societies occurred by reason of disputes with the Native Americans, the economy, and religion.

While the colonies in the New England and Chesapeake region had their differences, there were similarities between the two. One is that much like early colonies at the time, both had conflicts with the Native Americans (Doc 3). The reasons for conflict, however, were different. For the colonists in the Chesapeake area, tensions were already high when both sides, thought that they were better than the other side. Events took a turn for the worse, due to food supply shortages. Colonists began to raid Native American food supplies, which constituted a response from Chief Powhatan in the form of a counterattack. The crux of the conflict seemed to rise from many sources, but it was the view of land ownership that seemed incite and continuing conflicts, the Indians believing the land was owned by a tribe, the English viewing ownership on an individual basis. In contrast, the New England and Native American conflict stemmed from the following basic premise: the ever-changing control of the fur and wampum trade. Although the actual conflict didn’t start until key traders were murdered, the seeds of conflict had already existed in the area (Doc 4).

The economies of these two regions also aided in the enlargement of two separate societies. The Chesapeake Bay colonies sole purpose was money. The original settlers were sent by the crown in order to make a profit. Chesapeake Bay’s whole economic nourishment was Tobacco. Tobacco was brought by John Rolfe who snuck in tobacco seeds from the Spanish. Other than tobacco Chesapeake Bay contained many plantations and made their profits from cotton as well. Due to having many plantations, the colonists needed a form of labor, which ended up being called indentured servitude. Indentured servitude was a system in which men and women who signed a contract by which they agreed to work for a certain number of years in exchange for transportation to Virginia and, once they arrived, food, clothing, and shelter. While the form of labor was positive for