Chesapeake And New England(Dbq)

Although the people of the New England and Chesapeake regions both descended from the same English origin, by 1700, their motivations, geography, and way of life, had led them in two distinct directions. Since both of these groups were beset with issues that were unique to their regions, due to their exposure to different circumstances, each was forced to rethink and reconstruct their societies. As a result, the New England and Chesapeake regions were heavily impacted by distinct motivations, geography and way of life.

As the regions began to expand and develop, their motivations for settlement helped to mold their societies. New England was a place where men sought refuge from religious persecution, by establishing a haven for religious refugees. Yet, the New Englanders attempted to spread their own beliefs of religion. As illustrated by John Winthrop in his Model of a Christian Charity, he preached to his fellow colonists that “we shall be a city upon a hill” (Document A) exemplifying New England’s aspirations of a Holy Utopia. While the New Englanders settled to create a Holy Utopia, the people of Chesapeake were not only concerned with their religious freedom, but with something shinier in mindвЂ"a more materialistic motivation. As demonstrated in Document F, “[t]here was no talk…but dig gold, wash gold, refine gold, load goldвЂ¦Ð²Ð‚Ñœ colonists came primarily to the Chesapeake region to increase their wealth. The differences in the New England and Chesapeake’s primary motivations for settlement, led to the divergent societies.

As the colonies continued to develop, the regional geography had a hand in influencing this expansion. New England was known for its harsh climate, forcing its inhabitants to endure brutal winters, and miserably hot summers. Because many European immigrants sought arable land, the unyielding soil of New England impeded the immigrants agriculturally and forced them to depend on livestock. They criticized the Indians for “wasting” the land-not using what little arable land they had to its full potential. As a result, the New Englanders used up as much land as they could, to make sure “[t]hat everyone shall have a share of the meadow or planting groundвЂ¦Ð²Ð‚Ñœ, they felt it was their duty to clear woodlands and establish a settlement. Additionally, they turned to the coastline and built harbors to fish rather than farm, unlike their Southern counterparts. Geography had a different impact on the people of the Chesapeake region. The people of Chesapeake capitalized on their good soil, unlike the New Englanders, they grew tobacco. Tobacco proved very profitable and production grew rapidly. As a result, the Chesapeake region was flooded with indentured servants and slaves to manage the tobacco, “we leave at our backs as many servants … as there are freemen”(Doc G). Chesapeake had its own obstacle brought by nature. Diseases such as dysentery, malaria, and typhoid struck hard, cutting off ten years of life expectancy for the people of the Chesapeake. Geography had both positive and negative impacts on the early colonists. It influenced the New England and Chesapeake