Chesapeake Dbq Essay Example
Chesapeake Dbq Essay Example

Chesapeake Dbq Essay Example

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  • Pages: 2 (443 words)
  • Published: December 15, 2017
  • Type: Case Study
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The New England and Chesapeake colonies, while both founded by England and settled mainly by Englishmen, ended up being very different settlements by the 1700s. The reasons for this were differences in geography, religion and reasons for funding, and the types of settlers who emigrated to each settlement The Chesapeake and New England colonies while both situated on the East Coast, had very different geographical features.Virginia and the surrounding Chesapeake consisted of swampy lowlands and marshes as well as many rivers that would empty into the largest estuary in the United States, the Chesapeake Bay (Document G). Although the colonists of the area initially tried to find gold, they soon found out that the land was better suited for farming.

The New England colonies however, had features such as hills and meadows, and land for farming had

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to be equally divided so that everyone received a fair share of the earth (Document E). Another difference between the New England and Chesapeake regions is the reason for which each was founded.As made clear by the “Articles of Agreement from Springfield, Massachusetts in 1636,” the reason the New England colonies were founded was not to produce profit, but rather to spread their religious views and freely express them. John Winthrop, the leader of the colonies, felt that the New England colonies should be “as a city upon a hill” or an example of goodness for everyone to follow. The Chesapeake colonies however, were founded almost entirely in the hopes of finding gold (Document F).

When this failed, the colonists switched to commercial farming, especially the cultivation of tobacco after it was introduced by John Rolph.These differences i

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foundation had a direct effect on the types of people who would emigrate from the mother country to live and work in the colonies, the last difference between the New England and Chesapeake colonies. People emigrating from England to Virginia were mainly young single men, many of them indentured servants, needed as labor for the tobacco plantations (Document C). As farmers in the Chesapeake would gain more land, the labor shortage would increase, requiring more emigrants and indentured servants to cross over to the colonies.The New England colonies however, had little room for farmland, and therefore required tradesmen and families to settle into cities (Document B).

This allowed the area to take on a more industrial action. The New England and Chesapeake colonies were separate in the areas of geography, religion, foundation, and the types of people who settled and lived there. Despite the fact that they had the same mother country, these differences are what caused the two regions to be two distinct societies.

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