New England Vs. Chesapeake Colonies

Early English colonies in America hardly resembled the union of men and women that would later fight against England and build a new country. In fact, until the mid-eighteenth century, most English colonists had very little, if anything to do with the settlers in neighboring colonies. They heard news of Indian wars and other noteworthy events, not from the colony itself, but from England. The colonies in the New World appeared completely different and the prospect of any unity between them seemed impossible. The colonies in New England and the Chesapeake exemplify the many differences in the culture and lifestyles of the settlers, created mainly because of the fact that their founding fathers had held separate intentions when they came to the New World.

The New England and Chesapeake colonies were both settled by immigrants from England, the New England colonies being founded by the English from East Anglia, an area in eastern England. Though this was an area thriving with small towns that they had generally liked, they decided to flee England due to religious persecution. Hundreds of families, men, women and their children, came in search of a New World where they could practice their beliefs freely. They founded colonies such as Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island as model Christian societies. Their cities upon the hills were guides, the lanterns, for those lost in the darkness of humanity, as John Winthrop meant by his famous statement. They formed a society of strict religious participation, actually very much resembling their homeland. In the beginning, many called themselves Puritans, and kept things very simple and plain, concentrating on what was important to them. They used the community to achieve their goals, building new towns and enjoying the social aspect of their religion. At the same time, they were committed to remain working hard to keep their community productive. They believed the “idle hands” were the devil’s workshops.

An issue that really defined a split between the societies was the slavery conflict. The northerners in New England held true to their belief that every man shall be equal and no one should be enslaved, while the southerners in the Chesapeake area strongly believed in the use of slavery. At the same time the New Englanders worked to help end slavery by preaching to others about the injustices, they worked diligently to make education in their society strong. Most people in the towns were literate so that they could read their Bibles and study them in detail with their friends and family. Some colonists were artisans or merchants. Others were small-town farmers, making sure that every member of the community had a reasonable share of God’s land. The northern colonies were renowned for being rich in furs, timber and fish. They were especially noted for developing into a very successful trading region. The New England colonies made up the middle class society whose focal points were family, education and religion. The society remained non-capitalistic, yet still buzzed with much activity.

On the other hand, the Chesapeake region had a “cash crop” get rich quickly mentality. This aristocratic region consisted of Virginia and Maryland, two colonies that seemed to be exceedingly materialistic. Evidently, their lives were based more on their liquid assets than on God or family. The Englanders who saw the opportunity to take advantage of the popularity of a brand new crop they had discovered settled the Chesapeake area. These “gold diggers” were mainly upper-class men of wealthy families aspiring towards coming to the New World to create a large profit for themselves. These colonists were not fleeing England