New England and the Chesapeake

The difference in development between the New England and the Chesapeake region settlements occurred because of political, social, and economic reasons. The New England region includes Connecticut, Massachusetts and the Chesapeake region includes Virginia and Maryland. These regions were largely settled by the English, though others such as the French and the Spanish settled in the Americas.

Politically, there are many differences between the New England and Chesapeake regions. The New England region is based upon the “city on a hill” ideal created by John Winthrop. John Winthrop, a Puritan leader, was a stockholder brought to the Americas during the Great Migration. He had become the first governor of this region. This is a concept that means the ideal perfect society that everyone would want to copy. There was a major religious interest in the New England region. A theocracy, a government run by the church, was practiced. Under the church, the Bible was widely known and read (Doc. A). In the Chesapeake region, the government was run very differently. There was no government here in the Americas that ran this region. Instead, the government was run by stockholders in England. The major joint-stock company in England was the Virginia Company. The Tidewater Elite were the important people, who were rich and white (Doc. G).

Socially, in the Chesapeake region, there were many more men than women. In result, woman ended up having many husbands. People in this region were often uneducated. In contrast, the people in the New England region were very educated. Schools were set up. Harvard was one of the first schools built to teach people interested in learning. Most people in this region wanted to be educated and were expected to be educated. This is because their government was based on the Bible and in order to understand the Bible, one must be able to read and write. These people were the most literate in the world at that time. When coming from England to the New England region, people often traveled with their families. Men usually had lots of wives. These people were Puritans, whom were very religious. The Puritan ideal is that the family governed in the same way that kings ruled over society. These Pilgrims believed that the Anglican establishment was so corrupt that they must establish their own independent church. This is the reason for their emigration to North America. They wanted to develop a society, a civilization (Doc. D).

Economically,