The practice of dividing land in early colonies was called headright system. It was introduced by the Virginia Company in 1618. This system had to help the company survive.
The company made it so that anyone who paid for his or her passage and came to Virginia would get 50 acres of land. Also, if the person paid for another person’s passage, the person who paid would get 50 acres more. It mainly was about the slaveowners.
This system was used to attract people to come and live in Virginia. The Virginia Company needed people to work on their land, so they decided to introduce this system. This way they could get more products and money and support themselves.
Maryland v. Virginia Colonies
The Virginia Company was the one to found the Jamestown colony. At first, they wanted to locate the riches and to establish a trading post, which wasn’t successful at all. Later the permanent colony was turned into a tobacco production, which was very successful.
Maryland was established in 1632 as a proprietary colony of one man, who was it total power of the territory. The land was given to him in order to commemorate his father. Later in the future the colony’s main product has also become tobacco, though smaller that in Jamestown.
At the beginning, both colonies were rather centralized in terms of leadership. In Jamestown it was John Smith, with his strict militant discipline and iron rule. In Maryland it was Cecilius Calvert with his absolute power over all legislation and trade.
Martin Luther and the Protestant Reformation
Throughout years, the Catholic Church was becoming more and more powerful. It has started and ended wars and crusades, it made people burn scientists, and it even made kings change their decisions. In the end, it had a lot of money and gold. Moreover, it seemed like money became the most important thing for the Church. It was building huge temples, monuments, palaces and residences. It was buying expensive sculptures, paintings and other luxuries. It had enough money to help the poor, but it for some reason did not.
People started noticing and criticizing it. One of the most famous protesters of the 16th century was Martin Luther. He accused the Church of being a corrupted self-imposed institution. He accused the Church of saying things, which are not written in the Bible and, most importantly, he accused it of selling indulgences. Buying such a certificate meant that if you pay money, your sins are forgiven and forgotten. It was totally against the Bible.
The impact of Martin Luther’s ideas was and still remains huge. He changed the Church history completely. He started a reformation, which resulted in the Catholic Church losing its total power. Moreover, new Protestant churches were established, which were independent from Rome. Also, a more humanistic and free interpretation of the Bible could already take place.
