Sample Essay On Colonization In Early America

During the late 16th century and early into the 17th century, European nations colonized the newly identified Americas. In particular, England sent out groups to the eastern coast in North America. Notably, the two regions were the New England and the Chesapeake areas. Certainly, from the beginning, both regions had unique and separate identities.
New England was at the north of Chesapeake and comprised of Plymouth and the Massachusetts Bay Colony. The Chesapeake region of the colonies included Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania and the New Jerseys. About 104 settlers who settled along the James River initiated the Chesapeake region settlements. These settlers were motivated by hopes of finding gold, silver, a cure for syphilis and the Northwest Passage to Asia. In essence, a few members of the original voyage survived while many of them were subject to ruthless colonial forces, which separated them from the society.
Unlike the settlers of the Chesapeake region, the New England settlers mainly comprised of puritan separatists who were in search of religious freedom. Thus, their motives were religious in nature and not economic.
In addition, the religion of the two regions differed in many ways. The New Englanders were very religious and claimed to be the most religious among all the other colonists. At the same time, religion was practiced with extreme piety and was family-based. In the Chesapeake region, there was a low religious tone with most people avoiding participation in the Anglican Church-the only established church of the time.
Economically, the two regions were different. The Chesapeake economy was based on tobacco, which expanded the economic opportunities at a later stage. The tobacco plantation owners served as a market for yet another economic activity-the slave trade. In essence, slaves were sold to provide labor in the tobacco farms. For the New England region, the economy was not based on several activities including fishing, farming and shipbuilding. However, the farms were very small and produced little surplus as opposed to the vast plantations of Chesapeake.