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Chesapeake Colonies vs. New England Colonies

Decent Essays

During the late 16th century and into the 17th century, two colonies emerged from England in the New World. The two colonies were called the Chesapeake and New England colonies. Even though the two areas were formed and governed by the English, the colonies had similarities as well as differences. Differences in geography, religion, politics, economic, and nationalities, were responsible for molding the colonies. These differences came from one major factor: the very reason the English settlers came to the New World. 
The Chesapeake colonies were primarily created by companies interested in profiting from the natural resources of the New World such as gold or silver to bring back to England. The New England colonies were primarily created …show more content…

Both colonies were an experiment as a “new society” for colonization. In New England, the population was almost entirely English and white. Religious families, including Puritans, Quakers, and Catholics made up a large percentage of the population due to the reputation the New England colonies had as a place of religious freedom. In the Chesapeake colonies, the population was a majority white indentured servants and later had more black-slaves. With the boom in the tobacco industry, plantation owners relied on the cheap labor slaves or indentured servants provided. Both colonies take lead in driving off the natives and seizing their own land. Most of the population in both colonies were English/White. The political difference between the New England and Chesapeake region was that New England government associate more with religious matter than the Chesapeake government. The type of government was a theocratic environment. Each town, which was filled with educated people, had a local authority and held monthly town meetings in the meeting hall. The Chesapeake Colonies was a legislative owned by aristocrats. The county governments were more spread out; therefore the backcountry farmers were underrepresented. Both colonies had their set way of organizing their government. The New England and the Chesapeake colonies differed in numerous ways. These differences included geography, religion, economics, nationalities, and politics, which

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