US History DBQ Essay: New England and Chesapeake

Essay by num1qutieHigh School, 11th gradeB, November 2006

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The New England and Chesapeake region developed differently by 1700 mainly due to differences in religious backgrounds. These two regions may have shared the same origin and spoke the same English language, but they hardly ever came to an agreement. Because of this culture barrier, a separated north and south was created, causing two distinctly different societies to evolve. New England was a refuge for religious separatists leaving England, while people who immigrated to the Chesapeake region had no religious motives. As a result, New England formed a much more religious society then the Chesapeake region. While religion shaped the daily life in New England, money, gold, and tobacco farming dominated the Chesapeake.

Puritans fleeing religious persecution in England settled in New England. They were a highly religious group of people. The Englanders who saw the opportunity to take advantage of the popularity of tobacco they had discovered settled the Chesapeake area.

These "gold diggers" were mainly coming to the New World to create a large profit. These colonists were not fleeing England seeking religious or social freedom, but evidently only to gain prosperity. The New England settlers were longing to find a more appropriate land of opportunity where they could improve their lives and gain religious freedom. They basically wanted to create a society where they could focus on their families, religion and education. Where as the Chesapeake settlers, they were obviously encouraged to the riches in the New World. In New England, Puritan values created close- knit communities (congregationalism). In these communities, schools were established and trade flourished in contrast with the south. Also, New England was founded by families, not single men looking to get rich quick (influenced societal values.)In Governor John Winthrop's, A Model of Christian Charity, he states that their goal was to form...