Motivational Analysis of the New England and Chesapeake Colonies

The colonies of New England and Chesapeake sprouted from a common origin and spoke the same tongue yet had little in common with each other. Despite geographic and demographic differences in the Chesapeake and New England colonies, the most influential factor in determining why each colony developed differently was each colony's motives. It was through this motivational difference that distinctly divided the New World into the North and South. When immigrants fled form England due to religious persecution, they sailed to the New World and founded colonies such as Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Hampshire, and New England as model Christian societies. They believed in constructing "cities upon hills," as John Winthrop put it, to guide those lost in the darkness of sin in England. Being founded by strict religious followers led the colony of New England to have very religious values and ethics. Document B displays a list of Emigrants bound for New England, most of which are groups of large families . The arrangement of families in towns created a tight knit community, which allowed a democratic government to form, were each person in the community had input, thus making an effective government. Virginia on the other hand developed distinctly differently. As document C shows, a list of emigrants bound for Virginia displays near to a 3:1 ratio of men to women and now families whatsoever . This difference affected the way the Chesapeake colony evolved. Without a family to invest in, men of the Chesapeake usually returned their proceeds back into the land, which they reaped it from. This created a community separated by vast plantations, which had little unity and no collaboration, thus making it difficult to produce an effective and democratic government. These demographic differences indeed differentiated the New England colony from the Chesapeake colony, but more distinct differences were found in each colony's geographic diversity. Due to the harsh