AP US History DBQ

DBQ: The Diverging Societies The Chesapeake and New England colonies evolved into two distinctive societies by the 1700’s because differences in developments occurred. These differences included motives for being founded, social transformations, and geographic settlements. The Chesapeake and New England society differed in their motives for colonization. The Chesapeake region of Virginia was founded by the Virginia Company as a joint-stock company. Their main goal was to build opportunities for the settlers to make profits by selling houses. Later, they introduced the head-right system that allowed further economic growth for the people of the land. It promoted personal business and the colonist became increasingly motivated to aid in the growth of the society.
Tobacco became an objective for the colonization of Virginia because in the beginning, it transformed the economic spectrum of the society. It drove the landowners to increase export towards Britain and evidently renewed the community. Also, Virginia became an endless search for gold. Colonist would dig and travel the land in hopes for riches. This was described in document F, as Virginia became a region of hope for the bullion, where the seekers would put their faith in the recompenses.
Constantly, the New England region demonstrated a different motive for colonization, as their main intentions revolved around religious freedom. The New England settlements became a religious refuge for Puritans and Separatists which together formed the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1629 led by John Winthrop. As described in document A, John Winthrop founded the Massachusetts colony in order to obtain religious purity and reform. This idea was called “the city on a hill” which was Winthrop’s idea of a moral society based on godliness, which each region practiced daily.
Furthermore, the New England outpost concentrated on the importance of religion by involving it in their everyday lives economically. For example,