During the early 16th century and into the early 17th century, European colonies rapidly colonized the newly found Americas. England in particular sent large groups to the east coast of North America to two separate regions, which would later become known as the Chesapeake and New England areas. The Chesapeake region included Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and the New Jerseys. The New England region of the colonies included Rhode Island, Plymouth, Massachusetts Bay Colony, New Haven, and Connecticut. Eventually in the late 1700’s these two regions would come together to form one nation. Both regions were very different and did not share many common ideas. They were different in their views and beliefs on religion, economy, and motives for colonial expansion.
In 1609 a group of settlers, led by Captain John Smith, founded Jamestown which became the first colony to thrive and prosper in the New World. The main goal of these Chesapeake settlers was to make money by finding gold, silver, or anything else that they could take back to England and make a profit on. Another goal of theirs was to find a northwest passage to Asia. The New Englanders were mostly puritans who first settled in Plymouth and were driven to the New World in hopes of religious freedom. New Englanders wanted to escape religious persecution rather than make money and grow a rich economy.
The living situations between the two colonies were extremely different. The Chesapeake colonies struggled early on to gather enough food and water. They did not know how to farm in their new area and quickly ran out of food and started to starve. They quickly had to turn to Native Americans to trade for food and other essentials. The colonists learned quickly, somewhat due to John Smith’s leadership, that if they did not farm, they would not get to eat. Chesapeake Bay colonies were also much more unhealthy then the New England colonies. Diseases spread