Virginia Colony Contrasted with the New England Colonies
Virginia Colony Contrasted with the New England Colonies
The colonies in New England and Virginia were very different even though they both originated from England. Each colony consisted of disparate people with contrasting reasons for travelling to the New World. The colonies were able to achieve success through different means, however these means were the principle cause of many problems the developing societies faced.
The people that were to populate the New England colonies had a very conservative and logical approach to initiating their colonies. The people were seeking a place to practice their religion freely. They believed that many people around them did not believe as strongly in their religion, and wanted to divorce themselves from that halfhearted atmosphere. They brought with them those items and people they needed to create a strong community. They brought families and many relatives. They brought servants and some personal comforts. They made a strong attempt to follow the same manner of society as in England, and kept customs that were common there.
Virginia, on the other hand, was not remotely prepared to start a new colony. The majority of people coming to the colonies were fortune hunters. This co
Virginia had a difficult time getting to the point that they were successful. Virginia had gone through a deadly winter and those that survived found that tobacco grew very well in this area. They started out growing modest amounts of tobacco and discovered that they had found a solid commodity. The colony started to base their whole economy on crops, and had little interest in industry. The colony found itself a little short on labor, and they were able to supplement this with the influx of indentured servants to fill that need.
Virginia had some strong consequences in the way that their society progresses as the success of the colony grew. A type of elite system grew out of the colony at an early time. Landowners amassed land and became very influential. These land owners only made up of a very small percentage of the population, however they were able to gain almost complete political control. As the plantations expanded the elite class needed and increased number of laborers. Indentured servants solved this problem for a short period, but soon the number of them entering the country declined. There search for cheap labor was discovered when a Dutch ship accidentally found its way to the colony. The ship sold 18 slaves that began the influx o
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