Differences of the New England and Chesapeake Regions
What was life like for the American colonist at the end of the seventeenth century?
Well, if someone were to ask the residents of Chesapeake and New England they would almost certainly get an analysis of two very distinct societies. Due to geographical, climatic, economic, and moral differences, New England and Chesapeake developed into completely dissimilar regions.
The effects of climate and geography had an extremely opposite reaction in reference to New England and Chesapeake. A harsh climate in Chesapeake allowed diseases such as malaria, dysentery, and typhoid run ramped. Half the people born in early Virginia and Maryland did not live to see their twentieth birthdays. In addition families were both few and fragile in this fierce environment. But while Chesapeake was dealing with a harsh climate, New England was reaping the benefits of cleaner water and
Lastly moral or religious difference further separated the two regions. The Chesapeake residents suffered from weak family ties that were reflected through the many pregnancies among unmarried girls. In contrast the Puritan laws sought to defend the privileges of marriage. Divorces were extremely rare and authorities punished adulterers with harsh penalties. More differences occurred with the rights of women. Southern men often died young leaving their widows the rights to their estates. Puritan officials worried about the unity of marriage, and made women give up all property rights before matrimony. Women persecution did not stop there, large-scale witch-hunts peaked in Salem Massachusetts. These witch-hunts grew from unsettling social and religious changes happening at the time. The hysteria eventually ended in 1693 when the governor's wife was even accuse
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