Today, the United States of America is a very racially and religiously diverse society. We saw the seeds of diversity being sown in the early days of colonization when the Chesapeake and New England colonies grew into distinctive societies. Even though both regions were primarily English, they had similarities as well as striking differences. The differentiating characteristics among the Chesapeake and New England colonies developed due to geography, religion, and motives for colonial expansion.
Virginia, the Chesapeake Bay area, was not interested in long-term colonization in America. Most emigrants bound for Virginia were young males, only a handful of women came across the Atlantic to the Chesapeake colonies. At this time, men out numbered women 5 to 1, later this ratio only reached 5 to 2. Because of the shortage of women, 70% of Chesapeake men never married. Thus not producing any children to add to the colony's population. In 1607 the English were originally looking for gold, and silver, they also wished to find the cure for syphilis and the western passage to India. After additional people had arrived in 1609, nearly 80% of Jamestown's population had died. John Smith referred to Jamestown as 'a misery, a ruin, a death, a hell,' then the colony started producing and exporting tobacco. King James' comment to this was, 'no one can build a colony on smoke,' but Jamestown did. In 1640, Jamestown began to export three million pounds of tobacco to England annually. This number grew considerably in 1660, when Jamestown was exporting over ten million pounds to England annually. To cultivate these tobacco crops the Chesapeake Bay colonist utilized slave labor, and the use of indentured servants. The use of indentured servants soon died out when Virginia, forbid the whipping of white servants. In the Chesapeake colonies, religion was not as strict as in New England. In these colonies there were a number of small optional religions, this was very different than the ways of the New England colonies.
Unlike the Chesapeake, the New England colonies were greatly interested in their long-term colonization efforts. A man by the name of John Winthrop led the Puritans, which composed the New England colonies. He believed that their colony was 'a city on the hill,' as described in the book of Matthew. The Puritans were a fervent religious colony, where the church was never disputed. There were some historical cases when the Puritan people would speak out and ...
The Huguenots, French Protestants, became the center of political and religious quarrels in France between 1500 and 1600. Important people such as Anthony King of Navarre, Louis I de Bourbon de Conde, and Admiral Gaspard de Coligny were Huguenots. They were named the Huguenots by the French Roman Catholics. The name, Huguenots, is believed t...
GREAT BRITAIN Great Britain is made up of three countries, England, Scotland and Wales. It is an island off the coast of north'west of Europe. Britain is part of the United Kingdom of Britain and Northern Ireland. The capital is London. Relief There are many different landscapes in Britain, from high mountains to rolling hill sand vall...
On August 6, 1945 the atomic bomb was dropped on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. The Enola Gay, piloted by Colonel Tibbetts, was chosen to make the mission. The mission was recorded as successful by Capt. William S. Parson at 9:20 A.M. This was an extremely controversial military strategy in the United States. Was the United Sta...
Ireland and England's relationship between 1800 and 1916 was tumultuous at best. Politics, nationalism, and religion caused huge rifts between the two countries. England believed they had authority over the country, and that 'Ireland should be governed in the English interest,' as England's history with Ireland went back before Ireland was even an...
James Watt made many contributions to this country during the Industrial Revolution. He made numerous improvements on the Newcome steam engine, invented the term horse power, and designed the Sun and Planet wheel. He contributed most of his life to make others' lives easier and for them to prosper and grow. In 1763 John Anderson asked Watt t...