chesapeake dbq Essay

Submitted By december17bh
Words: 1282
Pages: 6

New England and the Chesapeake regions were both settled largely by people of English origin, yet their family status, affected their economic status, which was highly based around land ownership, which then lead to geographical separations, therefore forming two distinct societies in colonial America. When looking at list of immigrants in the Ship’s List of Emigrants bound for New England John Porter, Deputy Clerk to Edward Thorough good you can see that majority of the Immigrants bound for New England on March 20th, 1635 had families, as well as indentured slaves. For example Joseph Hall, a minister of age 40 came with his wife, his five daughters, his two sons, and his three servants, this would make him one of the more wealthy people in the New England region because of the headright system. The headright system was a legal grant of land to the settlers. Most headrights were 50 acres per head in the household, and two 50 acre headrights were granted to people already living in the area, as well as 50 acres were granted every time someone paid for another person to come to America, and this was were the division between the wealthy and the poor increased. In the list of immigrants in the Ship’s List of Emigrants bound for Virginia, unlike the immigrants bound for New England, none of the nomads came with families, leading to an idea that they most likely came in search of a new personal life more of than those whom came with families, who may have been looking to improve their families wealth, the people bound for Virginia were most likely looking for gold, good jobs, and wives. They were almost all at a young age in their teens and 20s, save two men who were in their early 50s, leaving them in a perfect time to jump start their lives, and do this by moving to a new land of opportunities. Such as in Captain John Smith, History Of Virginia, 1624 it says, “The worst [among us were the gold seekers who] with their golden promises made all men their slaves in hope of recompenses” which leads into the topic of indentured slaves roles, and placement in the colonies. Some people had their trip paid for by a settler, and then paid them back by being indentured servants for a certain amount of time (in Captain John Smith, History of Virginia,1624's case, in hopes new opportunity), and this was how the people got separated into two societies through geographical placement. When the indentured servants had paid their time, they ended up living in the inner part of the land, which was in closer proximity to the native tribes, which caused conflict. This was one of the reasons for Bacon’s rebellion. Nathaniel Bacon who was a wealthy man and cousin by marriage to Governor Berkeley but when one of his laborers was killed by a Native American tribe (this laborer was part of the working class, they lived in the inner region, closer to the Natives) he gathered men to approach Berkeley to get rid of the Natives in the area, and when this proposal was rejected he gathered slaves, and servants and burned down Jamestown. In Bacon’s “manifesto”, justifying his rebellion against Virginia Governor Berkeley in 1676 Bacon said “Now let us compare these things together and see what sponges have sucked up the public treasure and whether it has not been privately contrived away by unworthy favorites and juggling parasites whose tottering fortunes have been repaired and supported by the public charge” this quote really shows a different in the two societies, by comparing those who are wealthy to a sponge that soaked up everything the poor people had worked for, as in the poor work and the rich simply take. This rebellion specifically gave temporary power to the majority, which was the poor laborers and farmers, and took power from the wealthy minority. This describes how the public had to feed to the wealth of the minority,but eventually gained power which caused even more of a difference in development of the two societies. Going back