Free Response Question Essay examples

Submitted By emilymfernandez
Words: 716
Pages: 3

Despite the fact that the English settled both, the New England and Chesapeake regions were vastly different. Tobacco, disease, and low life expectancies were some factors of the Chesapeake society. New England’s society was organized, colonists were Puritans, and the life expectancies were quite high. The vastly different religious views, economies, and social aspects of these societies are what made them distinctly different from one another. The sturdy New Englanders developed a unified society, which became the foundation for small villages and farms. This kind of evolution was natural for “a people anchored by geography” (American Pageant, pg.72). The New England colonies were also enclosed by the Indians, French and Dutch. Being a Puritan colony helped form a unity for purpose. New England society grew in an organized fashion. The new towns were legally chartered by the colonial authorities and the land was distributed by proprietors. Colonists in this region had very long life expectancies. People began to know their grandparents. The early settlers of the Chesapeake region had a rough time in the American wilderness. Diseases such as malaria, dysentery, and typhoid ravaged the colonists. With life expectancies low, family ties were weak and many children were raised by a single parent. Families in this area were matriarchal. Tobacco was a major crop in the Chesapeake region. Tobacco used the soils nutrients quickly and the demand for land in the Chesapeake was relentless. Indentured servitude was introduced into the society because Africans were too expensive, Indians died too quickly, and families did not procreate quickly enough. After Bacon’s Rebellion, African slaves were incorporated into their society. The Chesapeake colonists converted the slaves into Christianity. Puritanism was the religion in New England. Puritans believed in unity and were concerned with the “moral health of the whole community” (American Pageant, pg.72). Unlike New England, the Chesapeake religion was Christianity. “Puritans ran their own churches and democracy in Congregational Church government,” (American Pageant, pg.72). Like the differences in religion, family structure was different as well. In New England, families had parents and grandparents. Women in this society were expected to be married by their early twenties and bear as many children as possible until they became barren. Families in the Chesapeake were matriarchal considering the men usually died before the women. Because of the low life expectancy of men laws were passed so that widowed women received their dead husband’s land. Another consequence of the men dying early was that women were usually pregnant before marriage. Scarcely any children in the Chesapeake were raised to adulthood with two parents. The Chesapeake was settled randomly, while New England settled in a more organized fashion. The organization of the New Englanders became the foundation for small villages and farms. All of the