New England Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

New England - Essay Example Booming with urbanization and trade, East Anglia forced majority of Puritans to leave and seek solace in America where they could worship and carry out religious practices at will. Chesapeake settlers came arrived earlier with a view to make quick riches and return to England without involvement in agriculture. The Puritans in New England had come to farm and settle hence emigrated with their families. Their settlements quickly flourished due to large available land left by inhabitants who had been swept by diseases (Jacobs and Mitchel 93). Geography and Settlements Chesapeake, an English colony founded in 1607 by the Virginia Company of London, comprised of Virginia and Maryland. The colony had its economic headstart after a successful tobacco biotechnology by John Rolfe, a scientist cum farmer. The headright system of land ownership was popular which granted 50 acres to colony immigrants as well as to impoverished immigrants who were required to work for between four to seven years to allow their passage. Settlement was determined by the availability of water and land for tobacco growing (Meade and Merry 82). With increase in immigrants, fresh land and more irrigation water was required to increase tobacco output. Besides, they adopted representative mode of government initially constituting the house of burgess, which conducted proceedings on business and defense functions. Uprisings threatened the colonies existence in early 1620s forcing many colonists to return home. The colony became a solace for English Catholics who were facing persecution in England. This was necessitated by the passage of Toleration Act which allowed freedom of worship to Protestants and Catholics (Meade and Merry 94). New England which was formed from clustered migration from Massachusetts Bay colony gave rise to Rhode Island, Connecticut and New Hampshire in the late 1620s. The settlers were informed by their religious consciousness and deep sanctification to Christianity. Two popu lar groups, the puritans and pilgrims had divided perspectives which informed their settlements. The pilgrims who were dominant in Plymouth had extremist views of the church. They held the notion of anti-reform and thus demanded for separation from the Puritans circles. Puritans, who settled outside Plymouth, carried a purification agenda establishing congregational churches which led to the formation of new towns with similar structures. An agreement dubbed the mayflower compact was signed by mayflower colonists as a unity pact. With great will to retain the English unwritten laws, the pact provided a common concord. Later, Boston became a religious pluralist which allowed equal worship rights (Simmons 82). New England experienced cold climate and barren land inadequate for cultivation. Industries emerging out of tobacco and sugarcane cultivation in Chesapeake had little impact in this colony. Farms were small and therefore could not reap from economies of scale. With growing urban ization in New England, crop farming took peripheral role but trade grew from level to level with agricultural produce dominating trade cycles. Industrialization grew faster and to greater leaps. Chesapeake had suitable agricultural conditions, warm climate, fertile soils sufficient for corn, tobacco, sugarcane among others. Coupled with vast agricultural land, Chesapeake drew workers from far and wide especially slaves. Those who could not afford to use slave labor were