While both New England and Chesapeake colonies both came from England they are drastically different in a number of ways. A sense of community is crucial in colonies trying to run in a healthy and balanced manner. The New England colonies had a good understanding of this so it would come as no surprise to learn that they thrived as a colony. New England was founded by Puritans searching for religious freedom. The Chesapeake Colonies, however, had one sole purpose and that was to make money for the rich.
There was no sense of community in the Chesapeake colonies, rich men would bring over laborers to work on plantations or gold mines. Because of the strength of religion, the New England colonies would face scares like the Salem witch trials, while the Chesapeake colonies, conversely, faced an issue such as Bacon’s rebellion because of the emphasis on money and how poorly the servants were being treated.
New England and the Chesapeake were not only different because of the people who inhabited the colonies, but they were also different because of geographical reasons.
In the Chesapeake colonies, there was a lot of open lands, which meant rich people would own plantations and get servants to work on them. In Bacon’s “Manifesto” he attempts to justify the rebellion he initiated. Bacon as a servant believes that his rebellion was a necessity because of the fact that the servants were attacked by Native Americans and Governor Berkeley refused to retaliate, however this was just the immediate cause of the rebellion.
The servants had been treated in a bad manner for a long time before the rebellion. As a result of this, the majority of the population were servants, however in the New England colonies farming was difficult so colonists resorted to fishing and lumbering. The Chesapeake’s main reason for its finding was gold, men were trying to find gold to make money. The New England colonies were founded by Protestants, specifically Puritans, searching for religious freedom. Because New England was founded by Puritans, religion had a big role in casual life and politics. To be eligible to vote you had to be a man who was Puritan. John Winthrop in A Model of Christian Clarity writes about life in New England. Winthrop as a Puritan is likely to want religion to be important in the New England colonies, as it was.