Religious Persecutions in England - Essay Example

? Number: Lecturer: Introduction Majority of settlers in Americas in early 17th century were from England and had English heritage. They were later to differ in social, economic and religious outlines because of their intentions as they immigrated. Amazingly, they had little knowledge on adjacent colonies since they could hear of uprisings taking place in their neighborhoods from right England. It showed divergence in status and structure defined by the intentions of their founding fathers. Religious persecutions in England forced immigration from East Anglia, east part of England. 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 popular 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 urbanization 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 edged out of farmlands and farming. Chesapeake’s grew amazingly rich from proceeds of big time farming (Fredrickson 83). Trade and Economy Chesapeake colonies predominantly grew tobacco which was first established in Virginia in the late 17th century and spread to other regions of Maryland and Carolina. Land was cheap in Maryland prompting plantation farming facilitated by Lord Baltimore. Plantations occurred along riverbanks for quick transportation and preferential ploughing conditions. Growth of towns in this area was slow since most affluent farmers preferred building their own wharves for produce shipment to England. Besides, workers were sought from England who were to benefit from the headright system. The indentured servants had to be given land of their own which meant that the plantation owner should have had vast tracts of land. The protracted economic depression of 1660 to early 1700s was brought about by changing tobacco prices which led to annihilation of local Indian population by the disenchanted colonists. New England had magnificent urban growth with many towns and surrounding small farms. Chesapeake constituted large plantains and dismal town growth while indentured labor limited settlement of this colony by women. Little economic advantage was derived by indentured servants who became subsistence farmers. Their numbers dwindled and were quickly replaced by slaves from African descent. Though the placement of indentured servants and slaves were at par, laws legislated in Chesapeake defined slave labor as generational and followed race. Slave population rose substantially after 1670s as planters exploited labor of slaves and their children. The colonists both in New England and Chesapeake had notorious human right violations and were known to persecute Indians. This brewed tensions between the master and slave, and the have and have-nots. Presence of enough land around Chesapeake Bay with several tributaries and streams made it possible to ship produce, import and transport produce within estates and farms (Young-Hoon 93). Religion and Family Both Chesapeake and New England were inhabited by people from England. They did not emphasize on religion professions though the colony of Maryland did underscore the need for strong religious beliefs. Created as a haven to settle persecuted Catholics, Lord Baltimore engendered the act of toleration for Catholics and other religious sects. Most Chesapeake settlers were not married and ambitious for wealth and land. They constituted by majority Protestants and few Catholics running away from religious persecution (Taylor and Foner 92). In New England majority were Catholics seeking freedom of worship and escaping persecution. Its lifestyle was strong, conservative, well embedded and of good family values. Women sired more than six children and expected to re-marry if widowed. Likewise, for men to vote they were required to be part of church congregation, or work in trade and industry. Majority of families in New England travelled and immigrated together bound by common religion which influenced their need for order, education, and church controlled politics (Stearns 812). Puritans in New England believed in closely webbed brotherhood meant to redeem one from sin, communal assistance and togetherness. Growth of towns was necessitated by their need to attend church services and fortress strong communities (Simmons 314). Common to English societies then, men had greater power than women. Religious officials ran both government and the church. Chesapeake lifestyles were not family oriented, disorganized, and less conservative which was a contrast of those in New England. There were less women hence fewer families and slow population growth as opposed to those in New England. Few churches and schools meant that people became less strong on religion and remained illiterate. Since there were many women in New England, power and control was vested on them. Chesapeake was infested with waterborne diseases and malaria while people in New England were healthy and literate (Fredrickson 82). John Winthrop coined a statement that their guides were cities upon the hills, the lanterns, and for the ones lost in the darkness of humanity. A society with great religious involvement idealized their motherland, England. They worked very hard to remain productive and reap the fruits of their labor (Egelston 112). Conclusion New England society was humbled by their supplication to God and grew to be one with significant direction while aristocratic Chesapeake identified wealth and power first and invested in the bargains of investment around America and abroad. Owing to a common origin with same spoken and written language, their destiny was mapped with a culture more distinct than before emerging. America became to be gradually separated into zones, north and south. Works Cited Egelston, Mike. The land system in New England colonies. New York: Read books design, 2010. Fredrickson, George. Racism: A short history. Princeton: Princeton Unversity Press, 2003. Jacobs, George and Okier Mitchel. History of crises under the national banking system, Washington. Washington: Harvard College Library, 1910. Meade, Teresa and Wiesner-Hanks Merry. A companion to gender history. London: Wiley-Blackwell, 2006. Nelson, William. The Common Law in Colonial America: The Chesapeake and New England, 1607-1660. London: Oxford University Press, 2008. Simmons, Robert. The American colonies: from settlement to independence. Norton: Norton, 2009. Stearns, Peter. Gender in the world history. New York: Taylor & Francis, 2006. Taylor, Aston and Ely Foner. American Colonies. New Jersey: Viking, 2001. Young-Hoon, Kwak. "A brief history of project management." The Story of Managing Projects 2.1 (2005): 65-72. Read More