American History: Early European Migration - Essay Example

American History: Early European Migration During the later years of the 16th century and late into the 17th century, a number of European countries mainly, England, France, The Netherlands, Portugal and Spain initiated the establishment of colonies in the Americas. In North America, The Dutch and French established a number of rudimentary European societies as well as a series of long-term trading networks with some of America’s indigenous people. Among the European invaders that colonized North America, it was only the English that are seen to have established colonies of agricultural settlers whose primary interests in Native America was more about the acquisition of land as opposed to being primarily about trade (Russo 22). This aspect would eventually have huge implications in the drawn out struggle for the control of North America. In establishing their settlements, the English are seen to have sent out numerous groups of settlers to the Eastern coast of North America. These settlers settled in the two main colonies; the New England colony which were north of the Chesapeake colonies and included, Plymouth, New Haven, Massachusetts Bay, Connecticut and Rhode Island and the Chesapeake colony that included Virginia and Maryland, Pennsylvania and both East and West New Jersey (Paris 29). Although these two English colonial settlements had from the very beginning exhibited a range of unique and separate identities, they would later eventually bond to form a single nation during the late 1700’s. In 1607, Jamestown which was the first English colony to be able to prosper and thrive was established by group of 104 settlers along the James River. The Jamestown settlement is seen to have began as a failed business venture by the Virginia company of London (Norton, et al 38). The company, which was a joint stock company organized much in the same manner as modern corporations are organized had initially establishing the Jamestown colony in the hope of escaping the political persecution in England as well as replicating the successes of the Spanish who had managed to find large amounts of gold and silver in their colony settlements. the settlers were seen to hope to find silver, gold, a cure for syphilis, a northwest ship passage to Asia or any other valuables that might be able to successfully trade with back in Europe and be able to make a handsome profit from its sale other push factors that caused settlers to migrate to Chesapeake included the rapidly increasing population in England which more than doubled between the years 1500 and 1650, this massive population increase also resulted in an increase in an increase in the number of poor individuals as well as further degradation of their living conditions. Another critical push factor was that a lot of competition for work in England among the lower classes are a result of increased internal migration between Wales, Scotland, England and colonized Ireland. The pull factors that encouraged settlers to move to Chesapeake included the fact that the promoters touted Chesapeake as being an appropriate solution to the increasing unemployment and poverty in England and promised them better economic empowerment and the assurance of owning and after service. Another pull factor was that Chesapeake was also seen to offer religious freedom for some. The composition of the settlers that were sent by the company that was sent to Jamestown which included goldsmiths, silversmiths, a perfumer and a large number of gentlemen is seen to have reflected the company’s expectations as to what life in the colony would be like. These early Jamestown settlers were seen to have greatly been unprepared for the extremely rugged colonial life that they were soon to experience (Norton, et al 38). Led by Captain John Smith, the few individuals who were lucky to survive the initial voyage fond a defensible spot on the low ground and established the Jamestown settlement, however none of their plans worked out and they gradually began to die of typhoid fever and dysentery. By the end of their first year, only an estimated one third of the settlers remained and these turned to the local Native American Powhatan Indians who were kind enough to teach them the processes of tobacco and corn growing (Norton, et al 38). It is these staple crops that were to eventually flourish though out all five of the Chesapeake region colonies (Norton, et al 39). The Virginia Company reorganized itself in 1619 an giving up on the search for quick profits instead turned to the growing of tobacco. The rich gentry in England and other colonialists were able to receive 50 acres of land by simply paying for a person’s passage to Virginia (Paris 29) and settlers were encouraged to move to the settlement by being given 100 acres of land. Interested persons who could not be able to pay for their passage to Virginia could also have their passage paid for by the company in return to their being indentured as servants and work for seven years so as to pay off their passage to Virginia upon which they would be given 100 acres of land. One of the first proprietary colonies to have been established and owned by a single individual as opposed to being owned by a joint-stock company, was the Maryland colony which was granted to the first Lord Baltimore Sir George Calvert by Charles I. Upon the death of Sir George Calvert, the land was left to his son the second Lord Baltimore Cecilius Calvert founded Baltimore under a royal charter. In similar reasons to the establishment of the New England colony, Lord Baltimore who happened to have been a Catholic nobleman sought to establish a refuge for English Catholics escaping religious persecution in England (Norton, et al 40). He hoped to be able to sell large estates to these individuals who would then operate as feudal lords. As opposed to the settlers who founded the Chesapeake colony who were found to mostly be Catholics, the New England colony was primarily founded by Puritan Separatists who fled to the New World in an attempt to seek for religious freedom which was an important pull factor for their migration. When Henry VIII separated the Church of England form Catholicism, Protestantism is seen to have actively flourished all across England. However Protestantism as practiced in England is seen to have adopted a number of Catholic practices and rituals and some of the Protestants who were commonly referred to as Separatists embraced Calvinism and wanted for there to be a complete separation of the Church of England from Catholicism. These protestants together with the persecuted Catholics who had resisted joining the Anglican Church of England Embarked together and journeyed to New England in the hope of finding a place where there would be some religious freedom and they would finally be free to practice their religion as they wished (Paris 29). As opposed to the Chesapeake settlers whose motives were mostly economic in nature and sought for valuables which they could be able to trade with back in England, it is seen that the New England settlers were mostly driven by religious motives. The new England settlers did not invest as largely in staple crops as the Chesapeake colony invested in growing tobacco but instead mainly relied on various artisan industries such as shipbuilding, carpentry and printing in what is seen t have been a reproduction of England’s economy. Chesapeake and New England are seen to have had different types of settlers in that while the population of New England is seen to have been comprised almost entirely of English and White settlers, who were devoutly religious, and included Puritans, Catholics and Quakers and sought for religious freedom, the population of Chesapeake is seen to have been mostly comprised of black slaves. This was because with the existing tobacco industry boom, plantation owners were seen to mostly rely on the labor provided by the indentured servants and cheap slave labor. Slave trade in Chesapeake is seen to have in itself become a leading industry (Ayers, et al 79). The large numbers of slaves that affected the population of the area are seen to have only been brought in because of the region’s economic gold mine. The religious differences between Chesapeake and New England are seen to have been quite vast. Although New Englanders are seen to have moved to the New World so as to escape religious persecution, they were nevertheless seen to have been quite religious. The New England society was a very religious society and New Englanders commonly claimed that there essentially more godly as compared to all the other colonists (Meltzer and Bennett 66). Religion was a family-based affair and was exercised with extreme piety and with a ratio of about one clergyman serving around 600 people, New England had the highest clergyman to people ration in the entire New World. In Chesapeake, religion was found to be a less severe affair although the Anglican Church had been able to successfully set up a church in the colony in 1692. Chesapeake’s religious tone was essentially low-church, of note also is that people in the region (who happened to have mostly been slaves) did not actively participate in the religious activities of the Anglican Church. The two colonies are seen to have different founding purposes for their economies. The Chesapeake economy is seen to have mostly revolved around the activities and trade of the tobacco industry which subsequently helped in paving the way for the creation and establishment of other industries. The slave trade industry is seen to have been heavily reliant on the need for slave labor by the tobacco plantation owners. Tobacco is also seen to have helped in raising enough capital to be used in the financing of the importation of more indentured slaves by the tobacco plantation owners to work on their plantations (Paris 29). These newly purchased indentured slaves would then be put to task working on the tobacco farms a factor that would result in higher production for the firms which would in turn help them to purchase more indentured slaves in what is seen to have been a continuous and growing cycle. On the other hand, the economy of New England is seen to have not been reliant on one industry like the Chesapeake economy’s reliance on tobacco. The economy of New England was mainly based on shipbuilding, farming and fishing activities (Paris 29). However, farming in New England is seen to have not been conducted on such a large scale as it was done in Chesapeake. Because of the societal and religious family orientation of New England, farms were usually limited to small sizes that were just enough for one to able to feed one’s family had have a small surplus for trade (Norton, et al 47). As such, it can be seen that New England’s primary focus was not economic gain. The large plantations established in the south are seen to have at once been its greatest weakness and its greatest asset. Great wealth disparities and intolerance are seen to have occurred in all of the southern colonies where the established plantation system is seen to have been greatly divided by both race and class. Although the decentralized rural pattern is seen to have allowed the individual landowners to be able to have greater influence and autonomy, it is also seen to have hampered the region’s general ability to come together in the event that crisis emerged. The overplanting of tobacco by the settlers also resulted in the need for the acquisition of more land and as these colonies rapidly expanded, the setters were forced to confront the Native Americans. In contrast to the rural structure of the Chesapeake colony’s territories, the New England colony territories were established as small towns and cities. Conclusion It is quite evident that although New England and Chesapeake did have a number of similarities such are the need to migrate from England for varied reasons, they did happen to have a number differences ranging from not only religious and economic differences but also population differences. With the Chesapeake colony seeking economic gain and hence centering its society around this ideal and the New England colony seeking greater religious freedom, and consequently centering the development of its society around this idea; it is seen to be no surprise that the two colonies of New England and Chesapeake eventually developed as greatly contrasting societies. Although the two colonies appeared to be quite different on the surface, it is thanks to these differences and similarities that they were able to one day finally merge and form the great nation of the United States of America where individuals have greater freedom and are free to pursue their individual interests. Works Cited Russo David. American history from a global perspective: an interpretation. Westport, Conn: Praeger, 2000. Print. Paris Jocelyn. CliffsNotes Praxis II: Middle School Social Studies (0089). Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2012. Print. Norton Mary, et al. A people & a nation: a history of the United States. Australia ; Boston : Wadsworth, Cengage Learning, 2012. Print. Ayers Edward, et al. American passages: a history of the United States. Boston, MA : Wadsworth/Cengage Learning, 2009. Print. Meltzer Tom and Bennett Jean. Cracking the AP U.S. history exam. New York : Random House, 2004. Print. Read More