New England and Chesapeake
...ment H). Those who weren’t in the “inner circle” would be poor and get poorer because “sponges have sucked up the public treasure” (Document H). This primarily shows that the Chesapeake region became corrupt from politics because the monarchial rule through governors. Englanders despised English rule therefore they had governments in which gave power to “saints” who were always adult male. In Connecticut and in Massachusetts, one had to be a part of the congregation in order to run for governor. Because the government was based on religion, people would have more individual rights than in Chesapeake. In New England, the Puritan religion was extremely important. Not only would Puritan beliefs run the government but also social beliefs and rights. New Englanders believed that they should “rejoice together, mourn together, labor and suffer together” (Document A) meaning they would have more a “family” and “community” society. At first when emigrants were arriving to New England, there would be family units arriving together contrary to the individuals arriving in Virginia. In New England the families would be granted sufficient land to support the family. New Englanders would mutually help each other since each “town shall be composed of forty families…rich and poor” so “everyone shall have a share of the meadow or planting ground” (Document D). New England would try to promote more of a “godly” community. Chesapeake colonists were very different from the New England society. Chesapeake colonists would be more independent than the New Englanders. The majority of the Chesapeake colonists were individuals that were searching for fame and fortune from gold. They would talk nothing “but dig gold, wash gold, refine gold, load gold” but in the end there was no gold. At the end instead of laboring for gold the majority of the Chesapeake colonists would labor for tobacco. Thus there was a fine line between the rich and the poor since those who were rich in the first place would get richer. The reason why the rich would get richer in the Chesapeake colonies was because of their main cash crop: tobacco. Once tobacco was discovered in Virginia, the crop became extremely profitable in the southern colonies. Tobacco would be the “gold” that many of the gold-seekers were looking for. Tobacco would still be profitable after the giant plunge in price per pound until the plunge eventually went below the profitable two pence per pound. This would create a depression in the 1670s when Bacon’s rebellion occurs. Another cash crop of the southern states would be rice in the Carolinas. In the Chesapeake region, the colonists would depend on farming as a profitable trade and would rely on cash crops such as tobacco and rice. In New England, the economy wouldn’t be as s...