English Settlements in America free essay sample

Massachusetts and Virginia were different and similar in many ways. In this essay, I will tell you and explain why I say these things about the colonies, and explain to you which colony was more successful than the other and why they were more successful. The Virginia Colony was the very first of the original 13 colonies in America. The 13 colonies were divided into three regions including the New England Colonies, the Middle Colonies, and the Southern Colonies. The Virginia Colony was founded by John Smith and other colonists in 1607. The colony had many natural resources including forests, fish, and agricultural land. The Virginia Colonys trade and export included tobacco, cotton, livestock, fruit, grain, and vegetables. Plantations were common in the Virginia Colony, where cotton and tobacco were often grown in large quantities. The Southern Colonies had the largest slave populations of all the colonies. The slaves worked on the plantations that grew cotton, tobacco, sugar, rice, and indigo, among others. We will write a custom essay sample on English Settlements in America or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Plymouth Colony was founded in 1620, at Plymouth, Massachusetts, by Pilgrims who arrived on the Mayflower, a ship carrying settlers. The Massachusetts Bay Colony wasnt settled for another 10 years. Massachusetts Colony was one of four colonies that made up the New England Colonies. When the Pilgrims first arrived in 1620 it was the local Wampanoag Indians who taught them how to plant crops. The Indians and the Pilgrims went on to celebrate the first Thanksgiving in the New World together. Major industries in the Massachusetts Colony included fishing, livestock, farming, lumber, and shipbuilding. Natural resources in the Massachusetts Colony included forests, furs, fish, whales, and some farming. Although it was difficult to farm because of the rocky terrain, colonists still farmed for beans, corn, squash, pumpkins, wheat, and rye.The colonies of Virginia and Massachusetts were similar in some ways and different in others. They were both founded in the first half of the 17th century and they both practiced some form of self-governance. They had very different climates, however, which meant that the Massachusetts economy was driven by things like shipping and shipbuilding while Virginias warmer temperatures allowed for an agriculture-based economy. Virginia was a plantation-based and cash-crop-oriented economy. This led to the importation of slaves from Africa to work the land. They saw Virginia as a place where a quick profit could be earned before returning to the home country. In Virginia, once settlers realized that tobacco and other cash crops could be highly profitable they began to separate geographically onto large plantations. Each plantation became a community unto itself. New Englanders came to America primarily to exercise religious beliefs that were denied to them prior to the English Civil War. Religion defined almost every aspect of New England life. Religion was much less significant in Virginia.