By the early 1600s, colonies in the Americas had been settled in two distinct regions: the Chesapeake region and New England. While both areas were settled by people from England, each region formed its own distinct culture. These differences related to a number of causes, including geographic and religious differences as well as the fact that colonies in the different regions were not even begun for the same purpose. The types of people who colonized areas also made a difference. Though the people who colonized the eastern seaboard of America came from the same land, the variety of differences caused new and unique cultures to form.

            The priorities of the colonists made a difference in the culture that they developed in their area. For example, Springfield, Massachusetts’ Articles of Agreement state as their first priority: “…intend by God’s grace…to procure some Godly and faithful minister." The people of Springfield had a goal not to search for money, or to colonize for England’s profit but to make sure that the colony had a minister who would lead the congregation of the church in Springfield. The Puritans who colonized the Massachusetts Bay Colony were like-minded. The Puritan’s goal was not to earn money for themselves or their country, but to create a model Christian settlement, what John Winthrop called a “City upon a Hill” (Winthrop 111).

            In the Chesapeake region, colonists were in the New World for profit, not for religious purposes. John Smith, the leader of the colony, seemed to sense trouble when he realized that “Nearly all of the settlers seemed to be consumed by one thought—the discovery of gold” (Danzer 45). Unlike the New England colonies, instead of attempting to create an excellent society, the colonists at Jamestown, Virginia, in the Chesapeake Region, were searching for valuable metals. In fact, of whatever precious metals were found in the Virginia Colony, the king was to receive one-fifth of the total amount.

Religious education in Virginia was not nearly as good as the Puritan’s in New England. Governor Sir William Berkeley said in his report, “Our ministers are well paid…but of all other commodities, so of this, the worst are sent us, and we have few that we could boast of…” (33). Different goals in the two regions did indeed create a rift in cultures; however, this was not the only reason for the distinct cultures in the Chesapeake and New England regions.

            New England colonies included the Massachusetts Bay Colony, Plymouth, Rhode Island, New Haven, and Hartford. All of these colonies were located in the north of the English colonies in America. The climate in these areas was cold winters, and warm summers. The geography of New England was hilly, with very little flat land for farming. As such, farms in New England were small, family farms used mainly for growing food needed to live. Primary economic activities were not agricultural, but focused on producing goods by hand. For example, Plymouth and the Massachusetts Bay Colony primarily were involved in shipbuilding, shipping, fishing, and lumber production (Danzer 61).

            Chesapeake areas were much more forgiving to farmers than the New England region. The Tidewater area of Virginia was quite flat and the climes were warmer and more amicable to growing crops. Large plantation farms were the norm in the south, and besides growing food for themselves, the plantations grew cash crops to ship to England. Virginia, for example, grew tobacco and wheat (Danzer 61). In his report to London, Governor Sir William Berkeley goes so far to state that “Commoditites of the growth of our country we never had any but tobacco, which in this yet is considerable, that it yields His Majesty a great revenue” (33), basically saying that the only material currently growing in Virginia for profit is tobacco.

            Slavery and indentured servitude were a final issue in creating a rift between the cultures of the New England and Chesapeake regions, and were strongly linked to the types of economy present in the different regions. In the Chesapeake region, where huge plantations for tobacco were located, more field workers were needed; therefore, the need for these workers were filled by slaves and indentured servants who couldn’t afford to pay their own way to the colonies. In the north, these large numbers of field workers were not needed, and therefore, were not present. This difference was simply another difference between the Chesapeake and New England regions that caused the rift in cultures between the two areas.

            In opposition to the Chesapeake colonies, the New England colonies valued the importance of the family. “…Puritans generally crossed the Atlantic as families rather than single men or women” (Danzer 54).  The community would even intervene in marriages if necessary. Often, courts would be used as marriage counseling if a couple was quarrelling. In a family, a wife was expected to defer to her husband for important matters. In the Chesapeake region, single men and women crossing the Atlantic to find their fortune were much more common. A ship’s list of emigrants to New England by John Porter contains the following list: “Joseph Hull, of Somerset, A minister aged 40 years, Agnes Hull, his wife, aged 25 years, Joan Hull, his daughter, aged 15 years, and Joseph Hull, his son, aged 13 years…” (Porter). The document goes on to list more families that were traveling to New England together. A list of emigrates bound for Virginia, by ship’s master Hugh Weston, contains: “Edward Towers 26, Henry Woodman 22, Richard Seems 26…” (Weston). By reading these documents, it is plain that it was indeed far more common for families to travel to New England, accounting for another major difference in the cultures of the two regions.

            The differences in the cultures of the New England and Chesapeake regions were due to four basic ideas: difference of religion, difference of geography and climate, difference of economic activity, and differences in the kinds of people who colonized the area. New England was a religious colony, populated with families, in a cold climate with an early industrial economy. The Chesapeake region was a warm, flat area, populated by men and women dedicated to earning money with a primarily agricultural economy. These differences led to two highly distinct and unique cultures that would clash two hundred years later in the American Civil War.

Works Cited

Articles of Agreement, Springfield, Massachusetts. 1636.

Berkeley, William. Governor William Berkeley Reports. 1671.

Danzer, Geralld, et alia. The Americans. Evanston, IL: McDougal Littlell, 1998.

Porter, John. Ship’s List of Emigrants Bound for New England. March, 1635.

Weston, Hugh. Ship’s List of Emigrants Bound for Virginia. July, 1635.

Winthrop, John. A Model of Christian Charity. March, 1630.