During the colonial period, many people moved from their homelands in England to embark on a journey to the New World. Some went for wealth, religion and/or freedom. Two of the main English regions were the New England and the Chesapeake, Virginia region in the New World. Although both came from the same place with almost the same backgrounds, the two groups diversified and changed into two different societies. .
The colonists that settled in New England had a distinctly different society than the Chesapeake region. The settlers in New England came in groups of families. As shown in document B, the people that took the journey to New England came in groups of around 5 to 10 people per family. In the Chesapeake region however they did not come in groups as the New Englanders had. As shown in document C, the people that came were mainly alone. Without knowing people that they were traveling with, disagreements and fighting may have come about. The families were better acknowledged with one another and were able to set up a list of rules as shown in document D. The town was to be made up of rich and poor and each family was to have an equal share of land. The "brotherly affection" in New England is also shown in document A. John Winthrop wrote, "We must be knit together in this work as one man." This shows the unity between the New England settlers. Instead of going individually in succeeding in the New World, they decided to work together for the betterment of everyone. The unity of the two settling tribes helped lead to the differences of the two societies.
Economic and military issues within the settling tribes also are an issue when determining what the cause of the rift between the two. In the Chesapeake group, attacks by neighboring Indians and Dutch changed the way people lived. In document G, the Virginians had a hard time defending their homes because of the rivers that intersect them, creating more borders for them to defend.