Into the 16th century, and afterward to the 17th century, European countries desperately wished for more land in the "New World." The three major powers, Spain, France and England all wanted something to do with this unused territory. While the Spanish were getting their western piece of land, and the French their northern and central, the English began to settle their colonies. Settling colonies in the northeaster coast of the country, their settlements began to split apart from each other. Important differences in social, political, and economical aspects of life led to major differences in their culture and beliefs. The most noticeable reason for this cultural schism is the separation of settlements and distance apart. Yet the factor which most likely provoked the separation was probably the different motivations of the people who settled there. .
The Chesapeake colonies consisted of Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, East New Jersey and West New Jersey. Led by John Smith and other survivors of the voyage over, the settlers flourished. That is to say, they flourished with help from the local Native Americans. With help, the settlers learned how to grow and harvest tobacco and corn (later staple crops of these colonies). In 1607, one-hundred some settlers laid down the foundation to James Town, the first successful colony along the James River. Their colonization plans involved the mining of gold and silver, trade passages to India and Asia, and even a cure for syphilis. A written log of the members aboard a voyage to Virginia (the largest Chesapeake colony) clearly shows a major difference from that of New England. The majority of people aboard this voyage were male, most of them no older than 35-40. Many of them did not travel with a large family, and every one of them were pledged to the Church of England. None of the women on board were older than 25. Why would so many young men and women come to the America's when they were not running from anything?.