During the late 16th century and into the 17th century, European nations rapidly colonized the newly discovered Americas. England in particular sent out numerous groups to the eastern coast of North America. These two regions that the colonists were sent to were known as the Chesapeake and New England colonies. From the very beginning, both had very separate and unique identities. The many differences, that would later result of these conflicting ideas, came from one major factor: the very reason the settlers came to the New World. This affected the colonies in literally every way, including economically, socially, and politically.
The colonies in New England and the Chesapeake show the many differences in the culture and lifestyles of the settlers. This is in large part of the intentions both groups had when they set sail to this glorious "New World." The colonists of New England, later to be called Pilgrims, fled England due to religious persecution. Numbers of families, men, women, and children, came to this New World where they would be able to practice their beliefs freely. The Pilgrims established the colonies we now know as Connecticut, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts, as "perfect" Christian societies. The Pilgrims created a society of strict religious participation that resembled, in part, their motherland England. Many of them referred to themselves as Puritans. .
An issue that split the New England and Chesapeake colonies was slavery. The southerners in the Chesapeake area strongly believed in the use of slavery. With the low amount of laborers, slavery was the answer to the southern people's problems. Tobacco profits dramatically increased the demand for labor. Once the Indians refused to take part in the plan of the Chesapeake settlers making them [Indians] slaves, a system of indentured labor was created. Fifty acres a head to any one who paid a person's passage to the colony.
