Jamestown: The Development Of Capitalism In Colonial America

In the early 1600’s British settlers colonized the east coast of North America forming a total of 13 colonies. These arising colonies began to grow and evolve into different societies despite being from the same region beforehand. One of the reasons that led to distinct separation among regions was social disjunctions. Others significant reasons include various economic incentives and political stance as well as religious motives. With varying social, economic, and religious disjunctions, the New England and Chesapeake regions both evolved into two distinct societies by the start of the 18’th century.

Regardless of a colony’s religious situation, whether they allowed complete freedom of worship or were occupied by strict religious laws, all thirteen colonies were affected by a movement called the Great Awakening. Generally, the Great Awakening is characterized by a fervent revival in religion practice. Although, this movement had a major impact on most aspects of colonial life, it is important to note the effect it had on religion and how that in turn affected the political life of the colonist. Because of The Great Awakening, many ministers lost authority the authority they held over because more people were taking to studying the Bible in their own homes. This idea would have larger implications for the future.

When the fleet left, it took a little over one month to leave spain, and actually set out to go to America. When they got there, they realized how hard it was going to be to survive, as the Indians started attacking. Eventually, they built a wall around their little settlement so that the indians couldn’t attack them. John Smith became the leader of the colony, and took a big gamble. He invited the Indians to trade with them.

The Great Awakening strived to erase the lines between religions by promoting religious pluralism and the concept that all faiths were equal. Primarily, the separation of Church and State was finally in place, which showed the opposition to allowing religion facilitate the decisions of their nation. The Awakening weakened the cultural authority of the upper class and produced a vision of a society drawn in more equal lines. Overall, the thought of finally being equal unified the colonies and created universities that were not controlled by the Church. The new universities promoted different types of curriculum which was not based on religion.

The Southern Colonies had a mainly agriculture economy. There was good farmland in the South and there were a lot of plantations. The three main cash crops of the Southern Colonies were rice, indigo and tobacco. These generated lots of money and the slaves were necessary to it being successful. Farmers had their crops shipped downstream to the coast where it was directly sent to England.

The colonists of Early Jamestown did not know what they were going to experience in the New World, and they were not prepared. This took place from 1607-1611. The colonists arrived in Chesapeake Bay in 1607. They had hopes to find new land. Sadly, out of the 500 colonists that arrived in Jamestown, 80% died.

Towards the end of the Middle Ages, the monarchy began to expand their power and influence, eventually becoming absolute rulers. Having support from the merchant class, the monarchy attempted to unify and stabilize the nation states. In the late seventeenth, early eighteenth centuries, with hopes of expanding English trade and acquiring a broader market for English manufactured goods, the nation states were wealthy enough to fund voyages of discovery and exploration. Over time, ten colonies were established along the Atlantic coast of North America. The first permanent English settlement was established in Jamestown, Virginia, in 1607 and in 1620 a ship landed in Plymouth, Massachusetts, marking it as the second permanent English settlement.

This tolerance also emerges out of decreasing religions during the 18th century. According to Macmillan Learning, the decrease in religious importance helped to unify the country 's (129). As time progress more people were focusing on world events than previously in the 1700’s. Britain had lax control over the colonies at this point, the colonies tended to follow the same rules of governing even though the colonies were separate entities. This added to the sense of unity between nations.

The American identity resulted from America’s early British roots and the separation that America experienced from its colonial roots as it emerged as a young nation. The events leading up to the revolution illustrate how deeply America was intertwined with Britain and the rapid escalation of tension between the two, comparatively post-revolutionary America is when America began to truly develop a unique and personalized identity that separated America from from its original British roots. In 1607 the British established their first successful colony in North America, which they christened Jamestown in honor of King James I of England. The newly established colony relied heavily on the British motherland as the colonists were unaccustomed to

Religious Freedom was the key role in the colonies. People were allowed to choose their own religion without the fear of being persecuted or tormented because they chose a different religion than that of the Church. The New England colonies were heavily impacted by religion during their development. Church officers had ran the Churches and the state, meaning that if you were a member of the Church you had power without a doubt. Massachusetts for example, the minister of the Church had ran both the Church and the state which gave him

I am writing at the moment from Virginia and I hope all my family is able to read my experienced in the colonial era. Migrating from Europe was difficult but I am able to witness so far the liberty to worship God and people who worked to promote the church. There are ways to preserve the identity as Christians without any state rule that prohibits personal beliefs. People are able to purify their life in God without anyone feeling persecuted or suppress because of negative consequences one can experienced. There is also land and the benefits of it are cash crop and able to better economically.

The settling of the Northern Colonies began with the arrival of the Pilgrims, or Puritan separatists, to Plymouth. The Massachusetts Bay Colony, led by John Winthrop, was formed shortly after and became known as the "Bible Commonwealth" for its large religious influence. However, religious tensions began to arise with dissidents like Anne Hutchinson and Roger Williams. The Rhode Island Colony was formed as a haven for these dissenters and exiles, and it became known as being strongly liberal and individualistic. The third New England colony, Connecticut, was led by Thomas Hooker and was the first to establish a "modern constitution" through the Fundamental Orders.

Socially and culturally, the three groups of colonies grew to be completely different. The New England Colonies’ life was controlled by the Puritan religion. These colonies were not religiously tolerant even though its’ main reason for settlement

Colonists who came to America differed greatly in backgrounds and settled for various reasons: Colonist in the New England Colony came to America primarily because they were religious reformers and separatist seeking a new way of life; the Middle Colony was inhabited by a tolerant and diverse group of people with different backgrounds; And the Southern Colony was mainly inhabited by English aristocrats, small farmers, and slaves. Because each colonial region inhabited different groups of colonists the social development differed greatly in each region. New England was founded on the Puritan faith and maintained a strong sense of faith, family, and community. New Englan was very strict on enforcing a strong sense Puritan religion, the lifestyle of colonist revolved around the puritan faith, so much so, it was referred to the "city upon a hill". Contrasting greatly with the New England Colony, the Middle Colony was greatly social and religiously diverse.

Most of the colonies in America were settled by the English, which makes them similar in many designs. However, there are a few aspects that differentiate between colonies, such as in the Chesapeake and New England regions. Reasons for settlement, religions, and geography all played an important role in the development of colonies in these regions. These conditions were natural and mostly subject to circumstances and conditions that were unchangeable. Nonetheless, no matter the modest causes, the effects were very substantial in helping to develop the uniqueness of each region.