Hillyer 1
Mr. Hillyer
APUSH
2nd Period
Sept. 3rd, 2014
Differences A­Plenty
At the turn of the 17th century England began to establish colonies in what they referred to as the “New World”. England had several reasons as to why they wanted to establish these colonies, from gaining wealth in what they thought could possibly be gold, to establishing a connection to raw materials much like what Spain and France had done.
Though the colonists in the Chesapeake and New England Regions came from a similar background, as seen in
Doc 9
, as soon as they reached the Americas they quickly developed into different societies.
By the 1700’s, almost 100 years after they landed, the two societies were almost unrecognizable but would go on to become very important parts of the future
United States. Their differences ranged between their values which many brought over from
England, their wealth and their social structures. After a short time, these stood out as some of the major contributing factors as to what eventually will drive these colonies to early success, or complete failure.
The values that each of these groups brought with them varied on what they believed were important for survival and what they required. In
Doc 1
, John Winthrop outlines what the early Pilgrims were looking for. The Puritans idea of an utopian society in which everyone works together is the ideal set forth when they left England. In the ‘New World’ the Pilgrims would work to develop not just a religious society, but one in which all items are shared, as seen in
Doc 4
. The puritans in the New England area felt as though the key to survival and

they key to salvation, while working hand in hand, were necessary to create a ‘perfect society’. Compare this to the values brought over to Virginia and highlighted in
Doc 6 in which
John Smith describes a destitute group of colonists who are barely surviving. Their motivation for the journey was to find gold, which was limited in that they came upon a swamp which they began to settle. Smith continues to describe mutinies, death and a decay in moral that seems to be the complete opposite of what the Puritans were establishing at almost the exact same time. Consumed by their lust for gold and riches, refusing to work together set this group on a disastrous path which would create extreme hardships.
The differences in wealth would also go on to haunt the two societies in ways they could not comprehend at the time.
Doc 2 and 3 both show a manifest of people going to the separate colonies but subtle differences are plagued throughout. For example, in
Doc 2 its clear to see that those heading to New England are of stature and