Settlers in the English Colonies

The different kinds of settlers and the varying environments in the two zones of the English colonies, New England and the Chesapeake, led to the evolution of two very different colonial societies in British North America.

            Settlers in New England were generally of one type. They were religious dissenters. They were either Puritans or Pilgrims (aka Seperationists). Most of the people that came over were in families. They had clustered settlements and strong communities. Education was very important. Massachusetts required towns with 50 or more families to have a public school. 100 families, a grammar school to teach Latin, familiarity with was required to get into Harvard. Puritans were very family oriented. Women who married in their 20’s and lived through their 40’s could expect to bear 8 children. The people of New England were very strict and work oriented. Children were expected to act like little adults. Through the history of the colony slaves were always less than 10% of the population.

            The New England colonies were located on the northern coast, where “merchantable commodities” were not easily produced. When John Smith explored the coastline he wrote that the land was “planted with Gardens and Corne fields”. Most families grew their own crops and kept livestock. However, there was some export, mainly fish and livestock.

            Settlers in the Chesapeake area were different. While the settlers who were in New England were there for religious purposes, the settlers in the Chesapeake were there for money. A lot of the settlers were Christians. There were many wealthy colonists who were given land on the condition that they import workers from Europe. That is why 75% of English migrants were indentured servants. Most indenture servants were young unskilled males, but some were skilled craftsmen, unmarried women, parentless children, and a minority were convicts or vagabonds forced to work by the courts. The Chesapeake colonies had major immigration; over 10,000 colonists went to Jamestown to work, but because of diseases the total population stayed at just about 1000. Those few people lived in disperse settlements with hardly any towns. Before 1650 there were few churches and schools. Rich planters, who invested everything tobacco, lived in rough wood houses. Former indentured servants lived in shacks, huts, and even caves. There were very few women, and as such they were very highly valued. Women were able to negotiate to a better life for themselves. Women who were married tended to have a smaller family size due in part to diseases. Slaves were introduced in 1690. By 1680 they made up less than 7% of the population. By 1770, slaves were over 40% of the population.

            The Chesapeake colonies were located, as given by their name, in the Chesapeake Bay area, in the mid-Atlantic region. There were only two Chesapeake colonies, they were Virginia and Maryland. There were a lot of plantations. The top crop grown was tobacco. Obviously the top export was tobacco, followed closely by grain.

            As you can see the different kinds of settlers and the varying environments in the two zones of the English colonies, New England and the Chesapeake, led to the evolution of two very different colonial societies in British North America.