Compare the English colonies in the New World in terms of government, population, and origin.
In the 1600s, the Spanish conquistadors colonized Mexico, Florida, and southwest North America, the French
set up trading posts in the middle of North America, and the English sought to colonize the Atlantic coast. The
English, starting in 1607 with Jamestown and culminating with Georgia in the early 1700s, some colonies like
Jamestown were set up for economic reasons, others like Massachusetts were set up for religious reasons. Some
areas like New England had close-knit towns, others had farms, and others like the Southern colonies had widely
dispersed plantations. Although each of the English colonies were different, they shared a similar belief that they
would find a better life in the new world.
The vast majority of immigrants came to America because they wanted to become economically successful.
Jamestown was the first English colony in the new world. These English settlers primary reason for leaving England
was to make money. Though at first they wanted to find gold, as the Spanish had done in Mexico, they soon found
the lucrative trade in tobacco. Some of the wealthier early colonists came over under the Head-right system that
granted them enormous tracts of land that they made into tobacco plantations. However, most immigrants could not
afford the cost of the voyage and were indentured servants. The wealthy immigrants controlled Jamestown and the
government. Even though there was little voting, the indentured servants expected the same English Rights that they
had in England (originating with the Magna Carta) and rebelled during Bacon’s Rebellion when they felt that these
rights of Englishmen were not being granted to them after their contract’s term of service. The other southern
colonies such as Carolina and Georgia were also formed by settlers wanting to be more economically successful. In
Carolina they created rice plantations. Georgia was created for English debtors to start a new life and quickly opened
up to other Europeans that wanted a new start. America had much more opportunity for Europeans than any other
country in the Europe.
Other immigrants came for religious reasons. In the New England colonies, the separatist Puritans of
Plymouth (pilgrims) and the non-separatist Puritan’s of Massachusetts came because they believed they were the
“Elect” chosen by God to live for him and sought a land in which they could practice their Calvinist beliefs. As John
Winthrop said, they were to be a “City Upon a Hill” living for God. Their belief in Covenant Theology shaped their
community. Covenant Theology is the belief that if they all do God’s Will, God will protect them and vis-versa if any
colonist fails to do His will God will remove his protection and they will be destroyed. Like the settlers of Jamestown,
the Puritans had the English tradition of some democracy. The government laws of Massachusetts were made by the
elect together in Town-Hall meetings but were based on their interpretation the Bible and sins. Dissidents like Anne
Hutchinson and Roger Williams were banished out of the community for disobeying these strict religious laws. Other
English colonies also had a religious foundation. However, colonies like Rhode Island (set up by Roger Williams),
Maryland (for Catholics), and Pennsylvania (set up by Quakers) were much more tolerant and had much more
religious freedom of worship than the colony of Massachusetts.
The population in the New England colonies lived close together. Farming was difficult in the rocky and colder
north and they set up close-knit towns. These towns also allowed them to worship, work together, and educate their
children easier which are all values held by the New England Puritans. With their Puritan Work Ethic they were able
to be very economically successful even under difficult conditions. The Mid-Atlantic Colonies like New York and
Pennsylvania were the bread-basket colonies. The immigrants created medium sized grain and dairy farms.
Immigrants in Europe wanting to have land for a farm (land was in limited supply in Europe) were attracted to these
colonies. It was more difficult to educate their children because they were not so close together. The Southern
English colonies had widely dispersed plantations. Fewer indentured servant immigrants came to the south to work
the plantations (especially after Bacon’s rebellion), so they used more forced African slavery. The most successful of
these planters made enormous
Though the New England, Mid-Atlantic, and southern colonies formed for different reasons and by different
people all of the immigrants came to America for a better life. Today we see immigrants coming to America for many
of the same reasons that our founding immigrants came. Mexican immigrants are coming over for jobs, Iraqi Christian
immigrants are coming over to flee religious persecution, and immigrants from Central America are fleeing the
dangerous conditions of their country. America, even with all of our flaws, was and will always be the land of liberty.