North American Colonies in the 1600s

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Disputes are likely to occur whenever there is a struggle for power or authority and this is exactly what happened when people started migrating to the New World currently known as America. When people started settling there, automatically there were arguments on who had more authority. Some opportunistic countries saw this and decided to take this chance and try to fight for power to dominate America. One of these countries was England, which settled permanently in the year 1607 and they formed the developed their colonies between the years 1607- 1640 but later on things changed when the English monarchy was restored in1660. This paper will focus on the differences and similarities of how things were handled by these colonies between 1607- 1640 and 1660.

The English successfully made their first permanent settlement in Jamestown currently known as Virginia in 1607. The English people loved to practice fishing as well as farming, since the Virginia islands were mosquito-infested and the area was too mushy for farming, they considered relocating since survival was proving impossible. John Rolfe who was a colonist came up with the idea of growing tobacco and exporting it and this changed their life for the better. The growing of tobacco was so successful that they were even exporting it and they started growing stable economically in the year 1612. Their streak of good luck in exporting tobacco lasted a long time and it was a good foundation for them economically.

In 1619 they formed the Virginia house of burgesses, this was the first form of government that they had created in the American colonies and they governed by it. It was formed when the Polish came with skills that the English lacked like; glass blowing and this threatened them and their tobacco business. They called for a meeting immediately and warned the Polish that their rights would be violated if they continued using their skills to threaten the English market. The legislative body could only be elected by Englishmen who owned land only.

Later in 1620, the Plymouth colony was formed by the pilgrims and was also aided by the English colonies to establish them. It was very successful and they also had a permanent settlement in the part of New England (Rabushka par. 4). When they first migrated to America, they were not searching for better economic conditions but rather for freedom of worship and they felt they found that in America. Although the Plymouth colony did not last long some of their traditions continued being practiced to date such as; thanksgiving.

In 1623, after the bloody war between the English and the Indians, when the land was being divided, John Mason was given land, which he used wisely by creating a colony known as New Hampshire. He invested his money and time building houses and other defense structures, and then he asked some of the settlers to move in there and create a colony.

Some of the individuals who made up the Massachusetts colony started to migrate relocating to what is currently referred to as Connecticut. These individuals were not satisfied living in Massachusetts and went looking for better economic conditions that would make their lives more comfortable. They wanted more freedom to be allowed to practice their religion and culture without having rules restricting them. Later on, in 1939 they had their first written constitution and they governed by it.

Things however changed when Charles II took over after Oliver Cromwell had died and his son who had taken over, resigned. This was in 1660 and the English monarchy, which had started fading, was now restored. Navigation acts were some of the changes made in 1660, the first act required them to export their products to England only, unlike before when they could export their products to anywhere. These products could only be carried with English ships while being transported.

The main reason for these acts was to ensure that the English do not receive any competition from other nations such as; the Dutch. They wanted to dominate the trading world economically, hence, made sure that these rules were reinforced on the Americans.

The settlers were now experiencing a new law system that they were not used to. The laws made were forced on them whether they agreed to them or not and this made them develop a rebellious streak since their freedom was being violated. New taxes were being imposed on their goods that did make them receive as much income as they had done before.

Another difference would be, the colonies created in this era were not due to economical factors but rather due to overpopulation and the quest to fight for freedom of religion.

Politically the British colony created assemblies that had the power to dissolve the assembly if need be or even delay it, while the earlier colonies like; Virginia and New York, had no such authority before in the 1620s. They were also allowed to create new laws locally.

Although the colonies in these two periods differed in several ways they still had their similarities. They were both very active in trade especially in exporting tobacco and other farm products such as; cotton. This was their main source of income and being farmers produced many products that could easily be exported.

Both colonies were governed by a set of laws and regulations that they used to govern them; this shows that they were both very organized politically. In 1619 the House of Burgesses was formed which governed the colonies at the time and in the early 17^th century the British had assemblies that created laws locally.

In general, these two groups might have had a lot of differences while coming up but they were both looking for the same things which are; freedom of worship and better living conditions whether it was economically or just socially, “better economic conditions and the absence of wars and violent religious disputes attracted thousands of European migrants” (Rabushka par.8). They all believed that they would find what they were looking for by migrating to the New World.

Works Cited

Rabushka, Alvin. The Colonial Roots of American Taxation, 1607- 1700. 2002. Web.

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North American Colonies in the 1600s

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