...Discover History Articles Notable Mayflower Descendants Pilgrim Biographies Commemorations Pilgrim Memorials Around the World The Society How to Join Society Information SMDPA News Newsletter JR PA Mayflower Newsletter For Teachers & Students Links Contact Membership Info Apply Now Eligibility & How To Join Proving Your Lineage Passenger List About the SMDPA Donate Contact Us Discover History Articles Comparing Plymouth and Jamestown Comparing Plymouth and Jamestown Written by Robert Jennings Heinsohn 1. Introduction Pilgrim families arrived in Holland in the spring of 1608 and in Plymouth in December 1620. In May 1607, 105 men arrived in Jamestown to establish the first permanent English settlement in North America. While the individuals in both settlements were English, the they were different in many important ways. To fully appreciate our Pilgrim heritage, it is important to understand the differences between Plymouth and Jamestown. This essay identifies major differences and explains how these differences affected the settlements during the first few decades of their arrival. 2. Royal Charters and Patents Sir Humphrey Gilbert c. 1539-1583 Early Efforts to Colonize North America Queen Elizabeth granted a patent (Royal Charter) to Sir Humphrey Gilbert (half brother of Sir Walter Ralegh) who led an expedition to Newfoundland in 1583 and claimed it for England. For the next thirty years he tried, but without success, to begin settlements...
Words: 8670 - Pages: 35
...Jamestown and Plymouth Essay This essay discusses that Jamestown and Plymouth have some things in common, yet also have some differences. They fall into different categories, although likewise have some goods that they both have in common. The couple came from England. The couple went through the same situations regardless of the trouble between them; starvation and death. The couple has gotten help from Native Americans seeing that in some ways they both needed the help. 104 men landed in Jamestown making it the first English settlement in the new world. Approximately 13 years later, 102 men landed in Massachusetts in some place they called Plymouth. Both of these ‘groups’ settled in different places that have not yet been discovered, however they have made it known as the English settlement and North America was born. Both ‘groups’ had some great things to survive, although they needed to trade for the reason that each group had stuff that the other group needs. The couple needed some help to survive no matter the circumstances. Jamestown was all about making money and getting rich. Each person had to help themselves so this meant that they had to everything themselves and try to...
Words: 671 - Pages: 3
...When English colonists began settling in North America they died at a startling rate. Jamestown, settled in 1607, was the first English colony that lasted, but it nearly did not. Of the 104 men and boys who landed on May 1607, only 38 were still alive by January 1608, when 100 new colonists arrived. Things continued to be so grim that in the winter of 1609-1610, later known as the "starving time," survivors resorted to cannibalism (Ghose), and the population of settlers in Virginia shrank from 300 to 90 (60 in Jamestown) ("Jamestown Chronicle Timeline"). Yet in 1620 the Pilgrims voluntarily left England for Virginia. During their first winter in the New World, half of them died. Meanwhile, hundreds more settlers came to Virginia. What...
Words: 953 - Pages: 4
...Tiffany Ynostroza Mr. Cantrell Honors World History 14 September 2017 Captain Christopher Newport Christopher Newport, an innovative seaman and captain, is most commonly known and accredited for the successful transfer of settlers to Jamestown. His whole life was spent at sea completing mission after mission and in return creating a name for himself. Through his many years of experience he gained a strong sense of leadership that helped him create and continue to support Jamestown through all their troubles and downfalls. Without Newport the English expansion overseas could’ve been halted tremendously, as Jamestown was the first all English settlement. It was important for England to have a strong base colony to be able to continue their exploration. Captain Christopher Newport helped pave the way for other explorers as well as play a part in the evolution of England during this climacteric era of exploration. (Nichols, A, Bryant Jr, “Captain Christopher Newport Admiral of Virginia”, Captain Christopher Newport.com)...
Words: 1662 - Pages: 7
...coast of North America to two separate regions, which would later become known as the Chesapeake and New England areas. The Chesapeake region included Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and the New Jerseys. The New England region of the colonies included Rhode Island, Plymouth, Massachusetts Bay Colony, New Haven, and Connecticut. Eventually in the late 1700’s these two regions would come together to form one nation. Both regions were very different and did not share many common ideas. They were different in their views and beliefs on religion, economy, and motives for colonial expansion. In 1609 a group of settlers, led by Captain John Smith, founded Jamestown which became the first colony to thrive and prosper in the New World. The main goal of these Chesapeake settlers was to make money by finding gold, silver, or anything else that they could take back to England and make a profit on. Another goal of theirs was to find a northwest passage to Asia. The New Englanders were mostly puritans who first settled in Plymouth and were driven to the New World in hopes of religious freedom. New Englanders wanted to escape religious persecution rather than make money and grow a rich economy. The living situations between the two colonies were extremely different. The Chesapeake colonies struggled early on to gather enough food and water. They did not know how to farm in their new area and quickly ran out of food and started to starve. They quickly had to turn to Native Americans to trade...
Words: 713 - Pages: 3
...Relations between Indians and English Colonists were anything but docile. Neither side was solely at fault. Both the Indians and the colonists held a violent nature with one another. The tensions started to boil increasingly as settlers encroached more and more onto claimed Indian lands. The actions taken by both sides shaped the relationships in a negative way. Some tribes and settlers formed alliances between small tribes and towns; however, the majority of the relationships were murderous. Prior to the French and Indian war, hundreds and hundreds of innocent American Indians were killed, among them women and children. Each region, New England, Chesapeake, Spanish Southwest, New France and New York proved to deal with different issues than a neighboring region. The settlers were not the only violent offenders. American Indians attempted to hold their ground, and a number of tribes even attacked English Colonists. Not only was there violence but many other factors contributed, including religion. Actions committed by both sides shaped the relations in different ways for different regions. New England relations with American Indians Initially, the relations between colonists in New England and the coastal Indians were friendly. The Indians offered a helping hand to the colonists. As the Englishmen were developing their colonies, the Indians helped shape the economy. Settlers were eager to move off the coast and more inland. When the settlers pushed farther and farther inland...
Words: 1784 - Pages: 8
...Early European Exploration 1. Spain (new Spain) Reasons for exploration o God, Gold and Glory Area claimed o South and Central America without Brazil. Florida and New Mexico in North America Importance of Hernando de Soto, Hernán Cortez, Christopher Columbus o Columbus began first permanent contact between Europeans and the Americas o Hernando De Soto discovered the Mississippi o Francisco Cortes explored the SW (Grand Canyon), brought horses to Native Americans, 2. French (new French) Reasons for exploration o Fishing and Fur Trade Area claimed o All along the Saint Lawrence River and later the Mississippi River to Louisiana Importance of Verazzano, Cartier, Champlain, de la Salle. o Verazzano was first to discover New York and claim it for France; has a bridge named after himself o Jacques Cartier sailed up the Saint Lawrence River and founded Montreal (but was considered a failure by the French) o Samual de Champlain founded Quebec City and is known as the father of New France o de la Salle sailed down the Mississippi, founded Memphis and claimed Louisiana (named after Louis XIV) for France 3. English Reasons for exploration o Mercantilism – more land and raw resources for land-starved English, along with the creation of new markets for goods Lost colony of Roanoke (story) o (2nd voyage to Roanoke 1st hitched a ride back with Sir Francis Drake) Sailed to Roanoke and ran out of supplies. John White then sailed back to England for supplies...
Words: 2075 - Pages: 9
...America between the 35th and 45th parallels. The Chesapeake and New England colonies would emerge as the cornerstones of America. The two colonies navigated the world in sight of different objectives, but ultimately through their economic triumphs and the social and political hardships, these colonies would eventually develop into stability. In an effort to financially benefit Europe, the Chesapeake colony settler’s main objectives were to find gold, silver, a cure for syphilis and a passageway to Asia. The New England colony differed from that of the Chesapeake colony as their main purpose as separatists were to pursue the freedom to worship. After spending nearly a decade in the Netherlands, although fulfilling religious goals, they realized that their children were becoming more Dutch than English. They sold all the land they owned in Europe to finance their voyage for free worship. Nonetheless, both colonies journey was funded by the London Company to make their initial voyage. Even though the mission was different for both colonies they both shared a detrimental first winter. Both colonies also relied on native Indian support for supplies and food to ensure survival. Farming was absolutely essential for both colonies to master, and quickly. Religion was found in both colonies and played a serious role in society. In Jamestown you would find Protestants and Catholics, while Plymouth was made up of Puritans in the very beginning. The geographical differences will play...
Words: 1092 - Pages: 5
...AMH 2041 Comparison Of Two Colonies North American history was believed to have started in 1620 with the discovery of Plymouth Rock in Massachusetts. Seeking religious freedom from the corrupt Church of England, some 100 people departed on a journey from England to find a place where they could practice their beliefs of Calvinism and Lutheranism free from persecution2. They later formed denominations of Christianity called Separatism and Puritanism3. Although, these pilgrims established 13 original colonies in North America, the settlements of Virginia and Massachusetts show some striking similarities and differences. On one hand, religion as the major motivation, and on the other hand a financial venture sponsored by the queen. Massachusetts was given its name from a man named John Smith, an English explorer and was named after the native Massachusetts tribe that resided in the area. Other native tribes in the area were the Nauset, a fishing tribe located on Cape Cod; the Wampanoag in the southeast; the Massachusetts in the northeast; the Nipmuc, centrally; and the Pocumtuc, westward. Without their knowledge, Permanent English settlement would soon drastically impact the lives of the native peoples2. In 1630, Massachusetts Bay Colony was developed and occupied about 1,000 citizens. John Winthrop, the chief figure of the New England Puritans, gave a sermon called “A Model of Christian Charity,” suggesting ideas that the people should find a sense of community...
Words: 1405 - Pages: 6
... The first English settlement was Jamestown, Virginia, and it was massacred by starvation. It was also full of mosquitoes carrying malaria and other parasite carrying diseases. With such a large amount of the population dying and the fact that women were not sent to the settlement until 1619 (12 years after its origin), moral was low. In 1616 the headright system was enforced, which gave 50 acres of land to everyone who pays his own way to Virginia, and another 50 for every person they bring along. Still the settlement was built upon indentured servitude, in which the company would pay the voyage for men who would then work for the company for 4-7 years. After the end of the 4-7 year contract, the men would receive their own land. In theory it was a good plan, but most men died before the end of their contracts. Mortality rates were so high because the main purpose of the settlement was to gain a profit for the company. the men spent the majority of their time digging for gold, searching for a northwest passage to Asia, and farming tobacco, and not enough time farming or hunting! the Virginia company was a joint stock company, so in order to raise money for colonization they sold shares of their company to willing investors. The Plymouth Company was also a joint stock company. The house of Burgesses was founded to govern the settlement of Virginia. It became a royal colony in 1624. In 1632, 10 million acres of land north of jamestown became Maryland, a possession of Calvert...
Words: 1244 - Pages: 5
...On the way they acted, what they believed, their culture, the way they dressed, and on their ceremonies. For instance, “Sixty or seventy of them, some black, some red, some white, some particolored, came in a square order, singing and dancing out of the woods with their Okee (which was an Idol made of skins, stuffed with muss, all painted and hung with chains and copper)” (Smith 61). One can already start to see the difference between the two groups of people (the colonist and the Native Indians). On how they were dressed (painted), on how they acted, and their artifacts the “Okee.” Digging in deeper and more...
Words: 943 - Pages: 4
...To my best friend, I hope everything is well with you back home. I miss you and regret not taking your advice for adventuring into the New World without you. It has been five years since I have last spoken with you before I have gotten on the three ships with 105 others to come across the ocean to the New World. Sad to say only 38 out of the 105 colonists who have settled in Jamestown have managed to survive. I have many things I have to share with you about the New World I am living in. I am currently in the Virginia Colony located by the Chesapeake River. This is one of the two main colonies that have been established under England’s rule. The other colony is the New England colony located up North of here. I have managed to travel there several times with my master and have been exposed to an environment that is much different from my Virginia colony. It shocks me greatly that another colony under the same rule of our mother country can be so different. I would like to tell you about the great differences I have come to observe between our two settlements in terms of settler’s reasoning for immigrating to the new world, the development of settlement’s societal structure, and the settler’s relationship with the Native Americans. Unlike many of us (Virginians) who have come to the new world to make large sums of profits, the settlers in New England have come for a different purpose. The New England settler’s have come to the New World for religious purposes.The New Englanders...
Words: 1384 - Pages: 6
...created a representative democracy that contrasted the beliefs of the Church of England. Furthermore, religion created an unbreakable bond between the people and allowed them to navigate through unexpected and hard times. The colony was innovative, utilizing systems still found in today’s society, creating a lucrative economy. In essence, the colony was uprooted in religious, governmental, and economic practices and simulated what an adequate society could achieve and overcome. The Massachusetts Bay Colony was created on philosophies that...
Words: 713 - Pages: 3
...Ryan Mullner Professor Smith American Revolution Midterm, question A 20 February 2014 What Brought Americans to Declare Independence? 1607 marked the settlement of Jamestown, the first permanent English colony in North America. It struggled in the beginning, just as previous colonies like the one at Roanoke did. However, it endured the first few years and eventually became a successful colony. By 1732 twelve other British colonies existed in North America. Each had been founded for its own reason: Massachusetts as a refuge for puritans; Georgia as a destination for debtors. Despite these differences they had several important uniting features. The king of England granted and gave legitimacy to each colony’s charter. Each had a royal governor. Each created their political and social institutions based on British principles. In general North American colonists admired the British constitution and were proud to call themselves Englishmen. Several English wars resulted in bloodshed in America: Queen Anne’s War, King George’s War, and the French and Indian War. Rebellions also occurred occasionally, e.g. Bacon’s Rebellion. Taking into account all of this, the American colonies prospered under British rule and existed in relative peace and harmony with their mother country. Beginning after the end of the French and Indian War, the status quo began to change. In the thirteen years from 1763 to 1776 Americans went from content British citizens to rebels fighting for independence...
Words: 1745 - Pages: 7
...The English that was brought to America in seventeenth century was, of course, the language--or versions of the language--of Early Modern England. The year of the Captain John Smith's founding of Jamestown (1607) coincides roughly with Shakespeare's writing of Timon of Athens and Pericles, and the King James Bible (the "Authorized Version") was published only four years later, in 1611. It was not long before writers on both sides of the Atlantic began to acknowledge the language's divergence. As early as the mid-seventeenth century, Samuel Johnson, in a review of Lewis Evans's "Geographical, Historical, Political, Philosophical, and Mechanical Essays," pays the [American] writer's language a backhanded compliment: This treatise is written with such elegance as the subject admits, tho' not without some mixture of the American dialect, a tract ["trace"] of corruption to which every language widely diffused must always be exposed. (In the World, No. 102, Dec. 12, 1754; quoted by Mencken 4) Johnson's assessment was mild compared to that of Samuel Taylor Coleridge, who asserted in 1822 that "the Americans presented the extraordinary anomaly of a people without a language. That they had mistaken the English language for baggage (which is called plunder in America), and had stolen it" (quoted in Mencken 28). Noah Webster attributed some of the marked features of New England speech to a conservatism engendered by the relative isolation, vis à vis the rest of the world, of the colonists...
Words: 5176 - Pages: 21