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How Did Religion Affect The Development Of The Chesapeake Region

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In the 1700’s the New England and Chesapeake regions prospered in agriculture and commerce, but it was the period of time before this that helped develop these regions into what they were at the time. The development of these regions were diversified by the religion that they practiced, native policies, and the social structure of the area. The religion brought to these regions helped alter their way living from one another. ‘ Religion was one of the greatest driving forces of the 18th century, enriching the lives of those who believed in it, and destroying the ones who did not. Higher education was introduced to the new world not so people could be doctors, but so they could be ministers and spread the word of god. The puritan inhabitants …show more content…

The articles of agreement of Springfield consisted of certain items that were necessary for the town, the first being “A godly and faithful minister” (Doc 2). Due to the high amount of highly populated and closely knit communities in the north religion was able to flourish. The town church was fueled by the taxes of the inhabitants, some of whom did not attend the church. The church was the center of life in the New England colonies, however this was not the case in the Chesapeake region. Due to the geography of the Chesapeake communities were not as common. Most people were not merchants like up north, they were farmers. The farms were spaced out, far away from each other, and life was focused on work instead of the church. Some of the southerners were too preoccupied with the thought of riches to be focusing on God. While observing the gold miner John smith stated “There was no talk...but dig gold, wash …show more content…

New England didn’t want to share the land with the natives, so they pushed them out. During King Philip’s war the English settlers defeated the natives. This completely wiped out the native population. The Chesapeake on the other hand didn’t want to cause any harm to the natives. The Governor of Virginia, William Berkeley, talks about sharing the land with the natives and that they are in no position to start a war “Doc 6”. Nathaniel Bacon didn’t agree with Berkeley, he believed the Indians were robbers and thieves “Docs 7”. Bacon began a rebellion against Berkeley, he formed a raiding party which attacked several Native villages similar to how the English settlers had dealt with the Indians. Similar to the relationships with the natives, the population of these colonial societies differed in some

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