Changes In The Colonies Essay, Research Paper
A.P. History
10-15-98
By 1750, colonials in America were not as yet unique, but there were differences between European/British patterns of behavior as seen in the New England, Middle, and Chesapeake Bay colonies.
During the mid seventeen hundreds, colonial America was rapidly changing.
America was a new territory, and eager to break away from England. Although many of
the colonies characteristics? were similar to those of England, the colonies were
developing their own individual traits. By 1750, the colonials in America were yet as
unique but there were differences between European/Britain patterns of behavior as seen
in New England, Middle, and Chesapeake Bay colonies.
By 1750, the colonists in New England were starting to carry traits which were
known only by them. Though the colonies were making a name for themselves in the
Americas, they still carried many traits similar to those of their mother country: England.
The farming techniques used by the Americans were extremely similar to those of
Britain. Colonial family life was also more English than most colonists would have liked
to admit. Despite these similarities, the New England colonies were quite different when
it came to topics such as land ownership and inheritance. In the colonies men owned the
land that they worked on unlike in England, where they worked for the owner of the land.
Passing land ownership down to heirs was also different in the colonies. For example, a
father is going to pass down all of his land to his eldest son. He does not have much land
and wants his son to have more property, so he adds on more land on to his claim. This
land acquisition process compounds with generation. Eventually the land holdings are
significantly larger than the starting ones. While the New England colonies were
distinguishing themselves from England, the Middle colonies were also making
themselves known.
The differences between the Middle colonies and England did not focus on land or
ownership, but by 1750 the Middle colonies were distinguishing themselves from Britain
with their cultural and religious diversity. In Britain, most of the people attended the
Church of England. The cultural variety in England was remarkably less than that of the
colonies. However, the Middle colonies were ethnically varied and diverse. Varied
religions tended to hold strong loyalties to their cultures instead of their country. On the
other hand, the English were very loyal to their country as well as the Church of England.
Because of conflicting faiths, the colonies didn?t tend to mesh well. This proved to be
extremely difficult when it came time to unite the colonies in wars and other important
situations.
Not only were the New England and Middle colonies trying to differentiate
themselves from England, but Chesapeake Bay colonies were beginning to develop their
own identity as well. The culture of the Planter Elite System was brought over from
England and was an important part of life in Carolina. The Planter Elite System was one
in which the owners of the plantations were the aristocrats of the colony. It was only the
aristocrats that were educated and civilized. What differentiated these colonists from
England, was that the colonists in the Chesapeake Bay area were more rough around the
edges instead of culturally refined. The colonists were also more eager for action, while
the English would hire someone to do their fighting. In England it was unheard of for
someone to marry or interbreed anyone out of their social class, but in the colonies, the
interbreeding of slaves and the Planter Elite was not uncommon. In many ways, the
Chesapeake Bay colonies were more masculine than the English.
While all of the colonists were citizens of England, after over a hundred years of
neglect on England?s part, the colonies started to develop their own system of
government, along with specific traits unique to each colony. By 1750 colonies in
America were not as yet unique but there were differences between European/British
patterns of behavior as seen in the New England, Middle, and Chesapeake colonies.