Essay, Research Paper: Changes In The Colonies

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.