Colonial Region Diversity

Colonial Region Diversity

After immigration to the New World, colonial regions started to show characteristics that define them and separated them from the rest of the regions. Massachusetts and Pennsylvania were both settled by English colonists. However, the people who settled the Middle Colonies, such as Pennsylvania, varied from the people who settled the New England area, such as Massachusetts. The people who colonized Pennsylvania had different religious beliefs than those people who colonized Massachusetts. The settlers also had different reasonings for settling in America and had various intentions on what they would would do in the New World. The environments proposed different obstacles for the people,which forced them to develop different economies in order to survive and prosper. The religion, intentions, and the environment of the colonies made for differences in the economies in the Middle Colonies, represented by Pennsylvania, and the New England area, represented by Massachusetts. There were many differences between the regions, but a main difference was religion.

Religion was an important characteristic that helped define a colonial region. The people who settled in Pennsylvania were Quakers. Quakers were pacifists and believed they all were children of God so they mustn't hurt any of them. The people who settled in Massachusetts were strict Puritans. Puritans believed that only persons who felt the stirrings of grace in their souls and could demonstrate its presence to their fellow Puritans should be admitted into the church. These religions are very different from each other and thus, the members of these different religions settled in different areas and developed different economies, but the factor of their intentions for the New World also helped the diversity of the regions to grow.

The intentions and reasonings of settling America varied from region to region. The settlers of Massachusetts came to the New World in order to establish a religious community. They wanted to be away from the Catholics and to be able to practice their religion freely, without the King of England corrupting it. The settlers of Pennsylvania came to America to find prosperity for themselves. They wanted all the riches they were promised. Different regions prospered because of their varying environments.

The different environments help to shape diverse regions. The Middle Colonies had fertile soil, rivers and streams the helped for fur trade, and lush forests that provided lumber for shipbuilding. They also had landholdings in the Middle Colonies that were intermediate size. New England consisted of small farms. New England also had stony, infertile soil that did not allow for the growing of tobacco. This obstacle forced them to turn to fishing and merchant shipping for their livelihoods. This was a major factor in distinguishing them as a different region.

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