American History – Colonial Regions
1) How important do you think geography was in shaping regional ways of life? For example, if the Puritans had settled in the South, do you think they might have lost their focus on community and spread out in scattered farms? Or do you think their community focus would have changed the way the South was settled?
2) If you were an average English man or woman sailing from England in 1700, do you imagine you would have chosen a colonial region with strong community life or a region of more scattered settlement? Use specific examples of the different regions when explaining your choice.
Please write the answer.
American History – Colonial Regions
1.
Geography was extremely important in shaping the regional ways of life in the American colonial regions. Most people living in the South scattered in farms due to the predominant farming practices in the region. However, the missionaries who came to the American colonial regions to spread religion could be affected by the geography (Shi and George 78). If the puritans had settled in the South, they would have changed the way the South settled through their community focus. The Puritans come from the church of England with the purpose of spreading the Catholic practices and beliefs.
In the South, the geography favoured farming whereby the Southerners believed in farming through using slaves. It is impossible that the farming culture in the South could change the community focus due to their strong religious beliefs and values. The southern colonies grew sugarcane, rice and tobacco due to the warm humid climate in the south. The mid-Atlantic colonies had a moderate climate and vast fertile land, and thus, allowing them to grow corns and wheat. The southern colonies had scattered and spread out on the land to find farms and green pastures for their livestock. The influence of geography on the people living in the colonial regions dependent on their religion and social values.
2)
If I were an average English man moving from England in 1700, I would have chosen to live in a more scattered settlement region in the North of America. For example, English migrants who came and settled in Virginia enjoyed significant benefits due to the favourable economic forces in the region. The privatization of shared pastures and the farmlands was possible. The Northern region made it possible for the English migrants to set up factories and commercial enterprises. On the other hand, migrants settling in the South faced challenges to adapt to the strict community values and cultures in the South including the use of slaves.
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Work Cited
Shi, David E., and George Brown Tindall. America: A narrative history. New York, NY: WW Norton & Company, 2016. Print.
