Colonial Development In Virginia And New England

6 Pages 1406 Words

After the discovery of a “New World”, people flocked to America for a new life. There were different reasons for everyone: power, religion, money, independence, change. Regardless of their intention, each person who emigrated during this time shared a common vision. America was a land of opportunity. Even the knowledge of Native American presence didn’t stop the Europeans from viewing this land as a blank canvas where their future could be whatever they made of it. The colonists of Virginia and New England may have come from a common area but their motives would prove to be very different, the Virginians driven by profit and the Puritans by religion.
When Jamestown was founded in 1607 by the Virginia Company, the Indian people were there to greet them. Powhatan, the leader of the native peoples’ confederacy, had already seen disease and conflict brought to the area with Spanish colonization and so was skeptical of the newcomers. Even still, he had high hopes for trade with the English and a chance for an alliance. Unfortunately, the colonist had something else in mind. They took advantage of the Native Americans’ generosity by plundering Indian villages and waging war against them. In 1613, they captured Pocahontas who, despite the promise of return, would never see her native land again. She would end up marrying John Rolfe and dying before she could reach her father again. Devastated, Powhatan stepped down as his people’s leader and passed away shortly after. This would be a major victory against the Indian people for the English and allow for easier expansion of the colony.
The New England settlers had similar relations with the Native Americans. Arriving by way of the Mayflower in 1620, the Separatists, now known as the Pilgrims, were quickly weakened by sickness. Like the Virginians, these colonists would not have survived without the Wampanoags and Algonquian Indians’ assistance. They exchanged �...