New England Colonies vs. Southern Colonies

While New England colonies and Southern colonies were established by similar English settlers, Southerners were agriculturally driven and owed part of their culture to the increase of African slaves, while New England colonists stuck more to a family basis and Puritan tradition, with an economy focused upon shipbuilding and trade commerce due to the lack of fertile soil. Due to the fertile soil of southern colonies, such as Virginia, the demand for land arose, accompanying the demand for tobacco products. Because additional labor was necessary for profit, planters invested in African slaves to work on plantations. Over the course of time, native-born African-Americans contributed to a distinctive slave culture that mixed old African tradition, language, and religion with that of their new homes. Not only did this affect southern culture of the 1600s alone, but it created a new identity and culture that still carries on today. As slavery grew, the south’s social structure widened and southern life revolved around plantations. On the contrary, the soil of New England was not as generous as that in the south, limiting the mass growth of agriculture in the north. Because of this, many New Englanders scattered elsewhere for fertile land, which thus resulted in settlement in western America. Slavery was attempted, as in the south, yet was not practical on smaller farms. Thus, the New England colony mainly relied on trade, shipbuilding, and the exploitation of local resources, such as the abundance of fish off the coast. New England culture differed greatly from southern culture, especially because southern colonies were somewhat religiously tolerant. Since New England was less ethnically diverse, the dominant religion was Puritanism, which sought to defend the integrity of marriages. This created a stable, religious family basis that northern life revolved around, instead of business and more fragile relations found in the south. Society was based around small villages and farms, while southern colonies had a social structure based on wealth and landholding. Overall, New England colonies and southern colonies were vastly different concerning their economies, social structures, and cultural influences.