Jamestown And Plymouth Plantat Essay, Research Paper

Jamestown and Plymouth Plantation

The beginning of colonization was very difficult for the early settlers in the New World. Disease, starvation, greed, and aggressive Native Americans were factors that lead to the end of many colonization attempts in the Americas. The first two successes were Jamestown and Plymouth Plantation. There were many differences between the two, such as the type of local government established, the kind of relationships maintained with the local natives and the way they became self-sufficient.

Jamestown used military rule for much of the first decade as a colony. They soon moved to an assembly that was elected by the people. Before the inhabitants of Plymouth Plantation set foot on the New World in the leaders of the expedition drew up the Mayflower Compact, by doing so they formed a civil government. This gave them claim to the land and to rule it in the name of the King. These early forms of democracy seem to have been the best way to rule, due to the many ideas and different backgrounds of many of the inhabitants.

Jamestown was on shaky ground from the beginning with the natives leading to two wars with the Pawhatan Indians. They alienated any Indian allies they might have had by forcing them to bow before the King of England. Plymouth started off on the right foot by procuring the help of two English-speaking Indians. These two Natives taught colonists how cultivate corn and acted as envoys with the local natives. This allowed for extensive trade with the Indians of that region.

The Plymouth colonist had surpluses of corn crop, which they traded with northern natives for furs. They soon made agreements with the Dutch to split the fur and wampum trade in the New England area. Jamestown on the other hand cultivated many varieties of tobacco and exported it to Europe. Tobacco was in such high demand that the Virginia Company of London pumped more people and money in to the colony when they discovered that tobacco was a moneymaker.

The main difference between Jamestown and Plymouth is money and freedom. Jamestown was founded in the hope for a profit. Plymouth was founded in the name of religious freedom.