New England Vs. Virginia Colonies

New England Vs. Virginia Colonies

The origin of the original thirteen colonies by English settlers was the result of many
different motives on the parts of both the settlers and of the British government.   For different
reasons, both looked favorably upon the “New World” as a place to colonize.   The British
government’s motives were to gain the money and prestige to rival Catholic Spain.   The settlers’
main motives were religious freedom and amass personal wealth.   With these goals in sight, the
British government granted charters and English settlers set out for the “New World.”        
Two motives of the British government to encourage the colonization of America were
economics and prestige(1).   The British government looked at its colonies from a strictly
economical stand point.   As can be seen by its mercantilistic policies and its use of triangular
trade, it cared little for the colonists so long as the treasury grew.   By using triangular trade, it
was able to capitalize on every aspect of colonial economics.   First, raw materials such as wood,
ore, and crops, were raised in the new world.   Next, it was shipped to England, where it was
bought very cheap by English companies.   It was then made into finished goods and sent back to
the colonies where it was sold at many times the value of the raw material(9).   Also, a tax had to
be paid to export the raw materials and import the finished goods.   Taxes were the Crown’s best
way to make money off the colonies.   Once this was figured out, many new taxes were voted into
effect by parliament, of which colonists were not part of.   When the British East India company
was going bankrupt, the British government interfered with the colonies by forcing them to buy
their tea from the British East India Company, whose prices were higher than the other sources
for tea, and added a special tax to it(1).   This proved to be one of the significant reasons for the
Boston Tea Party and later the American.  
Spain was the richest and most...