A Voyage to America - Essay Example

The Southern Colonies The colonies were a completely new land of opportunity. With the decreasing economy in England, many people turned to the colonies as a new source of economic freedom. As a result, many people left England searching for this freedom. With the thirteen colonies established, different opportunities resided in each region. The southern colonies were reliant on profits, which came from farms that were tended to by unskilled labor as well as slaves. Due to the fact that I have a lack of skills necessary to provide skilled labor, the south had the best opportunities available.

The south had an agriculturally sustaining economy that made a majority of the profit off the growth and sale of cash crops. Some of the cash crops that were sold were tobacco, sugar, and cotton (cotton was the most profitable of all the crops). In order to fuel the massive agricultural economy, both unskilled labor as well as slaves was used in order to harvest the crops. As a result, I would be able to gain employment on a farm or plantation to work either in exchange for living conditions or for a portion of the crops that I can sell for profit.

In addition, depending on the governor of the territory, land was given for Englishmen to develop in exchange for a percentage of the profit that was made from the sales of crops. Owning land means that I would have power, therefore by working for the crown, I would be gaining status through the owning of land, but also profit by the sale of cash crops. In addition, the religious tolerance in the south was more lenient than that of the North. The Puritans who followed a strict, non-semantic view of religion colonized the Northern colonies.

Therefore, religious conformity was expected and religious tolerance was at a minimum. In addition, the south had citizens that were loyal to the crown. Thus, the system of government in the south was more traditional as well as represented one of the oldest ruling bodies in the thirteen colonies. The south represented the best alternative for those in England that were not wealthy and did not have the skills to be profitable in other parts of the new world. The sale of cash crops provided economic stability that would extend even past the original thirteen colonies all the way through the civil war.

Unlike other portions of the colony, the south offered opportunities that were better due to the style of government and the cultural forces that were at play.