Similarities Between Massachusetts And Virginia

Throughout the 1600’s and 1700’s English colonies emerged in North America. While all thirteen of the colonies had significant similarities, each colony was unique with its own features, especially between Massachusetts and Virginia. The Massachusetts colony civilians put the group and community above all, whereas the Virginians focused more on individualism and self-advancement.
The Massachusetts Colony was Puritan, with very important kinship ties. The family worked together, with each member of the family having a certain job or responsibility. If the community didn’t believe that a family was behaving appropriately, the community would punish the household, and guide them into correct behavior. Family membership determined their position in society, instead of the individual’s

Here, marriages lasted relatively long, with divorce being extremely uncommon, and each family had many children. Families, especially the males, often lived near their relatives, as the land they inherited would be next to or apart of their families plot. This kept the younger generations dependent on the older ones, to keep the family ties together. Fathers had the biggest responsibilities in the families, and all other members had to listen and obey the father. However, childhood in Massachusetts was different then it is in any other places. Children were believed to be born full of sin, and the parents were taught that after the age of two, they need to fight their child’s evil with discipline and punishment. Teenagers were often sent to live with different families, as the Puritans believed that humans were more likely to spoil their own children, instead of discipline them. At the age of seven, Puritan