The first settlement was a disaster and all returned to England. The second settlement in 1587 disappeared. (Taylor, 1998) Religiously, the South remains dominated by English ways and hierarchies. There is no democratic debate about the faith, even to expunge sinners from the fold. Politically, only men with land dominate the legislatures. And in terms of Native relations, the disappearance of previous colonies speaks for itself. Disease also weakens the bodies of the colonists, making them more open to Native attacks.

The inequality of relations between fellow colonists is further underlined by the treatment of Black slaves in the colony. Since its inception, slave laws reflect the racism of the colony, stressing the deliberate separation of blacks and whites. Even Christian slaves are not called Christian, (another defamation of the religious attitudes of Virginia) as one 1680 law has a prescription of thirty lashes on the bare back "if any Negroes or other slave shall presume to lift up his hand against any Christian."

There is also a separate legal code providing distinct trial procedures and harsher punishments for Negroes, which speaks ill of its political opportunities as well. (the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, 2005)

The presence of slavery also speaks further ill of economic opportunities. How can a man rise in economic clout, if there are individuals who are owned body and soul to do the labor instead? In Massachusetts, bondage in the form of indentured...

Agricultural labor is also seasonal work that teaches a man nothing that he can buy or sell on his own. But the more urban and commercial Massachusetts Bay allows for greater personal economic development, by learning a trade as well as participating in town politics, unlike the spread out plantations where one hardly knows who resides on the next farm.
But the treatment of Blacks along bespeaks the negative ways of the Virginians. If this is how they treat those who till their fields, who are the economic lifeblood and hands of their colony, how will they treat you, when you arrive?

As a fellow man or a machine? And also, the rebellion of slaves is another potential hazard in addition to Native attacks that makes Massachusetts the clear choice.

Works Cited

The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. "Slavery and the Law in Virginia." 2005

http://www.history.org/history/teaching/slavelaw.cfm.[14 Feb 2005]

Logan, Samuel. "The Pilgrims and Puritans: Total Reformation for the Glory of God." Table talk magazine, vol. 20, no. 11, November 1996.

Norris Taylor, Jr. "The Massachusetts Bay Colony." 1998. Massachusetts Bay Colony Website. http://members.aol.com/ntgen/hrtg/mass.html

O'Brien, Jean M. "Changing Conditions for Indian Women in Eighteenth Century New England." From Major Problems in American Indian History, 149-160.

Taylor, Norris. "Our English Heritage." 1998. Our English Heritage Web site: http://members.aol.com/ntgen/hrtg/engl.html[14 Feb 2005]