A week in hell!

New England was one of the scariest places I’ve ever been. The people there are all clones, and I feel as if they were trying to abduct me, and convert me into their Puritan religion. This trip was not how I planed it to be. I hope to never come back here again.  

Aliens...

One thing I noticed while I was staying in New England, was that everyone looks the same. Everyone is a white English Puritan. There is little cultural diversity, and it is boring up here. Everyone has the same personal values, because they follow religion so closely.

In the South, we have all sorts of people. We have Protestants, Catholics. We even have some Native Americans and Slaves. I also noticed that People in the Northeast aren’t working to make a lot of money. My father’s tobacco plantation in the south is practically a money tree. In fact, the only reason my family moved to Virginia was to get more money.

In the North, they only have small farms that do substance farming, like fruits and vegetables. There are very few cash crops. The community here is also very close knit. Everyone seems to know Sophie, and Sophie seems to know everyone. Down in the South, we have mostly cash crops, and very few substance farming. There is an extremely low population density. It seems very weird to be able to walk to your neighbor’s house within 2 minutes. 

These Yankees are extremely different. its almost as if they are... aliens?

A strange way of running things...

Today, Sophie and I went to a Town Hall Meeting. We had to watch through the window, because Sophie wasn’t allowed in because she is female. Most of the people in the council were influential religious figures, and freemen (any male puritan that was the head of a household). Everyone in the council was religious, and it became very clear to me that there Church and State were not separated, but they were one.

The people in the council did not all seem very intelligent. There were “average-joes” spreading their opinions in the meeting. Uneducated people with little money should not be making such big governmental decisions. In Virginia, we have the House of Burgesses. It is a legislative elected representative body, which mostly consists of intelligent wealthy plantation owners, such as my father. They have the most influence on the governmental decisions. Small farm owners are under us, then landless white men. Indentured servants are below them, and slaves are at the very bottom of the southern hierarchy. 

I asked Sophie “who in their right mind would let unintelligent, highly religious, average income people control their government?” She tired to tell me that a government that has different perspectives from a variety of people would be better then a government that only has one viewpoint. I still don’t believe that New England has a stable government system.

Would you really want this person making some of the most important governmental decisions for you?

Where are all the slaves?

In the Massachusetts Bay Colony, we have to do everything ourself. It is quite annoying when I have to help Sophie cook lunch, or help her take care of the children. I wonder why her family doesn't have slaves to help her?

In fact, I don't think I've seen that many slaves here in Mass Bay Colony. In the south, we have slaves to do all our biddings. Not only are there imported Africans, but there are also indentured servants. Basically, I pay for a servant to come over to America and work for me, and after a set amount of time, they get to leave and get some of their own land. It seems like a good deal at first, but I take advantage of my slaves, and make them work till death. I do not care if they are sick or tired, I put my own hard work into the money I used to pay for the Servants to come to America.

They do not have this option in the North, partly because they do not believe in slavery, and partly because they do not have that much land to give to the indentured servants if they in fact live long enough to gain their deserved piece of land. 

I'm not sure why Sophie is against slavery. They greatly decrease my daily work load. I probably would not be able to travel to visit Sophie if I did not have the help of them. She says that it is "unethical" but I don't see how it can be that bad, its just like a regular job. I'm paying a servant with my own money, so I deserve the benefits of slavery, just as much as the slave deserves the money.

Women!

One thing I noticed in the North East, was the augmented number of women. In the south, there are barely any women, because their bodies are not fit for the physical harshness of the work in the South. Women are not an asset in the south, but in the north, they are of great help. Sophie explained to me how one of her jobs is to marry a man, and bear children to create more life. I don’t see this as a job, but more of a natural part of life.

Sophie told me how women are always seen as less then men. They have more original sin because Eve was the one who originally ate the apple. Her corruption extends to all women in the Puritan religion. She also informed me that she would some day have the perfect son. A large part of a woman’s reputation depends on how good their son is, because women are responsible for the raising of children. If a child was bad, it was blamed on the mother. Sophie longs to get a regular education, but that is not possible because of her gender. Only males are allowed to go to school.

Visiting Jack

Today, Sophie and I went to go visit my other cousin, Jack. Jack had to spend the day at school, so I took the opportunity to assess their education system. To my surprise, their education system was very successful. The teachers strongly enforced that great education leads to great prosperity. One teacher even said “He who ne’er learns his A.B.C. forever will a blockhead be. But he who learns his letters fair shall have a coach to take the air.” Even though I heard that the North East stresses biblical readings in school.

There is a high number of college graduates from English universities in the Northeast, in comparison to the south. College education in New England, was originally to prepare men for the ministry, because the church would fail if the new ministry was not properly educated. I personally went to an English institution, but Sophie insists that my education was not proper, and clouded with opinioned philosophical rubbish. The curriculum of the North East focuses on dead languages and theology.

Upon Arrival

Upon arriving in the Northeast, the first thing I noticed was the great religious influence on society. Sophie explained that the reason she came to America was to freely practice her religion as a Puritan. Although I consider myself a fairly devout Christian, the Puritans have devoted themselves to god on a much higher level. They have such a literal perspective of the Bible. She informed me that her goal in life was to continually be reformed by god and to live her life worshiping god. It is as if she is always looking down on me because I do not have a strong enough connection with god.

Truthfully, I don’t believe in god, but I do go to church every week to honor my family tradition, and many people would think of my differently if I was openly atheist. Now I’m learning that I must pretend to commit all my life to god if I want to have a pleasant time in the North East. I feel as if everyone knows I will go to hell, as if my placement has been predetermined.

If you look past their religion, the Puritans are actually nice, normal people. But the problem is, you can’t really look past a puritans’ religion, because their religion is the most important part of their life. They even dress in dark clothes, to show their conservative spirit!

I am not really looking forward to the rest of the trip anymore…

First day!

Today, I am going to visit my cousin Sophie in New England. Not only am I excited to reunite with my extended family, but I am also excited to see the differences in culture between my home town (Jamestown) and her home town (Massachusetts Bay Colony).