During the first half of the 1600’s the Virginia and Maryland colonies were being populated from England by lower class people who couldn’t get jobs. They were not volunteers and sending them to the Americas was a good way to get them out of England and provide manpower for the new tobacco fields. They were almost all men and he death rate was VERY high and only by continually sending more people could the population remain constant or grow at a very slow rate. The New England regions were much cooler and not nearly as productive agriculturally but it was also MUCH healthier for the immigrants. Almost all the people who immigrated in the 1630’s came for either religious reasons or as a new start for tradesmen who could not find jobs in England. They were volunteers and often came with families. Because this area was so much healthier they were able to increase the population of the area without new immigrants. Almost all the inhabitants in New England in the later part of the century were direct descendants of the original immigration movement in the 1630’s. Another interesting note is that during that immigration of the 1630’s only one ship was lost on the way to the New England area.

(Book – American Colonies:The Settling of North America – Alan Taylor)