Chapter 2, Beginnings of English America, 1607-­‐1660: A Synopsis This chapter concentrates on the early history of the Chesapeake and the New England colonies, between 1607-­‐1660. The chapter begins by exploring the motives behind English colonization of the New World, then considers who was emigrating to America, and for what reasons. The settlement in the Chesapeake region, where tobacco emerged as the economic engine and most early colonists cultivated that crop as indentured servants, is compared with the more family-­‐and spiritually-­‐oriented, more economically diverse New England settlements.