The Chesapeake colonists experienced shorter, less fertile lives than their New
England counterparts. In 1640, for example, Chesapeake migrants had no more
than a 50 percent chance of surviving their first year in America. Hot, steamy
summers fostered repeated outbreaks of malaria and typhoid fever, which along
with dysentery and poisoning from brackish drinking water, killed thousands. New
England's drinking water was safe, although Puritans generally preferred home-
brewed beer, and the harsher winter climate helped kill off deadly germs. As a
result, the Puritans enjoyed longer, healthier lives. In New England, 20 percent of all
Puritan males who survived infancy lived into their seventies, and even with the
hazards of childbirth, Puritan women lived almost as long. (Martin et al., p. 59)
What is the controlling idea of the paragraph?
Chesapeake colonists had a low death rate during their first year in America.
Chesapeake colonists experienced shorter, less healthy lives than the New
England Puritans.
Puritans preferred home-brewed beer to drinking water.
