As plantation societies took shape in the South during the seventeenth century, colonies of a much different character developed in New England, New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. In fact, northern colonial societies offer a dramatic counterpoint to the fragile, fragmented cultures of the Chesapeake, the Carolinas, and the Caribbean. The early southern colonies were socially volatile and politically unstable, dominated by the quest for profit and divided by sharp racial and class antagonisms. To the north, a healthier climate, a different economic base, and strong religious influences contributed to the emergence of more coherent and stable societies.