Preview

The Chesapeake Colonists

Satisfactory Essays
Open Document
Open Document
144 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
The Chesapeake Colonists
This fact, combined with the high mortality rate from disease slowed population growth considerably. In Virginia, the colonists made their riches by cultivating tobacco, setting a pattern that was followed in the Carolinas and Maryland. Chesapeake was an enormous agricultural tobacco land, which was connected by the waters of the Chesapeake Bay extremely and was spread out. Plantations were established by riverbanks for the fertile soil and to ensure ease of transportation because wealthy planters built their own wharves on the Chesapeake to ship their crop to England. The Chesapeake colonists created a more aristocratic society. The existence of slaves created an economic gap between poor Chesapeake farmers and the wealthy, with the wealthy

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    In 1607 King James of England issued a royal charter to colonize America. They built a fort around the Chesapeake Bay and named it Jamestown in honor of their king. The region of the Chesapeake they were settling on was already home to over 20,000 Algonquian Indians. Their leader, Powhatan, immediately confronted the new English settlers asking them to establish an alliance. Powhatan believed that he could stat a valuable trade with the English and also help support them as they begin to settle. The Jamestown colony began to go down hill, they started to rely so much on the Algonquians for supply’s that they became unable to support themselves. Jamestown became so dependent on the Algonquian stores that John Smith and his men went out and attacked and raided other surrounding Indian villages for food and other supply’s. Powhatan realized that al the English came for was to invade and take their land, not to trade with them. So Powhatan decided to starve the colonists. During the winter 1609-1610 large amounts of colonists in the Jamestown settlement starved and a number of them resorted to cannibalism. Out of the 900 colonists that had been sent to Virginia to settle it, only 60 remained. The English however were determined to keep the colony going. The Virginia company sent more men, women, children, and livestock to the Jamestown colony. This time they were prepared to fight Powhatan and his tribe. Because the new colonists were prepared to fight and to help themselves with farming and trading they turned the colony’s failure to success. In 1613 the colonists had firm control over the areas between the James and York rivers. The Algonquin Indians were so rundown from all the warfare and disease, they became forced to sign a peace treaty with the English. The English now started to grow bigger and bigger. They introduced tobacco production. This became a very merchantable commodity. The English started out relying on the Indians to do everything for them, and they…

    • 397 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The economies of the colonies of Massachusetts and Virginia were centered around different resources, but each colony flourished in its own way. Virginia centered around the fact that land was plentiful, but labor was scarce. Many landowners had large portions of land but not enough workers to cultivate it. In Massachusetts, the land was not fertile so their economy centered around the fishing and ship making industries. Therefore, Massachusetts’s most profitable resources were timber and fishing. Land was less fertile in Massachusetts due to the harsh climate and short growing season. One thing that helped Massachusetts economy was that they could also take out the “middle man” when trading by using their own ships and merchants. Due to the fertile land in Virginia, their most profitable resource was tobacco. Virginia’s land was fertile due to the warm climate and immense rainfall. Virginia had plenty of staples to exchange for English goods. The Massachusetts colony had a lack of staples for exchange,…

    • 838 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    give bills of payment, gold rings and fur were welcome to purchase other supplies." Most of those who settled in the Chesapeake Bay region had come to make money. In the southern climate, they were able to grow tobacco and make money by exporting it. They prospered through a planting based economy. This kind of economy also meant that they depended on slaves more than those in New England. The settlers in the New England region concentrated on shipping. They had a more manufacturing based economy. This difference in economies was another reason that the two societies were so different.…

    • 532 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    During the time period between 1606 and 1700, hundreds of settlers flocked to the Virginia colony seeking riches only to find hardship, and no gold. However, after many years, and much effort, the Virginians managed to secure a solid social and economic system that would eventually make Virginia one of the most important North American colonies. One of the first hardships settlers encountered were disease, malnutrition, and starvation. When the settlers first arrived they wasted their valuable time searching for gold that was nowhere to be found, instead of getting accustomed to their new surroundings. The settlers were in such misery in an atmosphere that was foreign to them compared to ways of life they were used to in England. With the colony heading toward disaster, the colonists were luckily saved by Captain John Smith, who whipped the colonists into shape by forcing them to work or else they didn’t eat. His efforts were rewarded with his kidnapping by the Powhatan Native American tribe who desired a more peaceful than harmful relationship with the Virginians. Pocahontas, the tribe princess along with Smith who together helped the colonist survive their first couple of winters and acquire food. The colonists were beginning to need some source of money to help them with their development of Virginia. The ability to attain wealth from gold came to the realization of the settlers who knew they needed to find something else. John Rolfe soon came to the rescue when he developed methods of raising tobacco. Tobacco became in high demand in Europe and created a stable economy for Virginia. While bringing in profit for the Virginia colonist it also brought them long-lasting health problems. Regardless of its cons, tobacco advertisements contributed to the well-being of Virginia’s economy by demonstrating the value of the crop to Virginians. The large production fluctuated prices for a single crop causing planters to…

    • 644 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Thirteen Colonies of America were all founded by England in the 17th century. However, the origins, beliefs, economies and governments of these colonies are as varied and diverse as America itself. The Northern Colonies of New England and the Southern Colonies were the most prolific of the New World and were very different in most cases.…

    • 423 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    While Jamestown is now viewed as the first successful British Colony, it came close to failing in its first years. Early colonization attempts were not always successful, and the odds were not in Jamestown’s favor. From the very beginning, it seems, Jamestown was bound to be a failure. While many challenges were presented to this colony, in the end, somehow they rose above these situations and founded what is now modern day Virginia.…

    • 365 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Although New England and the Chesapeake region were both settled largely by the people of English origin, by 1700 the regions had evolved into two distinct societies. The reasons for this distinct development were mostly based on the type on people from England who chose to settle in the two areas, and on the manner in which the areas were settled. <br><br>New England was a refuge for religious separatists leaving England, while people who immigrated to the Chesapeake region had no religious motives. As a result, New England formed a much more religious society then the Chesapeake region. John Winthrop states that their goal was to form "a city upon a hill", which represented a "pure" community, where Christianity would be pursued in the most correct manner. Both the Pilgrims and the Puritans were very religious people. In both cases, the local government was controlled by the same people who controlled the church, and the bible was the basis for all laws and regulations. From the Article of Agreement, Springfield, Massachusetts it is clear that religion was the basis for general laws. It uses the phrase "being by God's providence engaged together to make a plantation", showing that everything was done in God's name. The Wage and Price Regulations in Connecticut is an example of common laws being justified by the bible. Also in this document the word "community " is emphasized, just as Winthrop emphasizes it saying: "we must be knit together in this work as one man". The immigrants to New England formed very family and religiously oriented communities. Looking at the emigrant lists of people bound for New England it is easy to observe that most people came in large families, and large families support the community atmosphere. There were many children among the emigrants, and those children were taught religion from their early childhood, and therefore grew up loyal to the church, and easily controllable by the same. Any deviants from the regime were silenced or…

    • 729 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    James Island is the place on James River after entering the Chesapeake Bay and continuing down James River, where more than 100 passengers in 3 English ships travelled to become the first English settlement in America England was their mother country which is a country you are originally from. This was in the Spring of 1607 according to the (Background essay). When they came to this land they were full of hopes. They were all hopeful because they believed the land to be full of riches. They also expected a hidden trade route to China. They wanted to teach Christianity to the native population. Nearly 80% of the colonists who arrived in Jamestown are dead. What they wanted to find in America is treasure and new land to settle but, they found…

    • 590 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The New England and Chesapeake colonies were both settled by English colonists. Most colonists moving from Great Britain to New England were families searching for religious salvation, rather than mostly the single men that traveled to the Chesapeake area in search of wealth. The immigrants of the Chesapeake area were greeted with a climate and soil that were perfect for cultivating tobacco, cotton, indigo, and rice. Those settling in New England could not rely on farming to support themselves because of the rocky soil in the north. While the majority of the Chesapeake colonists were not as cohesive due to the great distance from farms to these towns, New England had close-knit church events, meetings, and schools. Although, the New England and Chesapeake colonies were both settled by people at English origin, by 1700 the regions had evolved into two distinct societies because of motives, environment, and towns/communities.…

    • 1064 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    5. James town was the first successful English colony and the people part of the colony had to follow certain rules to survive. The colony was first established by the Virginia Company London Group in May 6, 1607. The colony was located on the banks of the James River and when it began the people relied on the Indians to teach them how to plant and harvest crops. As the colony continued and slowly became independent from the Indians they built a three sided fort to protect themselves from the Indians and the Spanish. The people built a Church in the center of the fort and thatched huts to live in along with a store house. The colony was intended to find gold, rise oranges, find silk worms and to find the Northwest Passage. The colony failed…

    • 364 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The colonists didn't want to pay taxes passed by the Parliament because they know that their money will end up paying for the war debts which the colonists don't want to because they believe that taxes were supposed to use for the development of the city or aid those who are in poverty.…

    • 139 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    In addition to exporting tobacco almost exclusively, the plant’s availability meant that in times where gold and silver were not common, tobacco was used as a currency. [11] Also, as economic subsidiaries of England, the various colonies of the Chesapeake region were bound by its mercantile system. [12] This required the colonies to export raw materials back to England, who would turn them into product which could be distributed wherever in was in demand. [13] This arrangement prevented direct trading with other nations, and as England needed tobacco more than almost anything else, colonists continued to produce it for…

    • 1256 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Roanoke Colony

    • 483 Words
    • 2 Pages

    I think what happened was that the indians came to where the colony was and that they took some of them and they killed the others. They were having a drought and i think the indians came to look for water and found them. So they ran into the colonist and killed many of them. They could of took the baby or some others too.…

    • 483 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Colony of Maryland

    • 389 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The colony of Maryland is a very unique colony in many different ways. The colony was formed in 1634 by two hundred emigrants, mostly Roman Catholics. With the founding of Maryland came the first permanent proprietary government of America, that is, a government by a lord proprietor, who, holding his authority by virtue of a royal charter, nevertheless exercised that authority almost as an independent sovereign.…

    • 389 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    New England and Chesapeake

    • 1498 Words
    • 6 Pages

    In terms of economics, early distinctions occurred in that the economy of the Chesapeake colonies was based on large plantations whereas the economy of New England was based on subsistence farming and mercantilism. In early 17th century Virginia, tobacco became Virginia’s biggest profits. By 1700, 40 million pounds of tobacco was produced and large plantations were dedicated to just growing tobacco, producing a single crop economy. The large plantations provided landowners or tobacco growers with cheap and plentiful labor through the use of slaves and indentured servants. In document C, the passengers aboard the ship bound for Virginia are all mostly made up of single men well below the age of 40, showing that many are probably indentured servants who are going to work in the large plantations. By the 1660s the overproduction of tobacco dramatically decreased tobacco prices causing indigo and rice to become greater commodities. Still large plantations dominated the economy by producing indigo and rice as well. However New England colonies were based on subsistence farming and a barter economy in the early 17th century. Only enough food would be grown to support the community. Fishing oysters, whaling and homespun industry (artisans) dominated the economy. In document B, many craftsmen ventured to New England, showing that artisans were an important part of the economy. There were a few number of farmers aboard the ship as well indicating that farming was not a large…

    • 1498 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays