THE SOUTHERN AND
CHESAPEAKE COLONIES
Economic, Political and Social Characteristics
A Basic Map of the Southern Colonies
This is a more focused version of
the maps you are working on.
Here you can find:
Virginia
North and South Carolina
Georgia
Maryland
The Chesapeake Bay
Jamestown
The James River
Use the reference atlas in your
textbook in order to locate any of
the other geographic features you
are unfamiliar with.
Economic Origins: The Virginia
Company of London
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The establishment of the Jamestown Colony – which
is the eponymous event for the Virginia colony –
was founded in 1607 for the purpose of economic
gain.
The Virginia Company of London’s original charter
makes this clear from the start. Their “license to
make habitation” was granted by the Crown, but
the stockholders in the joint stock venture sought
profits.
Plantation Agriculture
After a variety of failed endeavors, including ventures in cattle ranching, the
enslavement and deportation of Native Americans, and plenty of efforts to mine
for precious metals, the plantation system of agriculture was grudgingly
established. Crops like rice, indigo, and tobacco were grown for export and
enslaved labor or indentured servants were relied upon for a workforce.
Cash Crops: Rice, Indigo, and Tobacco
Tobacco saved
the Virginia
Colony, but other
crops were more
common to the
South. Eliza
Lucas, an
enterprising
young woman in
South Carolina,
began to
cultivate indigo
as a dye for
English markets.
African slave
labor was
brought in in
order to manage
the rice fields in
the deep South.
Subsistence Farming
Most southerners
did not own
plantations or
reap enormous
profits from
plantation
agriculture. They
were subsistence
farmers and
grew food crops
exclusively.
Crops included
staples of the
American diet
like corn, peas,
potatoes, and
any other
starchy, calorie
rich food.
Hierarchical System: Wealthy, Noble
Landowners, Poor Farmer Workers
The original
settlers of
Jamestown were
for the most part
gentlemen and
aristocrats in
England – above
working in the
fields or common
labor. The idea
of a hierarchical
society – where a
rigid class
structure existed
and no social
mobility was
allowed – shaped
Virginia society.
The Anglican Church
Although the
Anglican Church was
important to Colonial
American society, it
was not the
organizing focal
point that the Puritan
faith served for New
England Colonies.
More women joined
the Church than men,
and it usually was
viewed as a softer
version of
government. By the
late 18th Century,
Presbyterians,
Baptists, and
Methodists were
recruiting members to
their churches, too.
The Very Wealth and the Rest
Plantation
Agriculture
Small Farmers
Indentured
Servants
Enslaved
Africans
Wealthy Plantation
owners grew rice,
indigo, tobacco, and
later cotton. They
occupied much of the
riverfront land and the
navigation systems.
Small farmers were a
much larger part of
the population. They
owned land in the
“backcountry” and
usually focused on
raising food crops.
Indentured Servants
Indentured servants
signed up for a
four to seven year
term of service, in
exchange for their
passage to the
New World and
the opportunity to
acquire land. Most
perished before
they lived out their
term from
“seasoning”
diseases = yellow
fever and malaria
for example.
Conditions were
often desperate.
Enslaved Africans
The first enslaved people in the
Americas were Indians; however,
because their immune systems were
compromised and their ability to
escape bondage was high, English
landowners soon sought other labor
supplies. Indentured servants were
one such source. Enslaved African
labor, though, would soon became
highly sought after. African laborers
were not likely to succumb to diseases,
and many African enslaved people
had unique skill sets. The cultivation of
rice, for example, was something that
few Europeans knew anything about.
Enslaved Africans knew how to grow
the crop and harvest it.
The House of Burgesses
The first
representative
democracy in the
New World was
the House of
Burgesses in
colonial Virginia.
Elections were few
and far between,
and the delegates
were not entirely
“representative”
of their
constituents;
however, it was a
starting point.
Class Conflicts
There were a
handful of slave
revolts in Colonial
America, but more
frequently, social
conflicts emerged
when poor, small
farmers, found
themselves in
conflict with the
decisions of the
wealthy aristocrats.
Divides emerged
between the
“tidewater gentry”
and the
“backcountry
farmers.” Bacon’s
Rebellion (Virginia,
1676) is an
excellent example.
The Virginia Charter
JOINT STOCK COMPANIES: MAKING
MONEY FOR STOCKHOLDERS
"That the said several Councils of and for the
said several Colonies, shall and lawfully may,
by Virtue hereof, from time to time, without
any Interruption of Us, our Heirs or
Successors, give and take Order, to dig, mine,
and search for all Manner of Mines of Gold,
Silver, and Copper, as well within any Part of
their said several Colonies, as of the said
main Lands on the Backside of the same
Colonies; And to HAVE and enjoy the Gold,
Silver, and Copper, to be gotten thereof, to
the Use and Behoof of the same Colonies,
and the Plantations thereof; YIELDING
therefore to Us, our Heirs and Successors, the
fifth Part only of all the same Gold and
Silver.”
A Letter from Richard Frethorne
A Letter From Indentured Servant Richard Frethorne
A Brief Expedition into the World of Primary Sources…
The Health of the Colony at Jamestown
The health of the colony
Jamestown was almost
never robust. Between
the contaminated water,
the mosquito born
illnesses, the poor diet,
and the dysentery which
spread from settlements
upstream, few men
survived in the long run at
Jamestown.
The Military Defenses at Martin’s Hundred, Jamestown
Frethorne states, “we are but 32 to fight against 3000 if they should come. And the
nighest help we have is ten miles of us, and when the rogues overcame this place the
last time, they slew 80 persons.”
“God is merciful and can save with few as well as with
many, as he showed at Gilead.”
Although Jamestown was probably the least religious of the colonies established in the
New World, there is still an awful lot of fatalism in the language they use to describe
their plight.
Richard Frethorne – Indentured Servant
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His cloak was stolen by a fellow colonist.
He believes it was sold for butter and beef – and the
man who did it, apparently, passed away.
The ration of food leaves him undernourished. “I do
protest unto you that I have eaten more in one day at
home than I have allowed me here for a week. You
have given more than my day’s allowance to a
beggar at the door.”
Goodman Jackson provided him with jack mackerel –
better than peas and water gruel, he says.
Frethorne’s Wish List
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Oil
Vinegar
Butter
Beef
Cheese – old cheese
packed tightly with
cooper’s chips
between every wheel,
so that it keeps in the
hot hold.
Urgency
Good Father, do not forget me, but have mercy and pity
my miserable case. I know if you did but see me, you
would weep… For God’s sake, pity me… I have set down
my resolution that certainly will be; that is, that the
answer of this letter will be life or death to me.
Therefore, good father, send as soon as you can.
Reliability
It is likely that Richard Frethorne was both very young
and very afraid in this environment. He certainly has
every incentive to exaggerate the dangers of his living
environment; nevertheless, nothing in this correspondence
seems completely out of bounds historically.
Most indentured servants perished before their time of
service was ended. Disease killed many of them during
what was called the “seasoning period” in the
Chesapeake Colonies.
Historians are not sure what became of Frethorne… but
history was assuredly not on his side.