Expansion of Chesapeake

Colonies

Despite the Peace with Powhatan and his tribes the

Virginia Company struggled to keep afloat but made two advancements to change this First allowed the holding and development of land by

private colonist In 1616 the crop of Tobacco began to be cultivated in

mass by the colonists Tobacco was the perfect crop for the Chesapeake

colonies and caused the areas rapid expansion Production rose from 200,000 pounds in 1624 to 3

million in 1638 As a result the population of Virginia went from 350

in 1616 to 13,000 in 1650 and then to 41,000 in 1670

Tobacco

Farmland expansion became main focus of English The Native Americans under the new leadership of Opechancanough

worked to protect their lands from encroaching Europeans He first attacked the new western plantations in 1622 killing 347

colonists The English saw this attack as the perfect time to expand their holdings

The English began a brutal campaign on both the native civilians and leadership

First War ended in 1632 but Opechancanough retained control Second War was between 1644-1646 ending when Opechancanough

was caught and killed The War completely devastated the native population and allowed

for colonial expansion

Renewed Violence

Maryland

In 1632 the crown allowed the development of the a new colony to the north of Virginia named Maryland

The new colony came under the control of Cecilius Calvert the Second Lord of Baltimore as a Proprietary colony

The colony was set up not only to provide wealth for Lord Baltimore but also as a refuge for Catholics Despite the initial focus few

Catholics emigrated and soon to gain colonists Baltimore offered land to them

Maryland benefited from experienced immigrants from Virginia and did not go through as many growing pains

Life in the Chesapeake brought a combination of

challenges and opportunities Land was plentiful and cheap

Land ownership was typical of most immigrants Resulted in a dynamic change in society when compared

to Europe The Life style was difficult

The Chesapeake was disease ridden for much of the 17th century

Work was hard and labor intensive Majority of farms produced only limited foodstuffs Gender ratio was heavily in favor on men

Life in the Chesapeake

The Chesapeake was a labor hungry place from almost

the beginning There were a number of reasons for this

Lack of proper colonist recruitment Short lifespan of laborers Cost of travel to the new world

Initial attempts at enslavement of both the Natives and later Africans failed African slaves only numbered 300 or 2% of the

population in 1650 AD Most Africans were treated as Indentured Servants for

much of the period before 1700

Indentured Servants

Servants Cont.

Due to this the rich landowners and colonial governments turned to Indentured Servants Their transport to the new world

was paid for in return for 4-7 years of service

They worked for free during those years only receiving room and board

At the end of the term of service the servant would receive ‘Freedom Dues” by their master and land by the state (Headright system)

In order to increase immigration landowners were rewarded with land for each indentured servant bought

Population only increase marginally before 1650 due to environmental challenges and disease

True Prosperity for both the colonial government and

tobacco growers began after 1650 Indentured servants were more likely to survive their

term and gain both land and “Freedom Dues” Tobacco also began to reach a new level of profitability

With this new level of prosperity came a dramatic expansion of farmed land Farming in this period resembled slash and burn

techniques Farms were quickly spread and built and by 1665

occupied all of the best tobacco lands

Changing Chesapeake