The Chesapeake region of the English colonies included Virginia, Maryland, the New Jerseys, and Pennsylvania. The Chesapeake economy was based on the cultivation of tobacco and the profits that came with it. In order for the tobacco planters to earn a profit servants were needed to maintain the supply and demand which led to indentured servants and eventually slavery. To cultivate the tobacco, planters brought in large numbers of English workers, mostly young men who came as indentured servants (Roark, et al, 2009). Laws were soon implemented that enforced slavery versus indentured servants allowing the planters dominance over the poorer class. Eventually the status of slaves and indentured servants became similar. Most women came to Chesapeake as indentured servants because manpower was scarce during these times; however restrictions were placed on them in regards to their duties as wives, mothers, and servants (Main, 1982). Children of the colony were required to learn how to read and write as well to be extremely well mannered and respectable. Government and politics strengthened the distinctions in Chesapeake society with the most vital distinction being separation of servants and masters. The government strengthened this distinction by enforcing the separation of the rich upper class government and the poor lower class colonists which led to “Bacon’s Rebellion” (Roark, et al, 2009). These topics will be discussed in greater detail, throughout the body of this electronic research paper and further enlighten the Chesapeake colonies in the seventeenth century.
Resources
Roark, J. L., Johnson, M. P., Cohen, P. C., Stage, S., Lawson, A., Hartmann, S. M. 2009. The American Promise: A History of the United States. Boston New York: Bedford/St. Martin’s.
Main, Gloria L. 1982. Tobacco Colony: Life in Early Maryland, 1650-1720. Houghton Miffin Company.
No comments:
Post a Comment