Chapter 3 - The Southern
Colonies in the Seventeenth Century (1601-1700)
Timeline
1588 --- England defeats Spanish Armada
1606 --- Virginia Company of London receives royal charter
to establish colony in North America
1607 --- English colonists founded Jamestown settlement
1612 --- John Rolfe begins to plant tobacco in Virginia
1618 --- Powhatan dies and is replaced by Opechancanough
1619 --- First Africans arrive in Virginia.
House of Burgesses begins to meet in
Virginia
1622 --- Opechancanough leads Indian uprising against
Virginia colonists
1632 --- King Charles I grants Lord Baltimore land for
colony of Maryland
1634 --- Colonists begin to arrive in Maryland
1644 --- Opechancanough leads Indian uprising against
Virginia colonists
1660 --- Navigation Act requires colonial tobacco to be shipped
to English ports and to be assessed custom taxes.
1663 --- Carolina proprietors receive charter from King
Charles II for Carolina colony
1670 --- Charles Towne, Couth Carolina, is founded
Slave labor system emerges first in Carolina
and more gradually in Chesapeake colonies
1676 --- Bacon's Rebellion convulses Virginia
1700 --- The colonies of Virginia, Maryland and Carolina
were firmly established
Outline
Powhatan,
the chief of the 14,000 Algonquian people controlled the territory of what is
now Virginia. He controlled more than 140 settlements. His tribe was constantly
in warfare, mostly for more population and for more hunting grounds. The boys
would become warriors and the girls would give birth to more warriors and would
work. The Algonquian would use every part of the hunted animal, the hide, the
bones, and the meat. Hunting was so important that those who were good at it
would gain higher honor. Also, hunting was important because Powhatan collected
hides, beads, corn, and copper as tribute. He would use these to reward his men
and to give gifts to those whose daughters he married. He had over 50 wives.
Women had a large role, they did all of the agricultural work, plus, they made
baskets and cooked for the family.
By 1600,
King James I of England wanted to settle in North America, even if he had to go
against the Spanish, who had the claim after the Treaty of Tordesillas.
However, after the English defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588, he was
determined to try and set up settlements. Colonization, though risky and expensive,
was on the mind of the King and set up the Virginia Company of London for that
purpose. He gave them authorization to basically poach on Spanish soil and on
the kingdom of Powhatan. Virginia, intended to help out the mother country, was
used as a hopes to get rich by those who invested in the company. The investors
thought that they could gain riches by mining, by agriculture, or even through
robbing the Spanish ships of their gold and silver.
In 1606,
144 English settlers set sail for Virginia, and arrived there in 1607. That
night, two men were killed by Indians, and the remaining 105 that were left
from the voyage built a fort and named it Jamestown. However, soon, the
settlers and the Indians were fighting. Soon, Powhatan made a peace treaty, but
by then many settlers died. Smith led trading amongst the Indians and the settlers,
after the corn donations of Powhatan proved inadequate. However, he killed many
Indians in the progress. There were 38 settlers left when new ones arrived in
1608. Smith's life has been spared by Pocahontas, the daughter of Powhatan,
just before he was to be killed by the father's tribe. This showed that the
settlers were in need of Indian help. In the years to fallow, up to 1622, the Virginia
settlers were in much needed help, but even though many were sent each year,
only 1240 remained alive.
It is
questioned why Powhatan didn't kill the settlers, but it is know that they remained
in peaceful contact. However, mostly they kept their distance. There was no
marriage between the settlers and the Indians. In fact, many didn't even
understand the other's language. Captain John Smith was one of the few settlers
who actually wanted to study the Indian language, and wrote down much of their
vocabulary. The Indians remained suspicious of the settlers, and tried to keep
distance, and often, did not even want to trade, however, these were often killed.
The Indians, in return did not fight back, but rather tried to maintain peace, because
they admired the settlers' strength of weapons and their God, whom they did not
believe in, but saw as one that, is stronger than theirs. Also, they wanted to
gain the settlers' items and weapons through trade before attacking.
The
settlers had a huge food shortage, mostly because the productive population was
dieing short and the focus was on the economy and gaining wealth, not
surviving. Also, another reason was that most of the settlers were not fit to
start a commonwealth, for they were gentlemen, who did not do work in most of
their lives, and there were no farmers, who would help grow crops in order to
survive. Also, the company did not ask for professional workers to go to Virginia,
but rather, just regular gentlemen. Since gentlemen could not work with their
hands and other laborers can only work at their own profession, the settlers did
not seem to live. The Indians were dieing also, due to disease, but they were not
starving, due to the large surplus of corn they were producing. But, they did not
like the fact that the settlers were here to stay, and in fact, their numbers were
growing. Powhatan died in 1618, and his brother, Opechancanough took over. In
1622, he organized an attack against the settlers and killed nearly a third of
them. From then on, the settlers viewed the Indians as their enemies and fought
them then on.
In 1624,
King James took control of the colony, and now appointed the governors.
However, the House of Burgesses, the elective body of the colony, remained.
Every man could vote, and thus, created a more democratic system than that in
England. At this time, settlers continued to arrive, for now the King has took
the colony in his hands, and men have more freedoms, so it could be worth it.
Also, the tobacco industry has proven to be a great market to ship to England.
The
tobacco proved to be a great crop to be grown in Virginia, even though it was
not even thought of at first. John Rolfe, who would become Pocahontas’s
husband, first planted West Indian tobacco in 1612. The first shipment went to
England in 1617. Soon, the tobacco would be the primary reason, and the only
one for the colony. In 1620, less than 1000 settlers shipped 60,000 pounds of
tobacco. By, 1700, the export to England was 35 million pounds.
The
tobacco agriculture needed much care. Also, this needed to be done efficiently
and quickly. By the time the shipment was ready, the next years crops were
already growing. The tobacco is not a good crop to eat, so it was necessary to
plant some corn, but the focus remained on tobacco, and everyone, even children
smoked. The settlers were willing to work hard, for they had twice as much
income as in England, also, one could buy land much cheaper, and settlers who
bought their own voyage to the colonies, was given a free, 50 acre land
(headrights), which encouraged settlement greatly.
Although
many people tried to come to the New World, not many people could afford it.
These people would come as servants, and soon, 80% of settlers were servants.
There were not many slaves at this point yet. A passage to a ship bound
America, it cost a laborer a whole year’s allowance, and with the rising unemployment
in England, it was harder for these laborers to get to America. Thus, they
agreed to an indenture, which stated that a wealthy man would pay for his
transport, but would work without pay for a number of years. During his work,
he was given food and shelter, and when his work finished, he was given food
and clothing. The wealthy man who paid for the transportation would get a
reward from the laborer's employer, usually worth many more than the fee of transportation.
Each time the employer bought a servant, he received 50 acres of land, and the
servant would get back his price in the first year. However, still many people
died, and life expectancy was about 55 years, and two in each child was expected
to reach adulthood. Many of the servants died before even finishing their
service, and many died before they could become landowners. But there were few
who did become land owners and employed servants of their own.
Although
there were many servants were of bad background, most were of poor heritage,
trying to live a better life, or just too simply find work. Many of these men
were young, without any trade of importance that the colonists needed. The skilled
professionals would not come, because they had it good in England and would not
want to leave. There were attempts at increasing the number of women, who were
scarce, but it proved unsuccessful. Only one out of four servants was a woman.
Servants lived in harsh standards, and even worse, many were sold as slaves and
were cared for as one. However, there were those who were cared for quite well,
and had a better life than in England. Many people were made to serve for more
years for running away, or stealing. Later, everyone would have to work till
the age of 24. Women couldn't bet married, and if they had a baby, than they
would have to pay a fine and stay for more years.
There
were four realities in the servant system. The masters wanted more labor and
more work done. Servants didn’t want to work all that they could, but they
worked all that they had to. The servants didn't obey orders all the time because
they thought of themselves as free men. And, both did this because the alternatives
were worse. There were few families, much land, and expansive servants, so
people would not work and landowners couldn't afford slaves.
The
Chesapeake colonies were not towns, but rather, large plantations. Tobacco used
up the land so much that huge fields were needed to rotate the land. Often,
landowners would have many hundred acre lands. The lands near water were most
wanted, for it would minimize the need of transportation. The houses, however,
were small, one or two rooms, made of wood, with few, unsealed windows and a
dirt floor. The colonists were mostly Anglican, and held church services, but
they did not base their lives on religion, but rather, on the tobacco industry.
In 1632,
King Charles I granted Lord Baltimore 6.5 million acres of land. He wanted to
make it a haven for Catholics, and sent 150 settlers, but the population grew
slowly in Maryland, and the population was largely Protestant. In the 1660s,
Maryland began to attract settlers. The tobacco industry was great in this
colony also. People used tobacco as a means to try to become rich, but few lived
to struck rich. The rich and the poor were not really the issue, but mostly the
free and the bound. Both had the same lifestyle, but one received money the other
didn’t. That was the only difference. Between 1664 and 1677, the mortality rate
went down and the tobacco production increased, lowering their price, which caused
fewer servants to work and more people to gain their freedom. The rich could
accumulate even more wealth and became elite landowners. They would become
merchants, and in time, imports began to come from England. By 1670, the class
system was taking its hold, with the landowners on top, then the free landless.
This would come as a strong advantage during the threat of the 1673 Dutch
invasion.
The
government made sure that the social classes be made stronger, but passing laws
and decisions that gave fewer rights to the servants. When two servants were
killed by their masters, the masters were forgiven with the reason that the
servants should have obeyed the masters more. Since the wealthy held all major
governmental positions, they had the upper hand, also, only the free men could
vote. In 1670 under Governor Berkeley, the voting rights were even lessened.
Now, only the landowners and householders could vote. The Governors gained
money with each event that happened, like marriage. Lord Thomas Culpepper was
not even in Virginia while being its Governor, but collected the money.
In 1660,
the Navigation Act required that all products of the colonies were to be
shipped to England only. In 1663, the English passed a law, stating that even
imports had to go through England to the colonies. In the 1660s, the tobacco
industry was 5% of the governmental income and the king gained as much money
from the crops as the planters did in the colonies. Rulers were expected to
rule and to be obeyed, and servants were expected to be ruled and to obey. This
system kept the balance in the government. A ruler wished to use as least amount
of force as possible, so that the servants would not rebel, which would happen
when they though that they were judged unfairly, thus showing that there is too
much inequality and too much hierarchy. During the 1660s and 1670s, many
servants rebelled to gain their freedom or to get better treatment. However,
when the rebels were caught, they were severely punished.
In 1676,
Bacon's Rebellion was a huge issue. Opechancanough led another Indian uprising
in 1644, and killed 500 settlers in two days. The settlers captured
Opechancanough and peace was restored. But by the 1660s and 1670s, the tension
enlarged again, when the settlers began to pass the treaty line. Then,
Nathaniel Bacon stated that he wished to stop all communication with the
Indians and to ruin them. Also, he criticized the elite landowners of controlling
the government for their own good. Although he himself was one of those men, he
stayed out their relations and kept near the edge of the colony. Bacon insisted
that an attack be lead against the Indians, but Berkeley did not allow it, and
labeled him as a rebel, and that his followers were poor. Later, Bacon gained
access to the House of Burgesses. He made reform laws that limited the rights
of the legislature, buy allowing only one governmental position, forbade bribery,
and marched to Berkeley with 500 men asking to fight the Indians, and was
granted.
When advised,
Berkeley withdrew his grant and proclaimed that Bacon was a rebel. When Bacon
learned that he was a traitor once again, he attacked the grandees, the elite
landowners, and burned down Jamestown. In turn, Berkeley attacked Bacon's
recruits. However, when Bacon died, and English soldiers broke up the fight,
Berkeley returned to power. This rebellion was mostly between the insiders and
the outsiders. Bacon led the outsiders against the governing insiders,
questioning their exploitations. However, this resulted in a royal controlled
colony, where the king controlled everything and nullified Bacon's laws.
However, in the long run, the taxes lessened, and the servant labor system
declined, and the difference between the blacks and the whites increased as the
slave labor system started.
Slavery
started to arrive in North American England during the 1970s, first in
Carolina. However, it started in the Caribbean island of Barbados, which became
a slave island due to sugar plantations in the 1640s. The plantation owners
were far wealthier than the tobacco planters, but also owned much more slaves,
at an average of 115 by the 1680s. By 1700, the blacks on Barbados reached
three fourths of the population, thus, becoming a black society, belonging to
white men. Their work was harsh and brutal, and many died. Men outnumbered the
women, so the plantation owners needed to keep on buying slaves from Africa. Thus,
many were bitter and hostile about working, for they remembered their freedom.
By 1680,
all the land in Barbados has been used, and settlers started to move to nearby
islands and to the North American colonies. In 1663, John Colleton set out to
establish another colony, to the south of Chesapeake. This was to be known as
North Carolina. Carolina was the first colonies to be settled mostly by other colonists,
not Englishmen. Because of this, many blacks arrived from Barbados, and by
1700, blacks made up half the population. In the mid-1690s, rice was successfully
used as an industrial crop. The Carolinians exported wood to Barbados, and also
enslaved Indians and sold them to the Caribbean.
By 1700,
eight out of ten people lived in the Chesapeake area, and one out of eight was
a black man. Slaves were more profitable, even if they cost more, because they
never become free, and the mortality rate declined. Indeed, planters were
willing to pay large sums of money or tobacco for a slave. Also, slaves could
be controlled politically, unlike servants. The slaves would not be allowed any
luxuries and were even denied the right to defend themselves without the
consequence of severe punishment. However, slaves did not account for the
majority of the population, like in Barbados. Also, many families could not
afford to buy slaves and worked their own lands. However, they still had rights
that the slaves did not, and the tension between them and the grandees
lessened. Most of the blacks in the Chesapeake came from the Caribbean, instead
of Africa, so they didn’t have to worry about training them into slavery. In
these colonies, the slaves often worked with the landowner, and maintained
contact with them. Also, there was no extreme number of slaves, like in
Barbados. Because of the few slaves on one plantation, the slaves were often
given privileges to see each other on neighboring plantations, but these privileges
were used as escape and to plot against the masters. In 1680, planters
discovered that the slaves were trying to kill a number of owners, and realized
that the slaves were not better off and content that the servants were. Also,
it caused new unrest, and developed a system in between the large plantations
of the south and the private farms of the north.
Thesis
"The staple crops they grew for export provided a
livelihood for many, a fortune for a few, and valuable revenues for shippers,
merchants, and the English monarchy." (p. 108)
This
statement shows that basic idea that came out of the English colonies. They
were the means of life to some, and a way to get rich for others. While the
settlers were living and working on their fields to gain wealth, the merchants,
shippers and the English Monarchy is gaining wealth without actually doing any
work for it. This is the actual account of what happened due to the English
colonization and sums up the chapter.
Quote
"Live well in the time of their Service, and by their
restrainment in that time, they are made capable of living much better when
they come to be free." (George Aslop, p. 92)
This
quote is important as explains how the servant labor system was meant to be.
This is an example of a master-servant relationship, where in the end; both the
master and the servant gain something. However, it is important also, that most
of the time this did not happen, and instead of both parties benefiting; only
the master benefits and the servant is depressed and put down, and sometimes
even killed. The quote shows that ideal way of the system.
Topics
The establishment of Virginia by James I
The settlement of Jamestown in 1607
The contact between the Jamestown settlement and the
Natives
The servant labor system
The Tobacco industry in Chesapeake
The life on a tobacco plantation of servants
The extremes of the servant labor system
The growth of the Chesapeake society over the fall line
The religion of the settlers, tobacco
The possibilities of a servant after gaining freedom
Polarization and the class system of Virginia
Bacon's Rebellion's initials
Bacon's Rebellion's outcomes
The slave labor system in the Caribbean
The sugar business
Slavery in Carolina
Slavery on the tobacco fields
The reaction of the slaves to the tobacco plantation life
The problems due to slavery
The outcome of the English colonization of the Americas
