The 17th century Chesapeake and New England established themselves as hard working religious colonies that provided structure still seen in the States today. They both share many similarities regarding economy, and relationships with Native Americans, however they differ significantly in their societal structure, motives for settlement, and religion. Both the Chesapeake and New England colonies depended on trade as the basis of their economy. The Chesapeake economy was based on the tobacco industry; by 1680 it was exporting over 30 million pounds of the plant to overseas markets. Tobacco production not only helped the colony grow prosperous, it also created new opportunities for over 90,000 immigrants who moved to the colony as indentured servants.
The Colony’s only source of revenue came from selling land. But colonists soon turned toward agriculture for revenue. They discovered growing tobacco would be highly profitable. In the early 17th century, smoking tobacco became popular in Europe, giving the Virginia Colony a lucrative trade with Europeans. But big planters owned much of the plantations, with the majority of people working for them, keeping most of the wealth made from the tobacco trade with these elite planters.
They had different religious views, governments, and economies. Intro is too short. More background information on the time period is needed. While the Chesapeake was mainly based on land and slave ownership, the New England colonies were based on religion. They were primarily Puritan, or Non Separatists, and were radical, or intolerant to other religions.
The search for labor in southern states eventually led the states to do something they didn’t intend on doing. With the great demand for tobacco from states like Virginia and Maryland, and the large demand for sugar cane from the West Indies, the settlers were forced to turn to slave labor. They played a small role at first in the southern states, but eventually made up a large percentage of these areas populations. Georgia and North Carolina opposed slavery, but were unable to compete with the other states crop production. English settlers in Virginia and later Maryland around the Chesapeake Bay area discovered a crop from the Indians known as tobacco.
From Document 2, it shows that the South relies on slavery for their economy. According to Document 3, some people in the South, such as Hinton Helper, did not like that, and thought their economy was weak. The North, according to Document 2, had a better economy and made about $1,345,000,000 more yearly in manufactured goods than the South. The South required more and more slaves in order to keep their economy running. Plantations were a big part of the economy in the South because that’s where they grew their cotton, and without slaves, the plantations would die.
Slaves were the support system of their owners. Some believe the evolution of slavery in the US was divided into three stages: development, high profit, and decadent. In the developmental stage the slaves cleared the land for planting and built the roads and dams essential for plantations. In the second, high profit stage, slaves were driven to plant, cultivate and harvest for market. The plantations masters thought it was “cheaper to buy than to breed” meaning it was cheaper to buy a new slave and work him to death than it was to allow a slave to live long enough and bear children to increase numbers.
What early colonial prosperity there was resulted from trapping and trading in furs. In addition, fishing was a primary source of wealth in Massachusetts. But throughout the colonies, people lived on small farms and were selfsufficient. In the few small cities and among the larger plantations of North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia, some necessities and all luxuries were imported in return for tobacco, rice, and indigo exports. To conclude, economics was the most important role in the establishment of European colonies.
Europe quickly became the dominant region over the economic aspects of the Columbian Exchange, however their social influence in the Americas and Africa developed slower during the time period of 1492 to 1750. In the mid-fifteenth century, European interest in Africa expanded from goods to incorporate slaves. Europeans began to take over African civilizations and keep natives as their slaves. This was not a new practice to keep war captives as slaves. However the Europeans began to export these African slaves across the globe to established colonies in both North and South America for the first time.
Tobacco cultivation and exports formed an essential component of the American colonial economy during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Tobacco plantations were distinct from other cash crops in terms of agricultural demands, trade, slave labor, and plantation culture. Many influential American revolutionaries, including Thomas Jefferson and George Washington, owned tobacco plantations, and were financially devastated by debt to British tobacco merchants shortly before the American Revolution. John Rolfe, a colonist from Jamestown, was the first to grow tobacco in America. He arrived in Virginia with tobacco seeds procured on an earlier voyage to Trinidad, and in 1612 he harvested his inaugural crop for sale on the European market.
* While the Chesapeake Bay was struggling with money they came to a conclusion that the only way they would be on par with the economy is if they had Tobacco. * Unfortunately now since slaves were getting bought my many rich families, many slurs started to arise such as the n work and many harsh more. * The Carrabin was a main source for slaves which only the high end wealthy families bought and used to work on planation for Tobacco etc. The Web of Empire and the Atlantic Slave Trade Claim- Most large Europeans started to benefit with the economy due the large demand of slaves at the time. This only led to the downfall of small business since now they wouldn’t have much inventory and as many customers to sell their goods too.