Unlike New England with its diversified economy the Chesapeake colonies became dependent on a single cash crop tobacco. Tobacco shaped the Chesapeake region by leading to the plantation system and dependence on African slaverywhich developed gradually in the seventeenth century. How did the Jamestown settlers make a profit for their investors?
How did tobacco farming shape the Chesapeake colony?
How did tobacco farming shape Chesapeake settlement Tobacco farmers sought land that fronted a navigable river to ease transport The British benefited form their mercantilist relationship with the American colonies primarily by buying raw materials from the colonies and selling them finished products
What obstacles did Virginia tobacco farmers face in the 1600s?
buying raw materials from the colonies and selling them finished products Virginia tobacco farmers confronted what major obstacle in the 1600s? Too few workers King James's land grant to the Virginia Company of 1606 of over 6 million acres allowed English settlers to poach on Spanish claims and Indian lands
What were the effects of tobacco on the environment?
Although the tobacco's depleting effect on the soil was at first considered an asset, all too soon the planters were left with land which was virtually useless for anything but grazing and which would take many years to regain its lost fertility. Another problem with tobacco was that profit from it was so dependent on a foreign market.
Did tobacco wreck the brow of a planter?
Tobacco may have made the smoker carefree, but it certainly was responsible for many a wrinkle on the brow of a planter in Virginia. Tobacco was a finicky crop which required a large work force, an experienced overseer with excellent judgment, a sizable acreage and a certain amount of plain good luck.
What explains the dispersion of settlements in the Chesapeake?
What explains the dispersion of settlements in the Chesapeake? Tobacco farms required large amounts of land. free people who were servants only temporarily.
Which crop turned Virginia into a stable colony?
Rolfe's discovery that the West Indies tobacco, which he called Orinoco tobacco, could be grown in Virginia saved the colony. Over the next decades, tobacco became a very profitable crop.
Which profitable export crop depended on the expertise of slaves brought from West Africa to the Carolinas?
They came to work the rice, sugar, indigo, coffee, tobacco, and cotton plantations of the British, Portuguese, and Spanish colonies. These slaves were bought at a premium to work on a South Carolina rice plantation because they brought with them specific knowledge of rice production from West Africa.
Why did planters maintain the servant system through the 1680s quizlet?
Why did planters maintain the servant system through the 1680s? Free people preferred to work for themselves.
How did tobacco help save the settlement at Jamestown?
How did tobacco help save the settlement at Jamestown? Tobacco brought in HUGE amounts of wealth, also caused the population to grow. Many people came to America as indentured servants.
Why was tobacco so important to the Jamestown colony?
Tobacco became so important, that it was used as currency, to pay taxes, and even to purchase slaves and indentured servants. Because of its burgeoning tobacco industry, African slaves were brought to Jamestown in 1619 to work the plantations. Others worked as indentured servants.
What was the initial purpose of the Chesapeake colonies?
THE CHESAPEAKE COLONIES: VIRGINIA AND MARYLAND. The Chesapeake colonies of Virginia and Maryland served a vital purpose in the developing seventeenth-century English empire by providing tobacco, a cash crop. However, the early history of Jamestown did not suggest the English outpost would survive.
Who were the first slaves in history?
The first slaves were brought to the Americas in 1619, when 20 men from Africa were brought to Jamestown, VA. Historians are not sure whether this was the true beginning of the legal slave trade in the colonies. Indentured servitude already existed in the region.
How did the creation of a cotton based economy change the lives of whites and blacks in all regions of the South?
Terms in this set (7) Cotton-based economy changed the lives of whites because it created the wealthy planter elite in the South that owned hundreds of acres of land and thousands of slaves. Altered the lives of the blacks because they were relocated to different states and separated from their families.
Why did the colonies shift from an indentured servant?
The colonial elite realized the problems of indentured servitude. Landowners turned to African slaves as a more profitable and ever-renewable source of labor and the shift from indentured servants to racial slavery had begun.
Where did indentured servants settle?
Indentured servants were men and women who signed a contract (also known as an indenture or a covenant) by which they agreed to work for a certain number of years in exchange for transportation to Virginia and, once they arrived, food, clothing, and shelter.
What was a result of contact and trade between the peoples of the old and new worlds?
What was a result of contact and trade between the peoples of the Old and New Worlds? Contact and trade exposed Indians to devastating Old World diseases. Columbian exchange.
What crops did Virginia Colony grow?
Virginia farmers raised vegetables like corn, beans, peas, carrots, and cabbage to eat. Corn was an important crop because it provided food for humans, eaten fresh or ground into corn meal flour, and food for farm animals; and the husks could be used for fodder, to make mats, or to stuff into mattresses.
What was Virginia's main crop?
Virginia's Top 10 Agricultural CommoditiesCrop / LivestockFarm Cash RecieptsAll Other Animals*$215MSoybeans$208MCorn$170MHay$116M6 more rows
What were the main crops of Virginia?
Tobacco generates around 4% of total receipts. Other field crops grown in Virginia are hay, cotton, wheat, peanuts, and barley. Tomatoes and corn for grain are other major crops grown in Virginia. Other important vegetable crops grown in the state are potatoes, snap beans, cucumbers, and sweet corn.
What was the main cash crop in Virginia?
tobaccoToday, tobacco is still Virginia's largest cash crop and number 1 export.
How many people were in the colony in 1770?
D. The colonial population grew from 200,000 in 1700 to over 2 million in 1770.
What were the Coercive Acts of 1774?
A. a new set of high internal and external tax laws. B . a law closing Boston harbor and the quartering of British soldiers in colonial homes. C . the end of spring elections of town selectmen.
How did Quaker ideals shape the colony of Pennsylvania?
Quaker ideals shaped the colony of Pennsylvania because they were much nicer to the Natives. While the other colonies were focused on religious expansion, the Quakers remained focused on their religion which preached that they couldn't infringe on others.
Why did the Virginia Company lose all of its investment?
This was becauses of the lack of success which was going on prior as well as the danger of the colony being wiped out by natives.
What was Bacon's rebellion?
Bacon's rebellion was caused by the lack of land for people who had recently left their indentured servitude. Headright gave the land to those who payed for the passage across the sea, and with Indians bordering there was no place for these people to go. What it accomplished was the lowering of taxes on freedmen, by large quantities. This was in order to keep the colony together instead of divided.
Why did colonial society become polarized?
The colonial society became very polarized because those who were wealthy used headright to increase their land as well as were able to afford servants. Those who lived through their indentured servant period did not receive any land and thus were increasingly poor.
How much land did England give to the new world?
Those who payed to have another person brought over to the new world from England would receive 50 acres of land. This only encouraged people to get indentured servants who were relatively cheap at the time and plentiful.
Why did the colonists institute African labor?
Indian labor was not successful, so the colonists instituted African labor. This was towards the end of the seventeenth century, and was for the purpose of expanding their profit from the cash crops. It was taken from the sugar islands where people would work.
Why was Powhatan so nice?
Powhatan was nice because while it was one thing to engage in war on the battlefield, to let one side starve to death was something that he and his people would not allow.
Why did they cultivate tobacco?
Until the plant reached knee-high, weekly cultivation was necessary, to deter both weeds and cutworms. The work was done both with a hoe and by hand, the hills around the tobacco being reformed at the same time.
What did Virginia cropmasters look for in tobacco?
One of the skills of a Virginia cropmaster was the ability to judge just when the tobacco should be harvested. An experienced planter would look at color (a yellowish green), texture (thick, rough and downy) and pliancy (a leaf that broke when it was folded between one's fingers).
How many square yards of seedbeds are needed for tobacco?
The preparation of seedbeds began in January or February; for each acre of tobacco ultimately to be cultivated, 40 square yards of seedbed were required.
How many hills did it take to grow tobacco?
This task was considered the most arduous one in the tobacco cultivation process; an experienced adult could prepare no more than five hundred hills a day. After hilling, the planter waited until a rain softened the soil in the fields and seedbeds before transplanting the tobacco plants to their final location.
What pests are in tobacco?
Throughout its growth, tobacco was subject to the attack of numerous diseases and insects. Of all the pests in the tobacco field, the most feared was the horn worm, the same creature that attacks tomato plants. Usually there were two periods in the summer when the worms, which could grow to the size of a man's finger, were at their worst. A plague of worms could destroy a crop in less than a week; planters learned to inspect each tobacco plant daily. Worms were picked off and crushed underfoot.
How long after transplanting tobacco leaves are they removed?
About two months after the tobacco was transplanted, a series of steps began to ensure large leaves of high quality. First, the two to four leaves growing closest to the ground were removed in a process referred to as "priming.". At the same time, the plants were "topped.".
Why did tobacco plants have to be covered with hay?
In the first few years of tobacco cultivation, the plants were simply covered with hay and left in the field to cure or "sweat.". This method was abandoned after 1618, when regulations prohibited the use of potential animal fodder for such purposes.