Introduction
The development of the Virginia colony started with the settlement of Native Americans, this was followed by the establishment of European settlements at Jamestown in 1607 by the English colonist. Virginia colony became the wealthiest and most populated British colonies in North America following the introduction of tobacco. Jamestown Island is believed to be the first permanent English settlement in the Virginia colony this site was selected since it was considered to offer a strategic defensive position against other European forces that were expected to approach by water, later the colonists realized that the area was inhabited by Native Americans, as breeding grounds for mosquitoes, the tidal river water was not safe for consumption and finally the area limited in terms of farming and hunting.
The English colonist came prepared to trade with Native Americans for food as a result of the constant drought that kept hitting that region, they also had plans of exploring gold which they did not find thus it was difficult for them to introduce any profitable industries.
Early years of Virginia
In the early years, the English venture to Virginia was heavily dominated by men, these men comprised of well-heeled adventurers, a small number of agricultural laborers, and artisans, they had a huge impact on relations with local Native Americans, who belonged to a military alliance overseen by the paramount chief, Powhatan. However, women of at least three races namely white English, Native American, and Africans played a major role in the development of Jamestown.
According to Brown (1999),” the presence of English women as wives, mothers, servants, agricultural workers, and as high valued immigrants impacted highly on the development of the English settlement at James town”. On the other hand, when Virginia created the legal framework for slavery African women were a central concern because of their potential to reproduce the slave labor force that in turn produced the colony’s “gold”-tobacco.
Although both the Native Americans and the English colonists had some successful interaction despite the variation in the culture they had constant conflicts over the ownership and control of land this eroded the trust between them. In an attempt to improve relations with the Native Americans, a settler named John Rolfe married Pocahontas, the daughter of the then chief of Kecoughtan. Unfortunately, the marriage did not last for long since she died of smallpox at the age of 22 while on a visit to England.
John Rolfe an English colonist introduced a milder variety of tobacco to the Virginia colony in 1612, at a time when the colony’s economy was deeply affected by the failure to locate gold. English colonists as opportunists as they were quickly learned they could make a lot of money through the business of growing and exporting tobacco from Virginia to England since it promised to provide a good source of revenue to the farmers in Virginia.
Growing tobacco became the most profitable agricultural product in the Virginia colony and colonists argued that without it their colony would have failed. Following the introduction of tobacco, the production spread down the James, York, and Rappahannock Rivers, throughout Tidewater Virginia, as a result, Fredericksburg which initially was a small town grew into a thriving colonial commerce center.
The Act of 1730 was passed later after a decline in price for tobacco, this Act required all farmers to bring their tobacco to an inspection warehouse to have it inspected as a way of controlling the quality and quantity of tobacco grown in Virginia so that the Virginia planters would still earn good prices for their tobacco crop. This further promoted the development of Fredericksburg town since it was chosen as one of several tobacco warehouses sites in colonial Virginia.
The price of tobacco was high and English workers had too few jobs available at home between the 1620s and 1630s, thus, Virginia found its supply of labor in England. In 1660 the value of tobacco dropped, the situation was worsened by the Great Plague that reduced England’s population. A terrible fire broke up in London destroying much of the city thus creating new jobs at home for construction workers of all sorts. No longer able to lure their countrymen, the settlers in Virginian looked toward African labor as an alternative, following the pattern established by the Spanish and Portuguese more than a century before. However, the Africans were treated worse than the poor Europeans who had been recruited to work in the Virginian colony.
Establishments of new plantations
Lots of land and hard work were essential for the growth of tobacco thus Colonial Virginia planters quickly discovered that they could not make it without many permanent workers to help grow tobacco as well as to get it ready to be shipped to England. Successful planting of tobacco depended on a reliable and less expensive source of labor a thing that contributed to the slave trade where Africans were brought over on crowded ships against their will to eventually become that source of labor needed for growing tobacco. The wealthy Englishmen who were in a position to transport at least 250 workers to Virginia were given grants of land by the London Company.
This went a long way in the establishment of new plantations along the rivers and coasts, each having its access to the sea. Nevertheless, the newcomers to Virginia were not treated as slaves immediately. Some were indentured servants and eventually obtained their freedom and they could acquire their land having worked for five to seven years. Slavery became a part of colonial life, through the late 1800s. Slaves were often bought and sold for plantation work from slave blocks, eventually, some of these slaves became skilled laborers such as coopers, blacksmiths, and shoemakers.
In addition to making a profit Virginia Company aimed at creating a community where Englishmen and Native Americans could work side-by-side and in complete harmony. It implied that the Native Americans would be to adopt English customs as well as Christianity. Interaction between the Native Americans and the English colonist through education and religion played a major role in shaping the development of the Virginia colony.
Religious leaders in England assumed that the native Americans’ spiritual beliefs contributed to lack of education and literacy, thus the religious leaders in England took the responsibility of bringing Christianity to the native Americans as a form of enlightening them and bring them to the church which was part of the government so that they could have total control over them. This resulted in the establishment of many churches in closer vicinity so that the plantation workers could attend services and go back to work without wasting much time. The effort to win many souls to Christianity was short-lived following the introduction of schools.
References
Text of Video Narration. Web.
Kathleen M. Brown. Women in Early Jamestown. Web.
Tobacco and Slavery in the Virginia Colony. Web.