The Chesapeake Colonies were the
Colony and Dominion of Virginia, later the Commonwealth of
Virginia
Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...
, and
Province of Maryland
The Province of Maryland was an Kingdom of England, English and later British colonization of the Americas, British colony in North America from 1634 until 1776, when the province was one of the Thirteen Colonies that joined in supporting the A ...
, later
Maryland
Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...
, both colonies located in
British America
British America collectively refers to various British colonization of the Americas, colonies of Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and its predecessors states in the Americas prior to the conclusion of the American Revolutionary War in 1 ...
and centered on the
Chesapeake Bay
The Chesapeake Bay ( ) is the largest estuary in the United States. The bay is located in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region and is primarily separated from the Atlantic Ocean by the Delmarva Peninsula, including parts of the Ea ...
.
History
Settlements of the Chesapeake region grew slowly due to diseases such as
malaria
Malaria is a Mosquito-borne disease, mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects vertebrates and ''Anopheles'' mosquitoes. Human malaria causes Signs and symptoms, symptoms that typically include fever, Fatigue (medical), fatigue, vomitin ...
. Most of these settlers were male immigrants from England who died soon after their arrival. Due to the majority being men, eligible women did not remain single for long. The native-born population eventually became immune to the Chesapeake diseases and these colonies were able to continue through all the hardships.
The Chesapeake region had a one-crop economy, based on tobacco. This contributed to the demand for slave labor in the Southern colonies. Tobacco also depleted nutrients in the soil,
and new land was continually needed for its cultivation. White
indentured servant
Indentured servitude is a form of Work (human activity), labor in which a person is contracted to work without salary for a specific number of years. The contract called an "indenture", may be entered voluntarily for a prepaid lump sum, as paymen ...
s were also common in this region early in its settlement, gradually being replaced by African slaves by the latter half of the seventeenth century due to improved economic conditions in Europe and the resulting decrease in emigration to the Chesapeake region. Indentured servants were people who signed a contract of indenture requiring them to work for their Chesapeake masters for an average of five to seven years, in return for the cost of the Atlantic crossing. When finished, they might be given land,
or goods consisting of a suit of clothes, some farm tools, seed, and perhaps a gun.
See also
*
Atlantic Creole
*
British colonization of North America
*
Colonial families of Maryland
*
Colonial South and the Chesapeake
*
First Families of Virginia
The First Families of Virginia, or FFV, are a group of early settler families who became a socially and politically dominant group in the British Colony of Virginia and later the Commonwealth of Virginia. They descend from European colonists who ...
*
History of White Americans in Baltimore
*
Old Stock Americans
Old Stock American (also known as Pioneer Stock, Founding Stock or Colonial Stock) is a colloquial name for Americans who are descended from the original settlers of the Thirteen Colonies. Historically, Old Stock Americans have been mainly Protes ...
*
Province of Maryland
The Province of Maryland was an Kingdom of England, English and later British colonization of the Americas, British colony in North America from 1634 until 1776, when the province was one of the Thirteen Colonies that joined in supporting the A ...
*
Thirteen Colonies
The Thirteen Colonies were the British colonies on the Atlantic coast of North America which broke away from the British Crown in the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783), and joined to form the United States of America.
The Thirteen C ...
**
Middle Colonies
**
New England Colonies
**
Southern Colonies
The Southern Colonies within British America consisted of the Province of Maryland, the Colony of Virginia, the Province of Carolina (in 1712 split into North and South Carolina), and the Province of Georgia. In 1763, the newly created colonies ...
*
Tobacco colonies
References
*Mark C. Carnes & John A. Garraty,
The American Nation: A History of the United States, Pearson Education, 2006.
Further reading
* Anderson, Virginia DeJohn. "Animals into the wilderness: the development of livestock husbandry in the seventeenth-century Chesapeake." ''William and Mary Quarterly'' 59.2 (2002): 377-408
online
* Bradburn, Douglas M., and John C. Coombs. "SMOKE AND MIRRORS: Reinterpreting the society and economy of the seventeenth-century Chesapeake." ''Atlantic Studies'' 3.2 (2006): 131-157; argues need to study regional tobacco cultures, trade with Caribbean, trade with the Indians, internal markets, shipbuilding, and western land development.
* Kulikoff, Allan. "The economic growth of the eighteenth-century Chesapeake colonies." ''Journal of Economic History'' 39.1 (1979): 275-288.
* Menard, Russell R. "The tobacco industry in the Chesapeake colonies, 1617-1730: An interpretation." in ''The Atlantic Slave Trade'' (Routledge, 2022) pp. 377-445.
* Ragsdale, Bruce A. "George Washington, the British tobacco trade, and economic opportunity in prerevolutionary Virginia." ''Virginia Magazine of History and Biography'' 97.2 (1989): 132-162.
{{Thirteen Colonies
-03
Chesapeake Bay
Province of Maryland
Colony of Virginia
English colonization of the Americas
History of slavery in Virginia
History of the Thirteen Colonies
History of the Southern United States
Former British colonies and protectorates in the Americas