Anne Orthwood 's Bastard : Sex And Law Essay

Disease wiped out a number of colonists and was very difficult to stop. The main cause of disease was the filthy water the colonists were drinking. “Disease in the early years (attributed) to Jamestown’s position at the salt-fresh water transition” (Doc A). Salt would intrude into the fresh water and cause disease to whomever drank the water. But salt wasn’t the only factor that made the water unsanitary. “Filth (was) introduced into the river tended to fester rather than flush away” (Doc A). According to the colonists’ plans, the waste would be washed out through the freshwater transition, but in reality, the waste festered back into the water due to rising sea levels. Many of the Jamestown colonists were wiped out from diseases, and there wasn’t enough doctors to save them all. There were only 2 total surgeons to heal the all the infected colonists (Doc C). With the amount of colonists sick, the amount of doctors at Jamestown was surely not enough to heal all the patients. Disease was one of their biggest challenges because there was no way to overcome it, yet, it was not their only

The colonists of the Chesapeake Bay region, on the other hand, led harder lives compared to that of the colonists of New England. The Chesapeake Bay had an unhealthy environment, bad eating diets, and intolerable labor.

The Chesapeake region was the first region to be colonized. The first settlers had a very hard time adapting to the moist swampy climate and lack of commerce and civility that they were used to in England. Most of the early settlers were gentlemen sent by companies such as the Virginia and London Companies. They were determined to find wealth in the North American wilderness, and suffered greatly due to famine and diseases like malaria. Most of these unlucky settlers were men, which was a drawback for the new colony of Virginia because there was very little reproduction. Document C, a ships list of emigrants bound for Virginia shows the lack of families travelling to Virginia, as well as the very few women, most of them single. The men fought over these

Each region developed distinctly because of the difference in climate and terrain. In New England, there was mostly rocky terrain and cold temperatures. During the frost, the mosquitoes, carriers of fatal diseases like malaria, disappeared. Thus, the number of deaths caused by illnesses was less compared to those in the Chesapeake region. However, due to its infertile land, the colony struggled to find a sustainable cash crop. Because settlers came by ship, New England colonies were primarily on the coast, resulting in their economy being dependent on the ocean and resorting to sending “fish, foodstuffs, timber, and horses” to foreign ports. (Narrative p. 23)

During the late 16th century and into the 17th century, two colonies emerged from England in the New World. The two colonies were called the Chesapeake and New England colonies. Even though the two areas were formed and governed by the English, the colonies had similarities as well as differences. Differences in geography, religion, politics, economic, and nationalities, were responsible for molding the colonies. These differences came from one major factor: the very reason the English settlers came to the New World. 
The Chesapeake colonies were primarily created by companies interested in profiting from the natural resources of the New World such as gold or silver to bring back to England. The New England colonies were primarily created to escaped religious persecution and set up a haven for people of their faith. The inhabitants of the New England area were far healthier. Their clean water supply was a sharp contrast to the contaminated waters of Chesapeake Bay. The cool climate had a good impact on colonists because it prevented the spread of life-threatening diseases. Because of New England’s cool climate, many people died during severe winters. Chesapeake’s climate had positive and negative factors as well. The warm, moist climate in the Chesapeake colonies carried diseases that killed many of the colonists. In contrast to the New England colonists, the Chesapeake colonists did not have to worry as much about surviving cold winters. The natural resources of the

made New England and The Chesapeake region. In this century New England had a very strong Identity while The Chesapeake region was mainly scattered all over the place. Slaves, Indentured Servants and poor free men made a very large wealth gap in the chesapeake. New England’s ultra harsh climate made large production of staple crops and disease spreading very difficult. In contrast the hot river valleys of the chesapeake made large production of staple crop possible and encouraged the spread of disease.

The first hardship the settlers had to face was disease. To begin, the contaminated swampy waters were to bad to drink from, leaving the colonists with no water. On page 28 of “

Colonial American citizens faced several challenges through the time span of the 16th century to the 18th century. It was a time of great change and growth as well as being full of obstacles. The Revolutionary War, hostile Native American tribes, harsh living conditions, and disease all played factors in the struggle for survival in early America. However, there is a topic that is also significant but not discussed as often. Marriage was a confusing and exhausting situation for many individuals. One may wonder, ”What were the challenges of finding a spouse during the Colonial Era in American history?” It was difficult for young men and women to find a suitable marriage partner who would meet all their needs or standards and stay by their side till death do they part. Oftentimes, there was no choice in the matter. During this timeframe in American history, there were several barriers that affected whom one was allowed to marry. These obstacles included race, culture, social and economic status.

The Chesapeake also had its own obstacle brought about by nature. Diseases such as dysentery, malaria, and typhoid struck hard, cutting off numerous years of life expectancy for the people of the Chesapeake. Since health is a major concern for a developing colony, disease in a colony tends to eat at the morale of a town. This was demonstrated in the Chesapeake where disease cost many colonists their lives, especially women, leaving many men frustrate with little hope for having families. This harsh reality along with the arduous voyage decreased the amount of women and children who immigrated to the region (Doc C,F). Unlike their Southern counterparts, New England was healthier and not ravaged by disease. The cleaner conditions increased the colonists’ life expectancy by several years. Because of the thriving conditions of the New England society, many English emigrants emigrated with their entire family, as exemplified in Document B, “Joseph Hull…Agnes Hull, his wife…Joan Hull, his daughter…Joseph Hull, his son”. Unlike most Chesapeake children who would be lucky if they lived to see both their parents, the New

In the early Jamestown settlement disease was the primary causes of settler deaths. “[D]isease in the early years to Jamestown’s position at the salt/freshwater transition, where filth introduced into the river tended to fester rather than flush away.” -Dennis Blanton, “Jamestown’s Environment” (Source B) The settlers of Jamestown had to put their waste somewhere, so they decided to dump it in the nearby Jamestown River. Instead of flushing away quickly the dirty water filled with human waste just sat there for long periods of time until it eventually did flush away. Because of the cleanliness levels of this dirty water many who chose to drink it got sick and died. “Disease returns, 100 at Jamestown sickened and half the number died.” -Adapted from J. Frederick Fausz, “An Abundance of Bloodshed on Both Sides: England’s First Indian War 1609-1614,” The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography (Source G) When people got sick it happened in vast quantities, so it could spread even quicker and infect more people. The death rate of someone who was sick was also very high, many who were sick ended up dying.

The first successful British colonization of the Americas was in the Chesapeake area and anchored by Jamestown which was founded in 1607. The original colonists nearly didn’t make it, as it was a very difficult life for them. Moreover, the colonists founded many

The Chesapeake originally originated from Europe like the New Englanders. The Chesapeake colonies included Maryland, Pennsylvania, and both New Jerseys’ (West and East). The first colony to advance and flourish was Jamestown, Virginia. Jamestown was founded by 104 settlers to a peninsula along the James River lead by Captain John Smith. The newcomers came to the New World in hopes to find cures for their many diseases including malaria, dysentery, and typhoid. These diseases knocked off ten years of the newcomer's life spans. They also hoped to find a northwest passage to Asia and any goods including silver and gold that they could return back with to their homeland, so they could make a profit. The newcomers pivoted towards the Powhatan Indians, who helped them make a living out of corn and

Woman and family roles are considerably different today than they were back in Puritan times. Puritans thought that the public’s foundation rested on the “little commonwealth”, and not merely on the individual. The “little commonwealth” meant that a father’s rule over his family mirrored God’s rule over creation or a king over his subjects. John Winthrop believed that a “true wife” thought of herself “in [weakness] to her husband’s authority.” As ludicrous as this idea may appeal to women and others in today’s society, this idea was truly necessary for colonies to be able to thrive and maintain social order.

Slavery as we know today, is still considered one of the most talked about subjects in history. The historical backdrop of bondage in early America incorporates the absolute most disturbing stories from our past. Slavery began when African Slaves initially arrived in the North American settlement of Jamestown in 1619. These slaves helped with the creation of profoundly lucrative products such as tobacco. In this manner, it was absolutely a rural undertaking that would later provoke the presence of one of the chronicled treacheries done particularly to the African migrants. The issue took course during the sixteenth and eighteenth century American

When a woman married, she and her goods became her husband’s property. He could beat her without fear of the law, as long as he did not kill her. Divorce called for an act of parliament. Men who broke the rules of marriage were looked upon as tiresome, while women who did the same were looked at as prostitutes. Women could not vote, and were forbid from law and medicine. Some were regarded as such a danger to sailors and soldiers that the Contagious Diseases Act was passed to allow forcible medical exams of any women in certain towns who was considered a prostitute to see if she was carrying any diseases. If she was, the act authorized for her confinement in a secure facility until she was better.