How Did Geography Influence The Environment In The 17th And 18th Century

Most of the land in Jamestown became dedicated to growing tobacco. New England relied on farming. The principal crops of the Puritans were barley, wheat, and oats. Tobacco could not survive in the climate. Both colonies derived economic sustenance from trading with the natives.

Jamestown, Virginia was the primary permanent English settlement in the New World and was founded by Captain John Smith. Tobacco was the main cash crop, and John Smith had to be strict to make sure people worked hard enough to get their food. It was a joint stock company where colonists had rights like Englishmen did.

Beginning in 1607, when ambitious English colonists settled in Jamestown, and continuing until the last of the thirteen colonies was established; geography was a substantial factor in the development of colonial America. The crops that essentially saved the colonists lives, such as tobacco, rice, and indigo, wouldn’t have grown without a certain type and amount of soil to grow properly. Also, the Appalachian Mountains and the dense forests provided a barrier for the colonists, preventing them from going too far west right away, and causing the colonies to form in the arrangement they did. Finally, the population was the most dense in middle colonies, such as New York, New Jersey, Delaware, and Pennsylvania partly because of the mild

Virginia, in the southern region, was the first area colonized, named for Queen Elizabeth who was supposedly a virgin. It was intended to be a source of wealth for England by providing cash crops such as tobacco and, eventually, a new market for English goods.. The short winters and warm summers were ideal for growing cash crops such as cotton, tobacco, and rice, all of which were labor intensive. Most of the people who immigrated to these southern colonies were poor Englishmen who were part of the growing number of unemployed in their home country. They paid for their passage by becoming indentured servants, hoping to work off their servitude on the plantations and begin a new life in a new land. As economic conditions improved in England however, Virginia, as well as the other southern colonies, began to rely more and more on slave labor. Slaves became a better investment than in indentured servants, and the southern colonies soon transitioned to slave-based, agricultural economies. (Taylor)

In the Chesapeake region they would have longer and warmer growing seasons since they geographically are closer to the equator than New England, which had shorter and colder growing seasons. From the result of the growing season in Chesapeake, therefore they have a better opportunity to grow crops like tobacco to earn profits especially when they grew large farms of it. John Pory once again wrote, “Able to raise enough tobacco to earn 200 pounds… We have to pay all of our expenses.” (Document E2) The living was hard and they had to pay all their expenses which was easier because crops like these were a viable to grow. The New England region was different, casting short and mild growing seasons with harsh winters and had to rely more on fishing and hunting than crops for food and money. Economy was developed around trade and fur. Sandy, rocky soil made it hard for agriculture, but fortunately basic crops like corn were grown within these climates. (Venn Diagram) The lack of favorable rich soil made the cash crops like tobacco hard to be grown in this region which eventually made the fishing, hunting, and trading more appropriate. The source of profit was so important to them since the time was right they had people do this for them. “Slavery began (Picking Tobacco)” (Venn Diagram) They would have these favorable conditions and explode them by having the slaves do all the “dirty work” for

In the 1600's, tobacco became the main source of income for most of the colonists. The economic prosperity of the colonies was primarily dependent on the amount of tobacco produced. The growing of tobacco needed large amount of land, with a large stable work force. The increased demand for a large, stable work force combined with the availability and low price of African slaves, led to the use of slavery in the colonies. To the planter, slavery was the ideal form of labor that would be most beneficial to productivity of his crop.#

We are going to start discussing the economic aspect of both colonies, it is important to note that the economic activities and trade of each colony depended on the environment in which the settlers lived. Geography and climate were important factors that impacted the economic and commercial activities between New England colonies and Southern colonies because these depended on the environment.

Tobacco was introduced and imported by John Rolfe. This triggered huge waves of settlers in Jamestown to plant tobacco’s seeds as well. So the more of them growing tobacco, the better the economy improving due to high demand in consumptions. On the other hand, growing tobacco resulted in the Indians being kicked out of their lands, forced the African slaves brought to America and work in the tobacco fields.

Jamestown focused on agriculture, more specifically in the production of tobacco or “Brown Gold”. However, Massachusetts Bay had poor land and weather, and decided to focused on small farming, but relied heavily on trading ties with Britain to create a steady economy. Because farming was a large deal in Jamestown, indentured servants were used to help boost production. However, after the Bacon’s Rebellion in 1676, the upper class/ plantation owners turned to a new form of servitude, slavery. Slavery greatly increased economy even though slaves were expensive, they worked for life and could reproduce. It also helped with the trading going between America, Europe, and Africa. The part of this trading system became known as the middle passage. However, slavery isn't seen as much throughout Massachusetts because of the lack of large scale

It all started in 1607, when a group of English men and boys came to settle in America searching for a land. They finally came to decide they will be settling in Jamestown, Virginia on May 13th of that year. The name Jamestown was given to the region in honor of king James I. Jamestown was chosen for several reasons which all met the criteria of the Virginia Company. One of the reasons was the water that surrounded the region on three sides, resulting in being defensible against the Spanish attack. Also, because the water was deep it enabled the settlers to tie their ships at the shoreline. The economic growth of Virginia began with tobacco plantations along the James river. This lead tobacco becoming a cash crop for the settlers. For example, since Europe was extremely interested in smoking tobacco there were tobacco exports from

English merchants agreed that a nation’s wealth depended on it’s successful balance of trade. merchants would invest in joint-stock companies with the intention of receiving increased profits. A portion of the companies sought to discover religious freedom while others attempted to gain fortune. In 1606, due to the establishment of the Virginia Company, England now had a successful stabilized colony in America. The chartering of the Virginia company by King James I gave England the right to form settlements in the colony of Virginia. In 1614, the arranged marriage of John Rolfe and Pocahontas served as a peace symbol between the Native Americans and the British. Rolfe and Pocahontas began farming sweet tobacco. In Europe, tobacco was considered as a popular way to earn money, however, growing tobacco decreases the fertility of the soil causing more plantations to be consumed. Many sugar crops and plantations were scattered which benefited the economy of Virginia as well as Great

Tobacco also lost its price value, but colonist thought if they planted more tobacco it would make up for the price drop. Due to this thought process, the Chesapeake Bay region was producing forty million pounds of tobacco by the end of the 1600’s; while during the 1630’s, the Chesapeake region was only producing 1.5 million pounds of tobacco annually. Lastly, the need to produce and plant an abundant amount of tobacco caused the need for cheap labor. Indentured servant were seen as the solution in the middle 1600’s but towards the end of the seventeenth century, slaves became the main source of labor.

    The economies of the Chesapeake and New England Colonies were distinctly different. In the eighteenth century, tobacco was the greatest contributor to its successful economy. Tobacco also contributed to the Chesapeake society, including the settlement pattern centered around plantations and the importance of slave labor. “Between 1690 and 1770, planters imported 100,000 people of African descent to the Chesapeake to work in the tobacco fields

In the 1700’s the English colonies had gained their footing each different than the other. There developed a few different region in the colonies. One, the New England region was the northern colonies and another being the Chesapeake which include Virginia and Maryland. The main reasons why the two groups of colonies developed very differently are geography, their relationship with the natives and motives for coming to the New World. The Chesapeake and New England colonies were separated by hundreds of miles.

Although it was an important aspect of colonial life, geography was not the largest factor in the development of colonial America in the 1600s. Settlements were established where colonists landed, which obviously varied from voyage to voyage. One thing that geography did influence, however, were the imports and exports of any given settlement. For example, Chesapeake was the colonies’ largest center for tobacco production due to the rich soil and abundance of