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The J Curve

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Kelsey Wright History 201 – A. Scotti Test One – Essay The colonies during the time of early America experienced many hardships from the British, and at multiple times were let down from what they estimated they were deserving of. The “J curve” is known as a diagram indicating the climbing up and the sudden down of any idea, or action. The “J curve” is an accurate representation of the colonist’s expectations at the time of the “oppressive” British. The “J curve” seems to center around two main points for the colonists. The first was the wars they fought, the outcomes, and the government and the economy. The second was the legislatures that were designed by or against the colonies. The expectations of the colonists in relation to …show more content…

The “J curve” may also be referred to when dealing with the legislatures that existed during those times. The legislatures were both those that were forced upon the colonists and those that were created by the colonists. The legislatures dealt with both political and religious ruling. When the colonies were just beginning there were two reforms set up in 1619. The first was called the head right system. The head right system stated that if one could pay their own way to get to the Americas then that person would receive fifty acres of land per head of household. The people were expected to stay at least three years so that they could approve upon the land that was given to them. In those days land was power and so those who held it also held speaking rights in the meeting and assemblies that were held in each town. Most people however were unable to pay their own way and so went to the new land as indentured servants. They would work off their debt over the next few years and become free people, some even coming to own their own land as well. The second reform was called the House of Burgesses. This was the first representative assembly in the colonies and was called a “little Parliament”. The true Parliament however in England gave little to no credit to the assemblies that the colonists created on their own. The colonists who took residents in the new world hoped and

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