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Chapter 7

The Southern Colonies

Chapter 7 Lesson 1 A New Settlement in Virginia

Alexander Whitaker described Jamestown in a way that made people wish to move there. Richard Frethorne is one person who did move from England to Virginia.

Frethorne described it as a place with sickness and death.

Virginia was beautiful like Whitaker had described but it was also dangerous and unhealthy

Dangers hide in the LandThe Virginia Company sent men who wanted o make money to Virginia.

At first, they enjoyed the land and its beauty.

But they were in fear and hope!

The men built their settlement on the James River for three reasons

1. They were far enough the river to protect them from ocean attack

2. It was an easy escape route from Indians if necessary

3. The river was an easy way to carry goods to and from the settlement.

Illness and Hard Times

Since they were on the river, it was full of salt, so they would get sick when drinking it.

Also, there were many mosquitos that carried diseases, like malaria and yellow fever.

Life expectancy was low.

The men thought they would find gold and return to England but there was no gold.

Winter was also hard to survive.

John SmithBy December 1607, 73 of the 105 settlers had died.

Among the settlers was John Smith.

He took the lead in making decisions.

He was very strict, and made everyone work.

He bargained with the Algonquin Indians, and was able to trade many items.

He was careful around Chief Powhatan. In fact, the chief almost killed him.

He says Pocahontas saved his life.

No one knows if this is true today.

The Colony Changes

John Smith returns to England, and the settlers suffer hardship.

Jamestown was now considered a failure according to the Virginia Company

Something had to be done

New Ideas to Save the Colonies

In 1609, the company begun sending indentured servants to Virginia.

The servants signed an indenture, or agreement, promising the company five- seven years of unpaid labor.

In return, the servants would received free passage across the ocean.

They also got 100 acres of land after their service.

Some indentured servants received hundreds of acres of land. These large

pieces were called plantationsLife as an indentured servant was better than a slave.

The Virginia Company decided to give the people a voice in the government.

The company also set up the House of Burgess.

A burgess was a representative who voted on the laws of the colony.

The English thought this was a good way to get settlers to care about the colony.

Settlers never found gold, but they discovered tobacco.

Smoking had become popular in Europe, so many people wanted to buy tobacco.

John Rolfe found a good quality tobacco from the West Indies.

This grew well in Virginia.

He also married Pocahontas which improved conditions with the Powhatans for a while.

PocahontasAfter three years of marriage, Pocahontas died.

The problem after was the settlers wanted more land for growing tobacco.

The Indians didn’t want to give up their land.

Tensions rose.

Settlers killed a Powhatan war chief and religious leader named Nemattanew.

So the Indians launched an attack.

They killed 347 settlers in Virginia.

After this attack, the Virginia Company failed. King James blamed the

company for not building enough forts. He decided to rule the colony himself.

The settlers wanted to drive out the Indians from

Virginia.

Chapter 7 Lesson 2

Rebellion in Virginia

William Berkeley, the king’s chosen governor, kept a firm grip on the government of Virginia. He handpicked his advisors, people to run the courts, and people to lead

militia and build forts. He never held elections because he had chosen all of his people

He raised taxes.

People were getting upset because they felt like Virginia was taking their money, not allowing them to vote, and not protecting them either.

Land to vote!

At one point, Berkeley said only people who owned land could vote. He didn’t want poor people to vote. However large landowners already owned much of the land.

Deep in the frontier!Any remaining land was deep in frontier, away from water.

So ordinary settlers and indentured servants found it harder and harder to own land.

Many Indians still lived in these areas too.

This started a fight between settlers and Indians!

The settlers turned to the governor for help!

To separate the settlers from the Indians, the governor ordered a string of forts to be built.

Many were not happy with this. They felt he was on the Indians side.

Especially because he still traded beaver skins with the Algonquin

The fights continued until…..

Nathanial BaconHe was not a poor man.

As a new settler, he wanted to see change.

The settlers wanted to see him as their leader.

Soon, the governor declared him a rebel.

He wanted Berkeley to give more power to protect settlers, and Berkeley held back.

He never wanted to hurt Berkeley. He just wanted to come to an understanding.

Jamestown Burns

At one point, in an argument, Bacon and his men burned Jamestown to the ground.

King Charles II then sent troops to control Bacon and his men.

But by the time they arrived, Bacon had died of swamp fever.

His men went back to their plantations.

Bacon’s Rebellion

Showed that common men wouldn’t let the government control them.

Also showed that frontier settlers could be cruel to natives.

Soon life settled, more women came, families grew, and many wanted to find success.

Chapter 7 Lesson 3

Slavery in the Southern Colonies

Olaudah Equiano was one of about 12 million Africas who were sold in to slavery between 1570 and 1870

Slavery in the English colonies was a system in which Africans and many Indians were forced to work without pay.

They had no personal rights.

They were non-white

It was based on race in the 1660’s

Ancient World vs. New World

Ancient World Prisoners taken in wars

and sometimes enslaved

Came from many different places

Some earned their freedom after working for a number of years

New World More cruel

Slaves were African with a few Indian

Once a slave always a slave

A child born to a slave was automatically a slave

Spanish and Portuguese were the first people to

use African Slaves in the New World

In the late 1400’s and early 1500’s, Spain founded colonies in the West Indies, where they discovered wealth in sugar. It became an export that made so much money.

It was known as white gold.

It only grows in hot humid climates

The labor involved was also very demanding.

The Spanish wanted workers to do the hard work of stopping to plant and cut the sugar cane for no pay.

They wanted to keep all the money for themselves.

They turned to slaves.

They tried to make slaves of the Indians of the West Indies.

Most of these people died of harsh treatment and diseases.

They turned to African slaves.

European traders bought slaves in western and central Africa, where leaders of African

kingdoms had captured prisoners during battles.

The traders then transported the slaves

across the Atlantic

This was a voyage of horror. Packed so tightly,

slaves could barely move.

They were also chained so jumping overboard was not an option.

Olaudah Equiano, a West African slave who was later feed, wrote about his experience on a slave ship. He described the horrible smell, the filth, the sickness, and fear.

He even heard the groans of the dying.

Before being forced into slavery, Equiano had never seen a white person or heard English before.

He further describes the slave auction and the process of acquiring a slave.

Not all Africans came as slaves. Among the first Africans to arrive in Virginia in 1619,

many may have come as indentured servants. In the first years, many could have

bought their freedom as well.

Anthony Johnson arrived in Virginia in 1621

worked as a servant on the Richard Bennett plantation for 20 years.

In 1640’s he and his wife Mary obtained freedom

He became a successful planter, and received 200 acres of land and a herd of cattle.

He was even known to have had servants himself.

By the late 1650’s, he feared increasing trouble for all blacks.

In 1664, Johnson decided to move. He sold most of his property and moved his family to

Maryland.

They rented land.

He gave 50 acres in Virginia to his son, but his son never received the land because an all-white jury decided that

because he was black, his land could be taken and given to a white planter.

.

Why did the laws get harsher?

Slaves became more valuable

planters were growing harvest and dry tobacco as a cash crop-for sale rather than

personal use.

Eager for profits, white plantation owners supported laws that gave them full power over

enslaved tobacco workers.

Slave owners constantly worried about controlling enslaved Africans

Feared revolt

Gave slaves fewer and fewer rights

Slaves did ran away, burned crops, and broke tools

South Carolina – 1739

About 100 slaves killed several whites and fled toward Florida. They were eventually stopped by the white militia.