The lifestyles of the Chesapeake and New England colonist essays

The lifestyles of the Chesapeake and New England colonist essays The lifestyles of the Chesapeake and New England colonists had few similarities. Both left from Europe destined for the New World, they sought religious freedom. Once here the colonies setup farms and cultivated the land. This is were there similarities ended. The Chesapeake settled in what is now Virginia and Maryland. They quickly established tobacco as their staple crop, thus becoming their main source of income. Rather then creating towns, the farmers spread out along the riverbanks. A good idea, the river was deep and rather wide. It provided dependable water transportation, since there were few roads. The farmers would build their own wharfs to allow ocean going vessels to pick up or drop off cargo. In the cases where farms were close by one another, farmers would share the wharfs. The cultivation of tobacco fields is back breaking work. And clearing lands requires heavy labor. The nearby Native American population was low from war and disease, and few African slaves available. What were the farmers to do? Indentured servants from England! Most had been farmers there. So the farmers would use profits from the harvest to gain young men from England ages 18 to 24 to come work the lands. As more men came over the farms increased in size, creating a need for more workers. The colonist didnt see their impending future. As farmers acquired more male indentured servants, it threw the population out of balance. For every six males in the colony, there was but one female. Life was hard. Hindered by diseases from the more tropic like climate, many servants died. Most families consisted of no more then 2 or 3 healthy children, and few parents ever got to see their children grow to adulthood, or marry. And even fewer still ever lived to be grandparents New England colonist on the other hand, had provisions and workers on hand. New Englanders built tow ...