01:512:104 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Headright, Typhoid Fever, Middle Passage
16 May 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
Chapter 04 - American Life in the 17th Century 1607-1692
I. Introduction
• Development of permanent settlements
• Cultures adapting to each other
• Strong ties to the economy of the Atlantic
II. The Unhealthy Chesapeake
• Life was brutal for early settlers
• Diseases like malaria, dysentery, and typhoid ran rampant
• Life expectancy was greatly reduced compared to England
• Settlements grew slowly as starting a family was difficult due to the lack of young
women
• Eventually people gained immunity and Virginia started to grow
III. The Tobacco Economy
• The Chesapeake was so hospitable to tobacco that settlers planted it before corn to eat
• Settlers pushed into virgin territories to find fresh soil
• Tobacco farms grew so rapidly there was a shortage of labor
• Help came in the form of indentured servants who worked in exchange for passage and
‘freedom dues’
• Virginia and Maryland employed the headright system where the master that brought
over servants gained extra land
• Indentured servants eventually made up ¾ of immigrants
IV. Frustrated Freedmen and Bacon’s Rebellion
• The number of landless, single young men grew rapidly
• A group of rebels led by Nathaniel Bacon attacked Indians and burned the capital in
response to the Governor’s inactions
• The Rebellion was quelled but it illuminated a division between the gentry and
frontiersmen
• Without the prospect of future indentured servants, the tobacco empire looked toward
Africa
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Chapter 04 - american life in the 17th century 1607-1692: introduction, development of permanent settlements, cultures adapting to each other, strong ties to the economy of the atlantic. Freedom dues": virginia and maryland employed the headright system where the master that brought over servants gained extra land. Indentured servants eventually made up of immigrants. Africans in america: the south was the harshest on a slave"s well being, the tobacco farms were easier due to their organization, with the growth of native born african-americans, a distinct culture developed. Southern society: social structure widened and a hierarchy became defined, at the top were rich, hard working planters; following them were the small farmers; and third were the servant class. Life in the new england towns: based on small villages and farms, people clustered due to indians, the french and dutch, and tenants of unity of.
