Massachusettes And Virginia Colonies

4 Pages 1043 Words

The colonies of Massachusetts and Virginia differed both socially and economically. The Massachusetts Bay Colony was established on a foundation of strict Puritan religious principles and created an economy that relied on agriculture, hunting, fishing, and trade. However, the Virginia economy depended heavily on the cultivation and exportation of tobacco and organized its society according to the hierarchy of the Anglican Church.

Virginia's economy relied overwhelmingly upon agriculture and more specifically tobacco. The combination of a warm climate and sufficient rainfall created optimal conditions for cultivation of this staple crop. Charles I stated that the Virginia colony was “founded upon smoke” (pg. 115.) By 1619 tobacco production had reached 20,000 pounds, and by 1688 the amount had increased 900 times to approximately 18 million pounds of tobacco. Settlers who planted tobacco quickly found out that it exhausted the soil, giving an advantage to those planters who had more land and could afford to leave some of their field uncultivated Indentured servants and slaves planted, harvested, and tended to tobacco and other crops, while planters profited from their labor.
many of the laborers in Virginia’s fields were African slaves, but not all laborers were African. Many of the workers were indentured servants or criminals from England. The indentured servants accounted for over half of the white settlers in Virginia; these indentured usually lasted between four and seven years. After serving their terms, they were released and given money, tools, clothing, food, and, sometimes, land. However, many servants died before completing their indentures, and many who survived their service remained poor. Criminals from England had the option of being hanged or serving the rest of their lives as slaves in the colonies. African slaves first arrived in Jamestown, Virginia in 1619. Some of the first Africans were treated as indentu...