Explain how free and forced migration to and within different parts of North America caused regional development, cultural diversity and blending, and political and social conflicts through the 19th century The Tidewater region of Virginia is the eastern portion of the Commonwealth of Virginia located near  the James and Rappahannock Rivers. The term tidewater may be correctly applied to all portions of any area, including Virginia, where the water level is affected by the tides (more specifically, where the water level rises when the tide comes in). Planters in the early American colonies extended their tobacco productions above the "fall line," where waterfalls or rapids mark the end of the Tidewater and the beginning of the foothill region known as the Piedmont.

 COLONY CHART 

Sir George Calvert, the first Lord Baltimore, gets a portion of Virginia for Catholic haven and profit. - Eventually, growth of Protestants meant Catholics become a minority; Catholics feared loss of religious freedom.

Act of Toleration (1649) Guaranteed toleration to all Christians but instituted death penalty for anyone denying the divinity of Jesus (e.g. Jews & atheists) Motive: Catholics sought to protect their faith by granting certain degree of religious freedom. Result - Maryland became largest haven for Catholics in British American colonies   

The West Indies: Waystation to Mainland AmericaSpain, weakened by military overextension and distracted by its rebellious Dutch

provinces, relaxed its grip on much of the Caribbean in the early 1600s.

 

  

Sugar formed the foundation of the West Indian economy. 

 

Sugar cane was a rich man’s crop. It had to be planted extensively to yield commercially viable quantities of sugar.  Extensive planting, in turn, required extensive and arduous land

clearing  To work their sprawling plantations, they imported enormous numbers of

African slaves(One of the notable atrocities wrought by European colonial expansion)

 

Scene on the Coast of Africa', by Francois-Auguste Biard c.1840. Presented to Sir Thomas Foxwell Buxton to commemorate the Abolition of Slavery in 1833

 

 

Slavery by the Numbers # Of the 10 to 16 million Africans who survived the voyage to the New World,  60 -70% ended up in Brazil or the sugar colonies of the Caribbean. Only 6% percent arrived in what is now the United States.  Absentee ownership was common in the West Indies, planters relied heavily on paid managers and on a distinct class of free blacks and mulattos to serve as intermediaries with the slave population.  Slaves constituted 80 -90 % of the population, many plantations holding 150 slaves or more. Starting in the 17th century, some British colonies adopted slave codes from Barbados that led to strict racial categories in colonial societies  

The Restoration Colonies Settlement of the Carolinas South Carolina- Carolina created in 1670 after restoration and named after Charles II.

Goals: grow foodstuffs for sugar plantations in Barbados and export non-English products like wine, silk, and olive oil. Exported Indians as slaves to West Indies and New England colonies (perhaps as many as 100,000).

Rice became main cash crop in Carolina for export; by 1710 blacks outnumbered whites. Charles Town (Charleston) became most active seaport in the South.    North Carolina created officially in 1712 as a refuge for poor whites and religious dissenters from Carolina and Virginia.

Became most democratic, independent and least aristocratic of original 13 colonies (similar to Rhode Island). Yet, treated Indians ruthlessly and sold many into slavery.  

  GeorgiaBecame last British American colony founded by James Oglethorp  (1733) as a haven for debtors as well as a buffer state against Spanish and Indian incursions from the South.

Savannah emerged into a diverse community (included German Lutherans & Scottish Highlanders; but no Catholics)  From its founding in 1732 throughout the eighteenth century, Georgia was a place of both religious tolerance and religious pluralism. Georgia's Royal Charter provided for liberty of conscience for all, and for the free exercise of religion by all except Roman Catholics. The Charter did not establish the Church of England or any other church. (Although the Church of England would later be established by law in 1758, it was, in practice, a weak establishment with little real ecclesiastical presence.)  

 

Southern Society -- 18th century

 

One of the Grand Southern PlantationsSouthern class structure (from most powerful to least powerful)

Plantation owners Top of social ladder they ruled region's economy and monopolized political power. Small farmers Comprised largest social group. Were considered far below the prestige and power of the planter class. And most lived meager existences; some owned 1 or 2 slaves Modest sized plots

Landless Whites -- Most were former indentured servants Indentured Servants (lowest of whites) decreased as black slavery increased (after Bacon's Rebellion 1676) . Only black slaves were lower in the class structure - Constituted about 20% of colonial population by 1775   KEY QUESTIONS

Why did the South remained underdeveloped 1. Few cities emerged2. Life revolved around southern plantations. 3. Poor transportation -- waterways provided principal means of transportation

Why did the colonies differ from England?1. Demand for labor of indentured servants in the South (indentured servants) 2. Women came in much smaller numbers 3. Importation of slaves from Africa